A homemade Float Line I just finished.

Well here is a cheap float line I made to try this year.  How cheap?  About 8 dollars, using stuff I had on hand and some clear 5/16” vinyl tubing from Home Depot.  I got the idea off of a couple of spear fishing sites.

I got the tubing for 4 dollars a 20' roll.  I wanted a 50 ft line, so simply made two 20' float lines that attach together.  This should make it easy to store and transport.  The shorter 20 ft tubes were definitely easier to thread!  I just need to make another 10-20 ft line to attach.  I might just use a short section of Poly line.

I used a vacuum to suck some fishing line with a bit of cotton on the end through the tube.  I then used this to pull some 155 lb nylon twine I had (netting/mason twine) through the tube.  I tied the line to some 130 lb swivels I had on hand, melted the tag end and put a drop of super glue on each knot.  I put a slight mist of water and then a squirt of silicon into the tube.  The idea is the mist of water will help the silicon vulcanize in the tube.  I then inserted the swivel with a split ring on the end.  I heated the end of the tubing and tied it off with a couple of constrictor knots.  The clear tubing was dyed in half a pack of yellow RIT dye I found in the laundry room.  I let it soak a few hours then rinsed it and let it dry.  I whipped the ends with some more twine and put some black silicone on the thread for looks.  I turned out pretty good.  I will pick up some heat shrink tubing though, to further dress up the ends.  The silicon looks “ok”, but the shrink tubing will look much cleaner.

I wouldn't use it on tuna or yellowtail, but it should be more than strong enough for my AB iron to mark a pocket of abalone, or on my gun for a Lingcod or California Halibut.  I read most guys are using the tubing alone, with no interior line.  I figure it is more work, but more piece of mind to have the tube and the line.

I tested the mason line, and found it broke around 180 lbs pretty consistently, and usually broke at the knot.  I figure this is much stronger than the swivels I used.

I want to build a shock bungee still to hook up to the spear when free shafting for Halibut, to absorb any sudden runs.

Here it is:





What would I do different?  I am concerned the Silicon will not fully vulcanize.  Water entry (if any) through the swivel will finish curing it however.  5200 or Liquid Nails may work better to seal the tube.  I want to get some 300-400 lb tuna cord to try threading through my next tube.  1/8” Nylon rope may work well too, simply for more piece of mind and more color contrast in the tube.  If 180 lbs is good, 400 is better!…at least I think.  Heat shrink tubing for the ends for a cleaner look.

I have some yellow Poly rope I will make a spare float line to try as well.  I do hear the poly tends to knot and tangle, but we will see how it works.  Fun to try new things.

Matt

Mad Matt at it again
Nice work buddy.

I have a 50ft black floatline and its near impossible to see in the kelp when its overcast or vis is not good.  Alot of times it looks exactly like a kelp string and its hard to see it among all the real strings.  I think yours might be camo'd better than mine 

The cheapie $5 clear vinyl one I made with yellow paint inside is nails though. I'll be making another one this season. 30ft, no internal backing line, loop on one end and the other stuffed with styrofoam or closed cell foam then sealed.  Perfect for abs

You're a DIY animal! 



Few notes:

If you're going the hardware store route, get the tubing off the bulk spool.  You want to have as few connections as possible, both for strength, convenience, & aesthetics.  Any connections mid-line will serve as places to get snagged when snaking through heavier kelp and just be a pain in general.

Internal line - sounds like you have good general building procedures.  The floatline I use up here (bought, not made) doesn't have an inner line, but over-engineering in this aspect is never a bad thing so have fun with it... just don't stress too much on this part.

Coloring - for anything in Norcal, you REALLY want to have the most visible floatline possible.  I had the same exact idea as you when making my first floatlines... but I used orange RIT instead.  Both yellow & orange RIT dye produces color looks almost exactly like a kelp stalk... great camo, not so great for intended purposes.   On my first dive with my new fancy floatline, I found a ledge with big abs and left my speargun wedged in the crack to mark the spot.  Grabbed my ab iron off my float about 25yds away & couldn't find my floatline or gun in the thick kelp!!!    Took me almost 2hrs to find it and only did so by swimming near the bottom and spotting the white handle of my speargun sticking out of the ledge.  I had swam back & forth past my floatline at least a couple times.  Especially in bad vis, you want a bright floatline!

Hardware - please don't use those tiny little swivels.  Strength rating aside, those are definitely the real-world weak links in the whole rig.

Heat shrink - can't go wrong with generic heat shrink, but some marine adhesive lined heat shrink would work even better.  Keep in mind that when the tube is pulled tight, the OD will shrink a bit under load... so try to keep the heat shrink in the areas where it's not stretching (i.e. from edge to just past constrictor knots).  It will last longer and look neater that way.

Silicone or 5200 - both work well.  Squeeze an adequate amount in & no worries.  If you use a commercial plug, you can get by with minimal sealant (or none at all).

Have some more rambling thoughts, but figure that's enough for now. 




If you have any questions or need some hardware, post here or PM me. 

I always wondered why used float lines were so pricey until  I made  a 100 '  line last summer.  3/8" clear tubing from Friedmans @ $.30 a foot and 1/8" tuna line from Outdoor Pro  @ $.60 a foot.  Sucked some lime green paint and added brass snaps to finish it off.  I'm replacing the brass snap on the gun end with something.    DcBatt

Great advise Fuzz!  That is the kind of input I needed.

I think I will order some of the heavier clips on the next one.  What do you recommend?  I have seen tuna clips and stainless inserts used a lot.  I have some 130 lb plastic coated stainless cable that I could make loops from and crimp to a good barrel swivel.  The looped ends would allow me to switch out hardward and clips easily.

I am going to get my next tubing from Ace on the bulk roll.  I am going to go with 50-60 ft.  I have some 100 lb Dyneema I may put inside next time, maybe even double it up for 200 lbs.

I think you are right about the color.  I may try to paint or re-dye it.  I read about blowing Orange marking paint down the tube, and the colors really looked good on the ones I saw.  I have a couple cans of floro. orange I could try, it would be much brighter then dying the plastic and better contrast in the water.  I know red colors turn dark about 12-15 ft, a darker neon blue may work better for the portion of the line under the water?  I do know neon colors don't loose their color like spectrum colors.



I am going to clip these lines together and run a larger piece of tubing over the clips for now.  In fact, I am going to replace the clips with a heavy duty stainless snap ring through the base for strength.  I might just use this for my ab guage and make the new one for my gun. 

Keep the advise and rambling coming.  Thanks

I made a few lines that look like yours I used tuna cord inside a couple and marker lines w/o. I made some turned delrin and aluminum plugs with holes for shackles and swivels etc.

Heres a color chart for mixing custom dye colors.
http://www.ritdye.com/Create_Custom_Color.9.lasso

I think I will order some of the heavier clips on the next one.  What do you recommend?  

Here's a site where you can get a lot of what you'd need.  http://www.craigfloatlines.com/Hardware.html

Re: your plan to put a bigger tubing over the connection of the two you made.  The weight of the hardware will make that heavier and sink a bit.  And there's no way of securing it well.  A strong yank and it'll pop off.  

 I made one and tested the ends by hooking up to my hitch and was able to lean back on the line and rock my truck back and forth.  The tubing stretched, but neither the line nor clips failed.  

Great advise Fuzz!  That is the kind of input I needed.

I think I will order some of the heavier clips on the next one.  What do you recommend?  I have seen tuna clips and stainless inserts used a lot.  I have some 130 lb plastic coated stainless cable that I could make loops from and crimp to a good barrel swivel.  The looped ends would allow me to switch out hardward and clips easily.

I am going to get my next tubing from Ace on the bulk roll.  I am going to go with 50-60 ft.  I have some 100 lb Dyneema I may put inside next time, maybe even double it up for 200 lbs.

I think you are right about the color.  I may try to paint or re-dye it.  I read about blowing Orange marking paint down the tube, and the colors really looked good on the ones I saw.  I have a couple cans of floro. orange I could try, it would be much brighter then dying the plastic and better contrast in the water.  I know red colors turn dark about 12-15 ft, a darker neon blue may work better for the portion of the line under the water?  I do know neon colors don't loose their color like spectrum colors.

My personal recommendation for norcal is a stainless insert on gun/ab iron side of the floatline terminated with a medium sized swiveled tuna clip.  The back end should just be plugged with something light or with a loop of line.  I've seen a few commercial lines with bulky back ends that sink slightly due to the weight of the hardware.  If you want to connect the floatline to a float, just put a clip on the float/bodyboard to attach to the loop of the floatline.  For norcal diving, you're using it as a marker with no float 99% of the time, so you want the floatline to be as bright and buoyant as possible.

Probably better off with cheap thicker cordage than that thin 100# dyneema. If the floatline ever breaks (highly unlikely), that thin line under strain could be dangerous to hold.  As SpinalTap mentions & I alluded to earlier, you really don't need any line inside, but if it gives you peace of mind... go cheap. 

I know several people who've gone the paint in the tube route.  Looks good, cheap, & easy.  After you coat the inside, try to blow air through it with a compressor or something to get excess out.  The flo.orange stuff you have will be perfect.  One shortcoming with that method is that some types of paint don't adhere to the tube and start cracking off the inside wall over time.  Not much of a problem, just something to be aware of.  For the price of regular tubing, I'd say just bypass all these steps and ordering some colored tubing from the link SpinalTap posted.

Your vacum idea, left me wanting to show an easier way to thread your line.  Use about 3 feet of dental floss tied to the line you want to pull through.  floss is great because it is woven and stronger than it looks, and is light, and most Vac's suc it through without a problem.

You can also hang the tubing over the side of a parking garage. Tie the end of the tuna cord to something very thin and heavy and drop it in. You need a buddy at the other end to tie it off.

I ended up just putting a funnel on the end of my shop vac hose, put the tube in the small end and it sucked the fishing line with a tiny piece of cotton right through.  I then pulled the heavier line through with the fishing line.  The funnel made it a lot easier and increased the suction.  I probably could have sucked the mainline through to begin with like kmstorm64 mentioned.

I have read a magnet can be used to pull a little wire with fishing line attached though the tube as well.

The prices on that PVC colored tubing are really good.  I may go that route.  I do have a compressor if I need to blow paint through.  I like the end loop idea.  I do want to get a small float or carrot for halibut hunting, and that would make it really easy to attach.

Great Ideas.

Matt