Joe Mahler / www.markerjockey.com
4. Floaters
This technique is used to fish a live eel over particularly sticky structure by suspending it below a balloon. Eels will swim down into heavy rocks and lodge themselves in the bottom, one of their more annoying habits. A balloon keeps the eel above the structure and in plain sight of feeding stripers. The rig is identical to the one described for shallow drift fishing, with the addition of an egg sinker to keep the eel down. Once the eel is lowered to within a few feet of the bottom, the partially inflated balloon is tied around the line to hold it there.
