Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
Anglers who fish for sharks, chunk for tuna and fish at night for swordfish often use balloons as floats to suspend their baits at various depths in the water column. Using balloons as floats has the advantage that they are relatively cheap, don’t take up much space on a boat (at least when they aren’t inflated) and come in different colors, which allows fishermen to color-code and more easily keep track of multiple baits.
But as effective as they are, balloons also have their share of problems. The first issue anglers must overcome is how to attach them to their fishing line. Most folks use the quickest and easiest way and just make a slip-knot loop in their line, pass the balloon knot thru the loop and pull the line until the knot closes and holds the balloon to the line. This holds the balloon firmly to the line but makes it rather difficult to remove from the line after a hook-up or even at the end of the day. Sometimes getting the slip-knot out of the fishing line can be a problem and anglers end their day with a bunch of little knots in their line.
Another way to attach a balloon to a line is to first tie a short piece of light kite string or floss to the balloon and then tie that to the fishing line. Since it’s not uncommon for a shark or bluefish to actually bite the balloon, a little distance between the balloon and the fishing line can be a good thing to prevent being cut off by the quarry. The drawback here is that it takes extra time to attach a balloon this way and it can be a hassle getting all remnants of the balloon line off the fishing line at the end of the day.
In my book, the biggest drawback of using balloons as floats is that balloons in the ocean have been proven to cause injury and death to fish, turtles, dolphins, whales and seals that sometimes mistake them for food and eat them. Though most of the balloons floating around in the ocean were originally filled with helium and released from land, fishermen who use them as floats also contribute somewhat to the problem of too many balloons in the ocean ecosystem.
For all the aforementioned reasons, it’s been a long time since I’ve used balloons for fishing, opting instead for a better alternative of using foam floats that stay on the line when we get a bite and can be recovered, used again, and eventually disposed of properly when their time is done.
So a few weeks ago, when I got a call from a fellow who said that he had a new product called the “Balloon Fisher King” that was designed to hold a balloon to a fishing line, my first reaction was “thanks but no-thanks.” Having spent so much time over the last decade or so suggesting that folks avoid using balloons as floats, I wasn’t about to start touting the virtues of a device that might actually promote their use.
But as I learned more about the design and use of the Balloon Fisher King, I realized that the device actually addresses most of the problems and concerns of using balloons the conventional way. The Balloon Fisher King is simply a small plastic clip with a groove in one end that holds the knot of a balloon, on the other end is a spring-loaded snap that can quickly be secured to a fishing line with just one hand. In less time than it takes to think about it, a balloon float can be snapped to a fishing line. Later, if the balloon must be removed or just repositioned somewhere else on the line, it’s as easy as squeezing the clip and making the adjustment.
Easy on and easy off is great for the fishermen, but that still doesn’t help the goofy critters that want to eat the balloons. Makers of this product tackled that dilemma in two ways; first, with each clip they supply a selection of balloons made of 100% natural latex which biodegrades quickly and completely when exposed to the marine environment. Next, they point out that even when the balloon pops – what’s left of it usually stays attached to the clip so it can be recovered and properly thrown in the trash rather than left floating about the ocean.
The Balloon Fisher King is simple to use, seems to do exactly what the manufacturers claim it will do, is reusable and appears to be pretty durable (although time will tell) and it is relatively inexpensive. The only drawback I see is that since it holds the balloon very close to the line, there will always be the threat of a shark or bluefish biting the line, but that’s a problem with most float systems anyway and really doesn’t happen all that often. While I’m not recommending that anglers scrap all their other float systems and use balloons from here on, I will suggest that if fishermen insist on using balloons, that the best and most responsible way to use them is with the Balloon Fisher King snap.
More information on the Balloon Fisher King products can be found at: balloonfisherking.com
Captain Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and captain of the charter boat “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.
