The most commonly-used fishing method for saltwater inshore species involves a terminal weight that takes a bait to the bottom. As long as the bottom is clean, fish are holding nearby, and the water is relatively shallow, success is pretty much assured. Most inshore gamefish are caught near the bottom, however, much of the water column is left vacant of lures, which leads to the alternative technique of the float rig or bait suspension.
Mastering the art of bait suspension with a float will improve chances of success.
Many fish have success feeding at the bottom by adaptations of their body shapes, coloration, and other morphological characteristics. Take flounders, for instance.
Their bodies are flat and blend with the sand and mud to give them an ambush edge against skittish prey. Other fish, such as redfish, black drum, spots and croakers have evolved as bottom feeders with a sub-terminal mouth and barbels (A barbel or “barb” is a slender, whisker-like soft appendage attached below the fish’s mouth. The barbel is their organ that houses the taste buds and are used to search for food in murky water).
The sub-terminal mouth allows them to easily feed at the bottom and the barbels aid in bottom detection and bait presence. These sub-terminal-mouth fish are more adapted to feed in murky waters with less flow and smell or sense the presence of bait with their barbells.
What about speckled trout? Many trout are caught along the bottom as well but usually off the bottom. Specks (or spotted seatrout) have more of a terminal mouth and feed within the same portion of the water column or above as with many other fish with terminal mouths. Terminal-mouthed fish are sight feeders and prefer clear water to off-color or murky waters.
However, trout prefer live oyster bars and rough bottom.
So any bottom-fishing technique at such places can be destructive to tackle box reserves, which leads to the preferred technique, the float rig.
Float rigs are constructed to fish either at fixed or variable depths. The float rig is necessary for enticing speckled trout to bite at rough-bottom areas.
It allows a baitfish to float suspended just above the rough bottom where the trout are waiting in ambush.
Live shrimp are the preferred baits for trout and a popping cork is a perfect match for presenting them a la carte to Mr. Speck.
The pop of the cork causes the beads to click together simulating shrimps sounds underwater.
Artificial baits also can work well with a popping cork, including artificial shrimps and soft crabs, as well as the old- fashioned jig with a twisted tail.
Drifting with the current with several rods equipped with floats and live shrimp at varying depths is a prime fish-finding technique for trout. As the fish prefer different depths at different times, floats allow the angler to cover a large area horizontally and vertically.
Sheepshead are primarily fished for along the bottom adjacent to barnacle-infested structures, whether pilings, jetties, reef balls, sunken ships or even trees that have fallen into the water.
These fish tend to be more abundant in waters deeper than 6 feet. Sheepsheads will travel up and down a vertical structure, nibbling away at tasty morsels such as barnacles. The key words in the previous sentence are “up and down.”
Most sheepshead rigs are weighted to fish near or at the bottom. At different periods of the tide, especially at deeper depths, sheepshead will concentrate at upper areas of the water column to feed.
Float rigs allow the anglers to easily fish different depths more efficiently, which is a definite aid in making connections with sheepsheads. In addition, the soft and subtle bite of a sheepshead becomes visual when a cork helps tell the story.
Float rigs are generally set up in one of two ways — at a fixed depth or a variable one.
The fixed depth technique usually is how popping corks are rigged. The main fishing line is attached directly to the popping cork rig and the leader is tied directly below popping the bobber — but the angler decides how much leader he wants to use.
Leaders are usually 12- to 20 inches long.
A fixed popping cork works well at grassy areas and in relatively shallow water.
However, the variable-depth method incorporates a different component, the “bobber-stopper.” The bobber-stopper allows an angler to fish variable depths by sliding the stopper up and down the line in front of the cork.
The bobber-stopper allows an angler to fish deeper water easily without the difficulties of casting a long leader. Here’s how it works: the momentum of a cast forces the cork toward the end of the line until it meets the resistance of a swivel with a leader, lead weight and baits attached below it. As a weighted bait sinks, an unfettered cork slides up the line until it encounters the bobber-stopper.
Want to fish 20-feet deep for sheepshead at a reef? Simply move the bobber stopper 20-feet up the line from the baited hook and, voila, instant deep fishing wtih a cork float.
Floats are enjoyable to use with the added bonus of the visual reward of a float quickly sinking below the surface when a fish inhales a bait.
The float rig is a powerful technique that makes suspended fish more easy to put on the dinner table.
Anglers should try to incorporate floats into their repertoire for inshore species. Just be prepared to lose more baits but catch more fish.
Oh, another thing. Float rigs are great for youngsters who may not have developed the “feel” of a fish inhaling a bait deep below the surface with no indication of a bite other than a slight line twitch.
Besides being a familiar method (most kids start fishing for bluegills at farm ponds with bobber-stoppers), a float can be a really good indicator of a finicky fish’s deep strike.
And that can make tough fishing simple child’s play.
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