Sorry for delay Dace Ive not been to well,in fact Im still rough! The point you make about the price of some pole floats being nearly the same as some ready made rigs is very true!However making your own up is much better as you can make them up specificaly to suit your needs ie size,type and quality of the components.Also if you shop around you can make them cheaper.For good quality,well known brands of float at good prices try going on to Ebay and looking for any auctions from a guy who trades as "Birds Nest Bob" He provides a great service.
POLE FLOATS
The subject of which pole float to use is massive and I would strongly sugest that you get a book on it! but as an easy starting point just look in the weekly angling papers as they often show rig diagrams of float and shoting paterns in their match sections.Just select ones used for similar venues,baits,species and depths to which you want.Here is a VERY brief guide!-
Basicly there are three body shapes-
1. Body up (where the bulk of the body,imagine an upside down tear shape,is at the top) these are generaly used for running water.
2. Body down (where the bulk of the body is at the bottom like a normal tear shape)These are very stable and good for still waters.
3.Slim,a pencil type profile,normally used for seeds and bread punch.
There are also two main types of antennae/tip-
1. Wire,extremely sensitive and used for small baits like bloodworm or in any situation which requires ultra sensitivity.
2. Cane,these are a lot thicker and therefore a lot more bouyant and are therefore suited to much larger baits.
To increase there durability a lot of floats now have carbon stems.
In addition to these three basic float shapes you have one or two specialist pole floats,two good examples of these are
1. The Carp dibber,a very short,stubby float designed for fishing large baits up in the water.
2. The Lollipop,a flat "lollipop" shaped float used for presenting a stationary bait in fast flowing water.
One thing that often causes confussion is the way that shotting capacities are marked on pole floats eg 1.5gm or 4 x16. The 1.5gm is quite explanitory but the 4x16 is the one that causes much head scratching! it does not refer to using 4 number 16 size split shot (could you imagine how small they would be!) but the use of continental "Style" leads.These are a cylinderical shaped weight with a split in and usefull for when you are fishing baits like hemp and dont want the fish to take your normal split shot by mistake.Style weights are not often used in the UK (in fact you dont see the continentals use them much now either!) it is just a traditional way of marking the shotting capacities! A pain in the arse really and about time the manufacturers moved with the times.Andy may be able to publish a conversion chart from styles to shot.
A couple of tips for making your own pole rigs up-
1. Buy yourself a "Dosapiomba" this is a neat little device that helps you find out how much shot your float will take.It is made from a neutral bouyancy plastic.You attach your float to it,put it in a bucket of water and just pop shot on to the little tray built on to it untill the float cocks corectly (remember to allow for the weight of the bait! thats how sensitive pole floats can be) you can then simpley build your rig using the shot from the tray,no guessing or messing about.
2.For the mainline or "body" of your rig it pays to use slightly heavier line than you would normally use.This is simpley so your rig lasts longer.Some of the new hi tech monos are great for this as despite being a lot stronger they still have quite fine diameters.One which comes to mind is made by Drennan and sold specificaly for this purpose.As with all fishing keep the main line heavier than the hook length.
3. Once you have made your rig store it on a winder by hooking the hook into the holder and gently winding it on tie a loop in the top of your rig to attach it to your pole/elastic connector.To secure the loop to the winder use a rubber anchor.It is always a good idea to then mark up the winder with the rigs length,line breaking strain,hook size etc.
4.These days a lot of line used for pole fishing is refered to by diamer rather than breaking strain.
5.When building your rigs there are formula for working out how many turns around a certain size winder will give you a certain length of rig.All to much maths for me! I measure my rigs by simply putting up the required length of pole then building them on it!
6. I mentioned Style leads earlier.The other common way of shotting pole floats is to use "ollivettes" these are merely elongated tear shaped leads that do the job of bulk shot.I would reccomend the Drennan Pole Master range.
As I said earlier take a look in the papers/magazines for shotting patterns untill you build up an understanding of this type of set up.
Sorry its a bit brief but its a real deep subject hope this helps.If you have any specific queries just ask and if I cant help I know plenty who can.
£1.50 to £2.00 maded up. What do you do, and which floats do you use for say canals, pools or rivers. 
Thanks 
£1.50 to £2.00 maded up. What do you do, and which floats do you use for say canals, pools or rivers. 
Thanks 
Made a few rigs up my self. Will give them a try on Wed off down the canal not to far from Worcester. 5mins drive for me. 
