During the summer months, as many steelheaders will attest, a cork float provides an easy and effective way to fish a small jig over wary summer-runs. I used cork floats all of last summer, and never really found anything I didn't like about them (except maybe their tendency to roll around a bit in the water). The couple dink float making tutorials I'd seen on here got me thinking, though: summer-run fishing is already almost costless gear-wise; I tie my own jigs for a matter of cents and I usually only have to spool my reels up once or twice; I guess the only thing of any real cost would be the floats. They're not expensive by any means, but losing several throughout the season, as you inevitably will fishing pocket water and riffles, starts to add up to money you could be using to buy better things fishing-related or otherwise.
I figured there had to be a cheap solution. I dropped a hint to zonker in his dink tutorial about taking up corks next, but it seems as though he's run off lately. I guess I'm left to do it myself.
Here's what you'll need:
-A bunch of styrofoam balls from the craft store--you choose the diameter. [Obviously, these will be styrofoam rather than cork floats, but, as you'll see, the final product is no different (maybe even preferable).] I chose 1" for the diameter, and cut my led to weight the balls equivalently to a 1" cork ball.
-Coiled led, cut into pieces such that the combined weight of a piece of led and a styrofoam ball of a given size is comparable to the weight of a cork ball of similar size. This can be calculated with a kitchen scale, or estimated by hand.
-Waterproof glue (for closing off the cells in the styrofoam, which, from what I found, was not very dense).
-Various colors of acrylic paints, including colors that provide a natural silhouette against different lighting conditions (i.e. sunny, bright overcast, dark overcast, pre- or post-sunrise blue, etc.), and also a flourescent color like hot pink or orange.
-A paint brush
-Styrofoam cups
-Pointed round toothpicks
It should look something like this:
Ok, you're ready to begin. Start by pushing each piece of led towards the center of each styrofoam ball until the end is flush with the curve of the ball, like this:
Next, choose a color of paint (save the flourescent--that's for later), and mix it in equal parts with the waterproof glue. Stick a now weighted ball with a toothpick, and get the paintbrush ready:
Proceed to coat each ball with a layer of paint/glue mixture, making sure to add a generous amount around the led's point of entrance to insure that it stays in. As you finish each one, poke the supporting toothpick into an upside down styrofoam cup (not the one you're mixing paint in!) and let it dry:
(Looks like I'm getting ready for a chemistry project or something)
Once the surfaces have dried, remove the toothpicks and group the balls together so they won't roll around (I used an overturned paper plate) and apply a ring of white paint opposite the side of the led-hole (this should be the top, when the ball is resting, as the led will naturally rest on the bottom):
If you choose white as one of your base colors, PLEASE do not apply a ring of white paint.
Next, apply a layer of your flourescent paint within the white ring; the hot pink I chose will provide great visibility in most all lighting conditions:
Finally, dip your leftover toothpicks halfway in the flourescent paint, lay them down, and, while they're drying, take a bodkin or large needle and poke a hole all the way through each ball in close proximity to and parallel with each piece of led:
Let everything dry overnight (some waterproof glues take several hours to set), and pack your vest in the morning. When it's time to rig up, simply run your line through the needle hole and fix it at the desired depth by inserting a painted toothpick into the hole.
These do not take long to make at all, they will not roll in the water like corks because of their centeredness on the led, they are highly visible without spooking fish (perhaps more subtle than corks), and they ending up costing me less than 10 cents each (most people will have many of the components on hand at home).
There it is. If you've got any questions, fire away.
