I know this might be considered as a "dumb" question...but I hope not.

Leaving gear on the bottom is not something anyone likes to do, and is a pet-peave of mine. No, its not the cost of the stuff, or that it takes time to re-tie (although it does), but I hate to leave lead and gear hung on a piece of structure, cause eventually it is going to look like a garbage dump down there to the fish.

All that said to ask the question. I am switching to drifting baits (corkies, spin-n-glo's, etc.) with a float . These are baits that in my limited understanding are traditionally fished in a manner that floats them up from the bottom as a piece of pencil lead in a tube bounces along. (That's how I've been fishing them, at least).

Making a cast of any length requires at least a 1" piece of pencil lead, which is sometimes too much with smaller corkies or other floating combo's to get the right drift..it rides too low (drags bottom too much) finds rocks and on some occasions has to be broken off, or at least the lead is left behind. Not a good thing to leave in the water. (Keep in mind there are hundreds/thousands of these weights lost every year in a given body of water).

I tried attaching a small split shot just above the corkie/yarn, and it drops down to the right level just fine, but it looks like...well, not to attractive. So, how about painting that split shot pink/orange, etc. ?

I designed and made a float that works excellent, and adjusting its depth takes only a second (literally), so setting proper depth for the bait in changing water is a snap, but I want to drift a decent looking bait, not some Frankenstein.

Gonna try some powdercoat paint on a few and see if they come out OK.

Anyone else ever try this? Am I wasting my time being too picky about appearance?

Mike