I use a fixed float most all of the time.
is a sliding float better?
but then you gotta carry beads and stoppers and all that.
after being schooled today by a very nice gentleman. he of course was using a sliding float.
just got me wondering?

i find a sliding float works better for me as far as the float " sitting " right throughout most of the run.

i'll use a fixed float when i know i'm not going to fish more than 3-4 feet of water, and deeper and they become obsolete because of all that line hanging down...it makes casting difficult

sliding floats are great because you can fish any depth and only have to cast with the length of the leader

if you're fishing water you KNOW how deep it is and can achieve it without having to go deeper than your rod, than fixed is fine. But if you're fishing water where fish can be suspended or fishing deep holes or like to change up depth with relative ease than I'd go with sliding

I asked Dave Vedder the same question a long time ago and his response made sense. With a fixed bobber you can sweep tailouts.

For my method of float fishing I prefer to use the slip bobber method because its easier to cast and really easy to change your depth. I dont find myself needing to sweep tailouts where I fish.

Just like said above... More then just a few feel... Sliding!!!! just make sure you have the right amount of lead for the float so it drops down and fishes Vertical. I see lots of guys who have their bobber stop set at 8' but their bait is only a couple feet down due too not enough lead.

For the float fishing I do I always use a sliding. I use a small 18" mono leader and when we are in the "tailouts" or shallow sections. I just pin my float right to the swivel. Pretty much can fish all sub-methods effectivly.

just my .02

sliding.

thanks for the info.
some new things to try out now.
i like the sweeping the tail outs idea.

I love haveing options and a fixed float limits you way to much for my likeing. I can fish anything with a slideing system and theres allot I can't fish with a fixed so the answer to me is very simple slideing for everything.

Sliding......braided line.....works for me!!!! This past summer, went back to "sliding". Over the years tried different styles of "bobber stops"....rubber bands, the small red plastic but they didn't work right.

Went to the type of bobber stop, 20 to a pac, bright green thread, that works super. I use 20# braided line, 6 - 10# leader material, so rigging up and losing beads, weights, etc. is not a problem. Adjustment is fast!!!!!! My float rod is a 13', so fishing a fixed wasn't really a casting problem but with the sliding it was even better.

As someone mention.....make sure you have enough weight so that the bobber slides right up against the stop. Not only keeps the bobber in "up right position" BUT gets your jig down fast.

Was able to fish all depths ..... if close to the tail out, just shorten the leader. Was able to fish 1/64, 1/32, 1/16, and larger jigs very well.

Fixed for steelhead jigs .... salmon let em slide

I use a fixed float 90% of the time with jigs. Fixed floats, for me, give a good indication of what my jig is doing under the water.

For the most part I use sliding floats as they are more versitile. Fixed floats can be sweet though too sometimes because if your fishing undefined boulder runs or tailouts I "trott" or kinda hold up my float so my bait is slightly down river of my float, but I usually set the bait depth a few feet deeper than what the actual depth is. Its a technique better used on a center pin or levelwind though...

when steelhead fishing with jigs, it's usually in low water, and i really prefer a fixed setup for that. a turbo master with a couple BB shot spaced underneath and a 1/8oz jig casts like a rocket and gets in the zone quick.

if i'm fishing bait, slider all the way. a fixed bobber with a gob of eggs and more than a foot or two of distance between them turns into a cartwheeling, tangled up mess.

+1

i always run a leader, swivel, bead and egg sinker, regardless of the bobber. The water pressure will push the float back against the connection. Three foot is enough. Then you can use whatever braid mainline, etc Then you can sweep.

And stay away from the cigar sized floats, the line will hang up on the big top.

This is an awesome technique especially for stacked up nonbiting fish!
On the other hand I never use fixed floats because with sliding you can control the depth by simply thumbing the spool. For instance if your in a stationary position and fishing the float and bait technique, the bottom will eventually shallow up. While the bottom was 5-7 ft. deep and your lead or slinky is tapping every 10 ft. to 15ft. or so now the bottom has come up to 2-4 ft. deep and your terminal gear is now tapping bottom every foot or so and dredging. To continue this drift thru the tailout you'll need to apply the proper thumb pressure to cause the current to force the float down the main line and force the terminal gear to ride shallower thus making the weight tap less frequently and allow you to fish much further down the tailout. With a fixed float I find this much harder to accomplish. It's amazing how often you will find a fish in the shallows right at the base of the break in a tailout where you swore it was only a foot deep! (same reason not to pull your plugs up to soon)

Had to edit to clarify that with changing water conditions some float techniques work better than others for example you wouldn't use a micro thill with a 1/32oz. jig to sneak up on ultra clear water steelhead with a 11 ft. rod and a 5500 loaded with 20lb. test....then again maybe you can.

Why not use both at the same time??

I use a standard sliding float rig but instead of only having a bobber stop/bead above the float I also have one below the float. If using it as a slider, which for me is about 90% of the time, I just push the lower bobber stop to about an inch above the swivle. This way if I snap off at the swivle my float doesn't go sliding off the mainline and down the river. Then if I want to use it as a fixed float, usualy for tailouts, I simply "pinch" the float from both ends and whala it's now fixed!