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Thill America's Classic Float

Thill

Thill America's Classic Float

Fish a bed at twenty feet as easily as at two.

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Missouri's conservation department records crappie spawning as shallow as one or two feet in stained water and as deep as twenty feet or more in exceptionally clear water. A fixed float cannot fish the deep end of that range. A slip float can fish all of it.

Why the Thill America's Classic Float stands out

The clarity problem, solved

Bluegill nest depth increases through the season as water warms, and in clear lakes colonies have been recorded past thirteen feet. If you are only fishing the first three feet on clear water in late June, you are looking in the wrong place — and a fixed float is why.

Also the catfish presentation

A slip float is the standard way to drift a bait past riprap and cavity structure for spawning channel catfish, and to suspend a bait over brush without hanging up.

Set it once, cast it all day

The stop knot slides to depth and the float runs down to the bait for casting. That is the entire point: no compromise between depth and castability.

At a glance

Depth rangeEffectively unlimited — set by the stop
SpeciesBluegill, crappie, channel catfish
Pairs with1/32 and 1/16 oz jigs, live minnows

The verdict

The rig that lets one setup cover a stained farm pond and a gin-clear reservoir. Given how much of this site's panfish advice turns on water clarity, it is the more useful float.

ChronicAnglers is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you.