I use an 10 foot spinning rod for float fishing from a pier, you can buy specialist pier fishing rods its up to you but a spinning rod gives you more flexibility. 10 foot is a minimum in my opinion, consider that many piers have walls that are wider at the bottom and that extra length will come in very useful.
Pier fishing rig
10lb or 15lb line straight through will be plenty (I go a bit lighter when possible). Feed a bead onto the main line, then a pencil float, then a ball weight to “cock” the float and a swivel. Attach your leader length to the swivel about 2 to 4 foot tied to your hook. Now the float can be fished at any depth you desire by adding a stop knot or float stop on the line above the float. Fish at all depths until you find the fish!!
Improve your fishing skills
Float fishing is a very exciting way to fish and it hones your skills at striking. Watching the float then suddenly seeing it shoot under the surface is great fun. You can also drift thr rig out in tides or the wind to cover a huge area of water. A float fished sand eel in the back of surf from the beach is also a sound Bass fishing method.
image thanks: goingslo
September 24, 2025 at 13:25
to lift a fish when pier fishing with a shockleader do you have full turns of the reel handle or just the bail arm
September 25, 2025 at 13:15
Not 100% sure what you mean!!!
October 23, 2025 at 04:24
I just signed up to your blogs rss feed. Will you post more on this subject?
October 30, 2025 at 09:26
I am working on more posts… Have you got any you would like to share!!
September 25, 2025 at 17:24
cheers mate
September 2, 2025 at 18:38
I thread the float onto the line and generally I use a stop knot to cock the float
September 2, 2025 at 16:05
Do you float fish using the through the top of the float method or do you use a three way swivel under the float?
Do you use a stopper knot or one of those rubber stoppers you can slide onto the line?
Any thoughts appreciated!!
Cheers
Johnny