How to use Waggler float

[shizuma]

Hello,

Today I bought a Waggler Heavy float. When I equip this float, it shows light, medium, and heavy. What does this mean?

Edited March 20, 2022 by shizuma

[Tonto]

14 hours ago, shizuma said:

Hello,

Today I bought a Waggler Heavy float. When I equip this float, it shows light, medium, and heavy. What does this mean?

The weight designation on the float should be matched appropriately with the corresponding weight designation on the bait being used. Heavy baits will sink to the bottom with light wagglers, and light baits will sit too high with heavy wagglers obfuscating the ding sound of a bite in some environments.

[shizuma]

Thanks for your reply.

[BabyBoomer_60]

Hi Shizuma,

I had similar questions when the better floats and wagglers became available sometime ago.

I used to float fish my local lakes a lot and use wagglers and we used to use the weights to shot the float down so just the tip of the float was visible above the waterline. As the line is only connected to the bottom of the waggler the line could then be submerged between the float and the rod and hence would not be subject to the effects of wind and drift on windy days. The float would be more sensitive as only the small portion above the waterline would need to be pulled down when a fish took the bait. The waggler float having a long shaft below the waterline could register a "lift bite" particularly if the small shot weights beneath the float down near the bottom were set at the correct depth. So that a fish taking the bait on or near the bottom would also lift the lower weight and this would make the float rise up or sometimes lay on it's side. The game will sometimes mimic a "lift bite" when you are fishing on or near the bottom and the float will lift/rise up or even lay on it's side. This seems to work best if you are float fishing the bottom of a deep hole.  

The game includes the weights for the waggler but unfortunately they do not seem to affect the height of the float tip that floats above the waterline and that is a shame as some of the realism of the lift bite is lost.

I seem to remember that if you use the same bait in game but change the weight ie change from light to heavy that the waggler will actually cast out further. However, the in game wagglers can be cast quite a long way anyway so you may not really need to use the heavier weight to cast where you want to fish. It's been a while since I tried out the weights on the wagglers - so maybe have a go and see how this turns out.

It would be really nice if the weights actually affected the height of the float tip above the waterline and maybe even have the ability to change weights and their position below the float as this can really affect how a float registers a bite.

Tight Lines

[shizuma]

Thank you BabyBoomer_60.

And sorry for the delay in replying.

[Saberneko]

Another practice I've seen is that if you're trying catch a deep-water fish (e.g. catfish), you can use a light wiggler with a heavier bait and it will sink down into the water.  I think the depth depends on the weight difference.  For example, if you use a light wiggler, a very heavy bait will sink further than a medium or heavy bait.  It doesn't work as well as the bottom/feeder rods as the float will still move a bit in the water with the bait , but it allows you some flexibility and more uses for your float/match rods. 

On a separate note, anyone know when to use a Waggler vs a Slider?  It says that Wagglers are good for shallow waters vs. Slider in deeper waters, but given you can also use Wagglers for deep water, are there any benefits in using a slider?