Fishing Floats Explained

By Alex Clayton · Updated 23 October 2026

The float wall in a tackle shop holds hundreds of patterns, sizes and tip colours, and plenty of anglers respond by buying one float and using it everywhere.

Fishing floats do two jobs: they hold your bait at a set depth and they show you a bite. Every type of fishing float belongs to one of two families, set by how it attaches to the line. Wagglers fix by the bottom end only, for still and slow water. Stick floats, Avons and most pole floats fix top and bottom, for rivers and close range.

Below: each family, how to shot a float, and a table that matches float to water, wind and range.

How a Float Works: Bottom-End vs Top-and-Bottom

Every float pattern comes down to one design choice: where it grips the line. Get that wrong and no amount of careful shotting will make it behave.

A waggler attaches by the bottom end only, through a ring at the base, usually locked with a shot either side. The line leaves the float underwater, so you can sink it where wind and drift have less grip.

Stick floats, Avons and most pole floats are fixed top and bottom, normally with silicone float rubbers. Holding the line at both ends lets you hold the float back and steer it down a run. Our guide to float rubbers, swivels and other terminal tackle covers the fittings.

Floats are made from balsa, cork, foam, plastic, sarkanda reed, cane and quill. Whatever the material, shot below the float “cocks” it, pulling it upright until only the tip shows.

If the water is moving, start with a float fixed top and bottom.

Waggler Floats: Straight, Insert, Bodied and Loaded

One swap fixes a lot of stillwater problems: when a ripple or tow appears, change from an insert waggler to a straight one. Wagglers are the standard fishing floats on lakes, ponds and slow canals. Choose the sub-type by surface conditions, range and how shy the bites are.

Straight waggler

A plain stem of even thickness. It stays stable when the surface is moving and carries bigger baits well, but it shows shy bites less clearly than an insert.

Insert waggler

A finer tip insert makes this the most sensitive waggler, the one to pick for roach and skimmers on calm water. It is at its best on a flat surface and becomes hard to fish once tow starts dragging the tip.

Bodied wagglers and missiles

A body near the base carries more shot, so these cast further and hold position at range. Keep them for distance work, not delicate bites.

Loaded waggler

The weight is built into the base, so you need fewer shot on the line. Loaded wagglers cast further and tangle less, which suits long range and windy days.

Pellet waggler

Short and chunky, fished shallow over regular loosefeed. Angling Times rates it probably the most common float on commercial carp fisheries. It settles fast but only works while the feed keeps going in.

Every waggler has its capacity printed on it, in grams or as a shot loading. Go heavier for range or wind, and pair it with a float rod suited to waggler fishing so you can cast and mend line cleanly.

Best for still and slow water. Skip it on a pacey river, where the current drags the line and pulls the float off line.

River Floats: Stick, Avon and Chubber

The float sets off down the swim, the current grabs it, and the bait rides up off the bottom. That usually means the float is too light for the pace. River floats are graded by how much flow and depth they can handle.

Stick float

Fixed top and bottom, the stick float is built for trotting steady water. It lets you mend line and carries the bait through the swim at a natural pace. Hold it back gently and the bait slows and lifts slightly ahead of the float. It needs flow to work, so it is wasted on a still water.

Avon

The Avon has a buoyant body set high on the stem. It carries more shot and stays stable in faster, more turbulent water, which makes it a common choice for chub and barbel swims where a stick float would be pushed around.

Chubber

A big, buoyant body that gets the bait down quickly in fast, shallow water. It is not subtle and suits bigger baits such as bread or meat. Heavy balsa trotting floats sit at this end of the range too, for the strongest flows.

Choose a stick for steady, even runs where presentation matters, and an Avon when the water is pacey, boily or too deep for a stick. Trotting is covered in more depth in our coarse fishing techniques section.

Pole Floats and What the Size Marking Tells You

The size marking on a pole float puzzles newcomers, but it simply tells you how much weight the float takes.

Pole floats are fished directly under the pole tip, which gives you precise control of the presentation. The limit is range: you can only fish as far out as your pole reaches.

Body shape follows the job:

Slim bodies for still water and slow-falling baits, where fish take on the drop.
Rounder or body-high shapes for extra depth, flow or tow, where a slim float would be dragged about.

Conventions vary between makers, so check the maker’s chart or the packet. Floats also vary in buoyancy, so one may need an extra small shot and another a smaller one, as Angling Times notes alongside its pole float chart.

If you are new to the pole, start with a slim-bodied float rated for the depth you are fishing, and check the shotting in the margin first.

Floats for Deep, Windy and Big Waters: Sliders, Driftbeaters and Deadbait Floats

A slider lets you fish water far deeper than your rod is long. Angling Times gives the example of 20ft (about 6m) of water fished with a 13ft (about 4m) rod.

Slider

A slider runs freely on the line and stops against a stop knot tied at the depth you want. On the cast the float slides down to the shot and the knot sits near the reel, so there is no unmanageable length of line between float and hook.

Driftbeater

A buoyant lower body and a long, fine stem, built to resist wind-driven surface tow on open water. Use it when waves make a standard waggler bob and dip.

Darts

The calm-water contrast: a fast taper and slim profile for delicate silverfish on stillwaters, canals and drains. Excellent in flat calm, poor in wind.

Predator and deadbait floats

On a big, deep lake like Windermere, a float-fished deadbait lets me hold a bait off the bottom or work it along a drop-off rather than leaving it in one spot.

If you fish for pike, use a wire trace and strike promptly when a run develops. Waiting too long risks deep hooking, which harms the fish.

The verdict: on deep or windy water, pick the float for the conditions first and the species second.

How to Shot a Float: Bulk, Droppers and Locking Shot

Shotting controls how fast the bait falls and how clearly bites show. To shot a float:

Read the capacity printed on the float, in grams or as a shot loading.
Lock it (wagglers) with a shot either side of the bottom ring. These usually carry most of the loading.
Place the rest as a bulk to get the bait down fast, or strung out for a slow, natural fall when fish feed on the drop.
Add droppers near the hook. The lowest one shows lift and drop bites.
Fine tune until only the tip shows. Needing one extra small shot, or one a size smaller, is normal because floats vary in buoyancy.

Split shot runs from SSG (the largest) through AAA and BB down to numbered sizes such as No.4 and No.8. Gram weights per size differ between sources, so check the packet.

Lead is restricted. Under the Environmental Protection (Anglers’ Lead Weights) (England) Regulations 2015, in force since 1 July 2015, supplying lead fishing weights in England is prohibited unless they weigh 0.06g or less or more than 28.35g. Using them is restricted too. The GOV.UK freshwater rod fishing rules for England and Wales allow lead only at those same weights, which means lead shot from size 14 to size 8 and lead weights over 1oz. In Scotland or Northern Ireland, check your own rules.

Shot larger than No.8 is non-toxic alloy, as Angling Times notes. Our guide to fishing leads and weights covers the heavier end.

If bites come on the drop, string the shot out. If small fish grab the bait on the way down, bulk it.

Which Float to Use: Match the Float to the Water

Answer four questions before you open the float box:

How far out are you fishing?
Is the water still or flowing?
Is there wind, tow or chop?
Do you need a delicate, quick-sinking or shallow presentation?

Angling Times makes the same point: choose for the job in front of you, not the float you last caught on.

Situation	Float	Why
Calm lake or canal, roach and skimmers	Insert waggler or dart	Sensitive tip shows shy bites
Windy open water	Driftbeater or bodied waggler	Resists surface tow
Deep water or distant features	Slider	Fishes deeper than rod length
Steady river run	Stick float	Control through the swim
Pacey or boily river	Avon	Carries more shot, stays stable
Fast shallow run, chub or barbel	Chubber	Gets the bait down quickly
Commercial carp, shallow	Pellet waggler	Settles fast over loosefeed
Close range, precise presentation	Pole float	Direct control under the tip
Bottom feeders in still or slow water	Waggler, laying-on	Bite shows as the float lifts

Torn between two sizes? Go a size heavier. A correctly shotted heavier float fishes finer than an overloaded light one that sinks every time a leaf touches it, and you will spend less time blaming the fish.

Float Tip Colours and Reading Bites

A tip that vanishes against a bright, rippled surface costs you bites you never see.

Pick a colour that stands out against the light in front of you: dark tips on bright or reflective water, bright tips (red, orange or yellow) on dark or shaded water. Carry two colours and swap as the light changes.

Bites usually show in one of two ways:

A dip or sail-away: a fish takes the bait and moves off, pulling the float under.
A lift: a fish picks up the bait and the lowest shot, so the float rises or lies flat. When laying-on, the float only cocks once a fish lifts the shot off the bottom.

In my experience, bream bites on Windermere often show as lifts rather than dips, so watch for the tip rising.

Strike at the first positive movement, not after the float has gone a second time.

For more tackle explainers, head back to our tackle explainers hub.

Frequently asked questions

What are the main types of fishing floats?

The main types of fishing floats are wagglers, stick floats, Avons, chubbers, pole floats and sliders. Specialist patterns include pellet wagglers for commercial carp, driftbeaters for windy open water and darts for calm-water silvers. Wagglers attach bottom end only; sticks and Avons fix top and bottom.

What size shot do I need to cock a float?

Use the capacity printed on the float, in grams or as a shot loading, then fine tune. Expect to add one small shot or swap one for a size smaller, because floats vary in buoyancy. Gram weights per shot size differ between makers, so trust the packet over a generic chart.

Can I use a waggler on a river?

Yes, on slow or steady water, especially wide, sluggish stretches with too little flow for a stick float. On a pacey river the current drags the line and pulls a waggler off line, so switch to a stick float or an Avon.

Is lead shot legal for fishing in England?

Only at 0.06g or less or over 28.35g. SI 2015/815 bans supplying lead fishing weights in between in England, and the GOV.UK rod fishing rules limit use to the same weights in England and Wales: lead shot from size 14 to size 8, and weights over 1oz.