I have to go with Chum Man here. I use a rod that cost me $50. The sensitivity thing I don't necissarily agree with though. I have hooked fish before the bobber got to the stop and would never have felt it if the tip weren't so light. Don't bother blowing a bunch of cash on floats either. You'll just get pissed off when you lose them. Plus, you will probably find some from other guys that lost them. Braided line seems to be the way to go. I like to use the spinning reels for float fishing and braided is probably one of the few ways to avoid line twist. Mono is horrendous for that. The rest of the technique stuff will come through trial and error really.