What's a good float for blue water? I was thinkin about trying a ski-tube(you know the kind that you pull people on behind a boat), it's definitely stout enough but I wonder if it could be too buoyant or have too much drag, leading to tear outs. Those lifeguard floats are neat but I've heard too many stories about them gettin sucked down and never seen again.

That would be high drag. Try a boat fender, they make the round ones and they are pretty low drag. I like to hang my fish on em to keep the sharks away. I allways tow a dive flag behind it when diving. They also make a longer cylindrical one that has conical eyes at each end, they work well too. Orange and white are my colors of choice. Pick your size according to the fish you plan on spearing. Tuna type fish will require a larger float.

I also use a 18 inch one with 175 feet of poypropilene line and a mushroom anchor as a wreck marker so we can guage current speed and a visual reference to wreck position when diving on scuba. We buzz the wreck, sight it on the depth sounder, make a second pass and drop it.

No tuna just big AJ, hopefully 120+, so I'll need a pretty hefty float he can't pull down.

Noah, I have some real nice thick bumpers you can try next time we go out.

The thing is to tire him out no make him come to a complete stop. You might want to try 3 floats with a couple yards of rope between them. You might want to make each bigger than the last and the last one really big so if he downs the first two the third will prevent you losing gear.

I have a float (like the riffe) and 75ft of riffe floatline and a 10ft and a 30ft bungee....What would be the maximum size tuna to be had with this setup? 30-50lbs?
thanks

I have a float (like the riffe) and 75ft of riffe floatline and a 10ft and a 30ft bungee....What would be the maximum size tuna to be had with this setup? 30-50lbs?
thanks


Where are you planning to place the shot? ;)

I have a float (like the riffe) and 75ft of riffe floatline and a 10ft and a 30ft bungee....What would be the maximum size tuna to be had with this setup? 30-50lbs?
thanks


According to the lift on the float itself. But the Bungee makes a big differance. instead of fighting straight against the float he has to fight the bungee out to it max streach point then pull the float down. only way he is truly going to win the battle is to hole up or get the float tied up in something. Eventually the float will win no matter how big the fish...

The standard Riffe floats like mine with a single atmosphere in them have like 85lbs of lift which is ALOT and very hard to pull down. So that in combination with a bungee that can strech a good distance, I dont see why a 150-200lb fish is a problem with a well placed shot. of course a slip tip will be a good idea.

Check if your bouyancy suits you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buoyancy

Why not just buy a good bluewater float like the Aimrite, Riffe 2 ATM, RA Hippo, Tommy Botha, Technosport Hypalon, etc.?

Call me cheap, but I refuse to pay $100-200 for something I can make myself. Although, by the time I buy the materials for the project and screw around with the inevitable dud float ideas, it'd probably be cheaper just to buy the damn store float... but that's no fun!

That's the same place that I'm at, Noah. I've tried the homemade floats and the ones commercially available are worth it to me now. They float so high that you don't even notice them on the floatline (except the Tommy Botha floats) and they are pretty tough too. The RA/Rabitech/Technosport floats are probably the most economical for a large inflatable.

Here's a DIY I've tested out a couple of times (2-10# fish) and seems to hold up well, I made them detachable from 3L bottles filled with foam- zero drag