What's your take on rod floats? Store bought or DIY with a bit of pool noodle. Do they work? Are they a pain when fishing or when stowing gear?

I like the idea that you don't lose your rods if you capsize, or if someone else in the canoe made a dumb move, but I never see anyone else using them. There must be a reason these aren't very popular.

Usually because they interfere to a certain extent with the reason you brought the rod along in the first place.

I for one could have used one. There is a nice Boron rod at the bottom Of Ensign lake.

I used pipe insulation and zip ties for a couple of years. Got annoyed with the line getting hung up so I took them all off.

Fast forward to the day my rod and new reel were pulled overboard after carelessly leaving a lure dangling. Luckily we were in 10ft of clear water with only a light breeze, spotted it after 30m of searching was able to hook and retrieve. No fish, annoyed wife, many curse words.

I continue to fish floatless but I'm much more careful about getting my bait all the way into the boat.

I use both. Tape them down with duct tape and there is no problem with casting. I have dedicated canoeing rods so I leave mine on.

I've heard that the pipe insulation doesn't work very well since it can absorb water and eventually stop floating. I don't know if eventually is counted in hours or years though. I'd hate for the rod float to get saturated because of overnight rain, but on the other hand, replacing it every year or even trip would not be that terrible.

I'm just thinking about it because I got a new rod and reel for Christmas and have been in a canoe where someone was dumb enough to stand up before.

I use them each trip. I only put them on the extra rods in the canoe; I do not put one on the rod I am fishing. To be honest, I never thought about it until reading this thread. Figgured they would be more of an obstruction when casting.

Savage Voyageur: "I for one could have used one. There is a nice Boron rod at the bottom Of Ensign lake. "

that old thing would be worth looking for someday

My fishing rod.

Savage Voyageur: "I for one could have used one. There is a nice Boron rod at the bottom Of Ensign lake. "

Lol, I have a rod at the bottom of Ensign as well, and it was my cousin's fault! I have a rod float (homemade) on my kids rods for BW trips. Luckily we haven't had to put them to the test yet. There's minimal interference, but I put a rubber band above the rod float on the fiberglass to stop the rod float from sliding toward the first eyelet. When it slides forward is when it starts to cause problems.

Tony

I would never use one. I only get 1 (or maybe 2 if I’m lucky) trips per year. There are enough things to manage while fishing in a canoe without thinking about rod floats on the backup rigs.

Feeling the tick of a walleye bite on a jigging rod in a canoe is such a special thing. I would never degrade that with a piece of foam that could get my line snagged.

If I happen to rinse one, that’s the cost of doing business I guess.

I was poking around amazon for rod floats (my youngest is turning 3 soon and I'm thinking of getting her a rod. She's already jettisoned one of mine so it seems like a good idea) and I ran across a replacement split grip butt that has a 60' spool of braid inside with a bright colored float that's released by a salt bobbin when submerged. Pretty novel but it seems like a lot of work to install (also most of the rods I bring on trips dont have a split grip).

In 1999 the wife and I were in North Bay of Basswood . We both hooked up on a walleye and I had to lay My paddle down and over we went. We both lost our custom walleye rods. I tried the next day to snag them of no avail. The wife said never again will I lose a 200.00 rod. She bought these rod floats and has used them every since. Guess I'm too proud to use them.

I tried a couple different floats after losing a second rod while kayak fishing. Both were lost on fluke events but a loss is a loss. Didn't like either float because of line slap when casting and how the balance of the rod was affected so I'm back to no float. Consequently there's a rod at the bottom of Emerald Lake from when I was literally blown out of a lightly loaded Prism.