Good point Hawk. There are many situations where a sliding bobber outfit will work better then a fixed one. My preference is for running a fixed float mainly because I fish smaller coast rivers where I don't fish deeper then 8-10 feet.

lead thrower- back to your original question of hook-up ratio. Over the past couple of years I've switched over to mainly float fishing for salmon and steelhead 90 percent of the time and have found my success ratio increase dramaticly. As mentioned above, using a long rod and keeping your slack line to a minimum will help you chances. The single thing that has helped me put more fish to the bank and boat while float fishing is swithcing over to Owner jig hooks. I started using these hooks last year and absolutely love them.

Mark