I am looking for a float to attach to my float line. I previously have been using an inter-tube like float which is large, bulky, and really gets thrown around by the wind and swell. After a few dives, I realized this was not the way to go.
Ideally I would like one that packs down as well as easy to inflate.
Any recommendations? I don't know the Monterey Dive shops well, but if anyone knows if they have something that would work, I might make a trip down there today.
Thanks!
I agree the to options Cole put forth are good. I used a crab pot float for a long time and attached my stringer to it so it trailed behind me at the surface. This worked with no kelp. It was horrible with kelp. I now use the Gannet Snake float. Yellow for visibility. It works really well.
If you are diving in the kelp, you probably want to either stay away from having a float or get one as small as possible to avoid tangling. A lot of people will dive with just a float line. There are some floats made specifically for kelp like the the gannet snake float or Neptonics kelp carrot:
https://gannetdive.com/products/snake-float
https://neptonics.com/product/kelp-carrot/
These are able to snake through the kelp a little better. If you didn't read Alex's post from a few days ago, Gannet Dive Co is giving us a discount "A one time, 20% discount on your entire order. Use the discount code: TRITONS2020" so you should check them out.
Thank you Cole for the information. I'm pretty new and figuring things out as I go. It is great to have access to knowledgeable people!
The biggest question is what are you hunting for? Do you need a float? If you're in monterey water... you don't need a float. A simple floatline will do. I have a 50' and 75' for these areas depending on where i'm hunting and how deep I plan on diving. I NEVER use a float or a kelp carrot or the snake float.... They still get tangled in the kelp or on the rocks if I'm going through a cave/swim through. I'd make a case all day for why a float line is better than a reel for our monterey area. If you want to get into that discussion we can. But if you are needing a float because you're going to the islands and want to go after yellow tail or something, Bamboo Reef sells a sporasub float that is super easy to store and blow up. It's a 1 atm float, so you won't want to use it (as your only float) if you're going after larger/stronger fish. Let me know if you have any further questions, we're all happy to help share opinions and experiences. If you're looking for a high end, super nice float, then I'd take advantage of that 20% off Gannet floats. Their gear is legit.
I like to think of it this way: What are you trying to accomplish? What is the right tool to accomplish it? Agreed with Eric on determining your hunting intent. There are all sorts of float types. For the Monterey and north area you're looking at gear carrying and float line floats. Gear carrying floats like inter tubes, boogy boards, and banks boards are commonly used for shore diving to attach guns, stringers, measure sticks, dry bag stuff, etc.. The intent of these it to give you a home base to attach all your gear carrying it to and from the dive location. These are not good to drag around on the end of your float line while hunting as they're very cumbersome and definitely get caught in the kelp. I suggest you bring an anchor rope or "kelp clip" and once you reach your dive location your tie the bulky gear float off and only return to it when you need to. Then you can break off with your gun, float line, and float to be as mobile as possible.
In Monterey and north you're likely hunting rock fish that are not of reasonable risk to run far or dive deeper than you already are so you don't need anything in the 1 ATM blue water float range. They are likely to run to a hole or crack and get stuck requiring returning dives. There's also a likelihood visibility will not be good enough to see the holes and cracks you'd like to investigate from the surface. This is where float lines come in. They let you leave your gun and return to the surface while maintaining confidence you'll find your gun again on a healthy safe new breath to either hunt the hole or recover the fish. With a reel you can return to the surface after shooting a fish while holding onto your gun. I would not advise leaving your gun as a marker because you're just as likely to loose it as the hole you're marking. So I prefer and suggest you use the float line for Monterey and north just as Eric has.
Where the float comes in. Not all float lines naturally make it to the surface. Some have tuna clips on both ends which cause the trailing end to sink. You can remove them but the remaining hardware still weighs it down. Sometimes light current causes the line to stay below the surface. If you keep a hold of it during a return to surface then there's no problem. In my experience it is not always a guarantee you can keep a hold on the line coming up. You're then stuck looking for the end of your line in the vast ocean. Adding a brightly colored float is a good tool to make locating your float line easier. It keeps one end solidly on the surface. It also makes it easier for your dive partners to find. The trade off is the larger the profile of the float the higher likelihood of it getting caught in the kelp. For scale as I mentioned before I used a red/white striped crab pot float. Worked good for visibility but was a bear to pull through the kelp. I've seen a lot of kelp carrots work better than the crab float but still hang up. I went with a Gannet snake float (Yellow) and still use it today. It does get hung up every once and awhile but I find it to be worth the trade off of ensuring I can find my line and ultimately my gun. As with all things forum, this is my personal take on the matter and I'm open to questions. Good on you for seeking information.
@Skyler Blalock Excellent advice and well worded. I'd only add that I took all the hardware off the trailing end of my yellow float line and only the last 3 feet sink so if I'm in 50' of water, I can still easily see my float line. The only time I potentially lose sight is if it gets looped under a rock/cave but I've made it a habit to ensure that doesn't happen. Also, Adam, if you're interested in a dive board that isn't super heavy like the banks board, I've made this write up on how I made my boogie float. I've literally beat it to death and since it's a backpack too, I can rock climb out of sketchy spots or carry all my gear hands free down goat trails... highly recommend. I just made an instructional video of a new board my friend hand me build for him so you'll see that in the coming weeks once edited. http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=84064.msg955005#msg955005
@Eric - The Keeneroo
Thank you Eric, I actually started looking into a boogie board build earlier to replace my inter-tube and purchased leash plugs, and I already had a board. I plan on making one in the near future. I like your set up, the U-Bolts are something that I did not think of.
Thank you all; Skyler and Cole. Your advice is greatly appreciated. I am definitely going to be posting more questions soon, since my google/youtube searches have been less than fruitful for information. I have a speargun question coming up.