Egi Float Rig vs Active Eging for Squid Fishing Australia

There’s more than one way to catch a squid. Some anglers work an egi actively. Others run a paternoster, hang a jig under a float, or just prop a rod in the holder and wait it out.

All of it puts squid in the bucket. But don’t mistake one for another - they’re not the same game.

At SquidFishing.com.au we’ll happily call float fishing a way of catching squid. We just won’t call it eging, and we won’t pretend it’s how you get good at this. If you actually want to read depth, pick the right colour, control the jig and feel a squid touch it, active eging is the path that teaches you those things. For the broader active-eging system, start with the Eging Australia guide.

A float has its moments. It’s cheap, it’s simple, and it doesn’t scare off beginners. But on most land- and boat-based sessions it strips out the one thing eging is built around:

control.

What Is an Egi Float Rig?

An egi float rig is exactly what it sounds like - a squid jig hung underneath a float.

The idea is simple enough:

• the float holds the rig up;
• the jig sits at whatever depth you’ve set;
• wind, current or wave slop gives it a bit of movement;
• you wait for a squid to grab it.

It’s handy if you’re nervous about feeding jigs to weed, reef or rough bottom, and it lets a first-timer keep a jig in the water without having to work it the whole time.

That same simplicity is the catch. A float quietly turns squid fishing into a waiting game. Instead of learning how your jig sinks, how your line sits, how the current shifts your depth and how a squid actually takes a jig, you hand most of those decisions to a bobbing piece of foam.

You’ll still pick up the odd squid. You just won’t learn much about eging doing it.

What Is Active Eging?

Active eging is casting or dropping an egi, controlling the sink, working it with the rod, holding it in the strike zone, and watching the line for the small stuff.

It’s a lot more than “cast and jerk.” Done properly it means:

• choosing the right jig size;
• counting the sink;
• reading current and wind;
• keeping the jig close to the attack zone;
• giving the jig a natural dart and pause;
• watching the line for tiny changes;
• adjusting depth before the jig snags;
• changing colour based on light and water clarity.

That’s the reason eging asks more of you than float fishing does. You’re not waiting for a squid to stumble onto your jig - you’re presenting it so a squid wants to have a go.

Why Float Rigs Are Popular

Float rigs are popular for one reason above all others: nobody likes losing jigs.

Plenty of beginners can’t yet tell when a jig has hit the bottom. They cast, let it sink, and start worrying that another second of waiting means a snagged, gone jig. So on goes the float.

And it does the job, in a sense. The jig isn’t sinking freely anymore, the depth is locked in, the float sits there in plain sight, and the whole thing feels safer. Fair enough.

But if the only reason you’ve tied on a float is fear of losing jigs, the float isn’t really the fix. Learning to control your depth is.

The Main Problem: A Float Can Ruin Jig Angle

A squid jig is built to do its best work as it falls and pauses at the right angle. In active eging it drops nose-down - somewhere around 45 degrees, depending on the jig, your line tension and the current. That falling posture matters, because the pause and the drop are when squid commit.

Put it under a float and it isn’t falling naturally anymore. The float pulls from above, the wind drags the float across the surface, and the current pushes the line and jig below it. When those four things - float, line, water, jig - aren’t moving together, the jig gets towed along at an angle it was never meant to swim at.

Instead of sitting in the zone the way it should, the jig can:

• tow behind the float;
• lift higher in the water column;
• sit too flat;
• swing unnaturally;
• lose its proper falling posture;
• move too fast or too slowly compared with the current.

Yes, you can pin on a sinker to drive it deeper. But depth isn’t the same as presentation - a jig can be sitting at the perfect depth and still hanging at completely the wrong angle.

That’s the bit that gets missed. Squid don’t reward a jig for simply being “somewhere in the water.” How it sits is what counts.

Boat Fishing: Why Float Rigs Are Often Worse Than They Look

Plenty of anglers run a float rig off the boat as a sleeper rod - one rod worked actively in hand, another sitting in the holder with a float out the back or off the side.

It catches squid, no argument, especially when they’re switched on or when the drift happens to line up nicely with the current. The problem is “happens to.” Most of the time the boat and the water aren’t moving at the same speed.

When the drift and the current disagree, the float drags the jig up and away from where you want it. Add weight and it still won’t necessarily sit right - it just gets pulled through the water instead of falling and pausing like it should. That’s why a boat float rig tends to look better in your head than it does in the water.

If you want a passive or second rod off the boat, a proper tip-run jig or weighted setup is usually the smarter call. It’s built to fish deeper, ride the drift and stay under control.

Which raises the obvious question:

If you’re already on the boat and you just need a jig sitting in the zone, why pay for a float rig when a tip-run jig is made for exactly that?

Paternoster Rigs vs Float Rigs vs Active Eging

These three methods aren’t interchangeable.

A paternoster-style squid setup leans bottom-heavy. It has its place - fishing bait, drifting, or just keeping things dead simple - but it’s still a passive method next to active eging.

A float rig keeps the jig suspended and cuts down snags, but it cuts your feel and control along with them.

Active eging keeps you wired straight to the jig.

Here’s how they stack up:

Method	Control	Bite Detection	Snag Risk	Skill Development	Best Use
Float Rig	Low	Low to Medium	Low	Low	Passive fishing, simple beach or shallow setups
Paternoster Rig	Low to Medium	Medium	Medium	Low to Medium	Bait-style or bottom-based squid fishing
Active Eging	High	High	Medium	High	Learning squid behaviour and presenting jigs properly
Tip-Run Jig	High	High	Medium	High	Boat fishing, deeper water, drift control

None of this means float rigs never catch squid. It means active eging teaches you more and leaves you in control.

When a Float Rig Might Make Sense

There are a handful of times a float genuinely earns its spot.

The big one is beach fishing, where you’re firing a long cast over shallow sand or weed and want the jig held up off the bottom. Cover enough water like that and a cruising squid may well find it.

A float can also make sense for:

• kids or absolute beginners;
• people fishing casually while doing something else;
• very snaggy areas where losing jigs is almost guaranteed;
• slow nights when someone wants to leave a second rod out;
• baited squid jig setups.

For anyone serious about getting better at squid, though, those are the exceptions - not the main event.

Why We Do Not Recommend Float Rigs as the Main Method

Our position is straightforward:

float fishing is squid fishing, but it’s not how you learn to eg.

The real trouble with a float is that it hides the very mistakes you need to see. Can’t tell when your jig’s near the bottom? The float papers over it. Can’t read your line yet? Same story. No feel for how the current moves your jig? Hidden again. And if you’re scared of losing jigs, a float will protect your wallet this week while quietly stalling your learning for the next year.

Good eging runs on feedback. You need to feel, see and understand what the jig is doing down there - when it’s falling, when it’s hanging, when it’s kissed the weed, when the current has shoved it off line, and when a squid has had a touch. A float takes a big slice of that feedback away.

That’s why most experienced eging anglers fish actively. They’d rather donate a few jigs to the reef while they learn than spend years guessing under a float.

How to Stop Losing Jigs Without Using a Float

If the float is really just insurance against lost jigs, work on depth control instead. Here’s where to start.

1. Learn the sink count

Cast into a spot you know and count the seconds it takes the jig to reach the bottom.

• cast;
• let it sink on a controlled slack line;
• keep an eye on the line;
• when the line suddenly stops or goes slack, the jig’s likely down;
• note the count.

Next cast, start working it a few seconds short of that number. If bottom came at 12 seconds, get it moving at 8 to 10.

For a deeper explanation, read the squid jig sinking rate guide.

2. Watch the line, not just the rod tip

Most squid bites aren’t a solid thump.

Sometimes the line just stops early. Sometimes it gives a little twitch, or eases sideways, or goes slack in a way that doesn’t sit right. Watch only the rod tip and you’ll miss plenty of them.

Learning to watch your line for squid bites is one of the most important skills in eging - and it’s exactly the skill a float robs you of, because now you’re staring at the float instead.

For hook-set timing, read when to strike when squid fishing.

3. Use the right jig size

Too heavy and the jig crashes to the bottom too fast. Too light and it never gets down at all.

For most land-based squid fishing in Australia, sizes 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 cover the bulk of what you’ll run into. When the wind’s up, the water’s deeper or it’s the middle of winter, a 4.0 starts to earn its keep - more profile, more casting distance, more control over depth.

The aim was never to tie on the biggest jig you own. It’s to fish the one that keeps you in the zone without constantly burying itself in the bottom.

Use the squid jig size guide if you need to match size to depth, wind and water.

4. Fish above the weed, not inside it

Beginners tend to assume squid are always glued to the bottom. They’re not.

Most of the time you only need the jig near the weed line, the drop-off or the structure - not down in the salad. Active eging lets you work it just above that danger zone, which beats hanging a float because the bottom scares you.

What About Using a Float as a Sleeper Rod?

You can absolutely run a float as a sleeper rod, and there’s nothing wrong with it - as long as you’re honest about what it is: a low-attention, low-control method that might steal you a bonus squid when the conditions fall into place.

Just don’t file it under eging. If you’re serious about catching squid more consistently, your main rod should be worked. Treat the sleeper as a bonus, nothing more.

And on the boat, ask yourself whether a tip-run jig or weighted egi would do the job better. It’s more direct, more controlled and far better suited to drift fishing than a float.

Active Eging Gives You More Ways to Win

The biggest edge in active eging is that you can adapt on the spot.

Squid following but not committing? Stretch the pause out. Water gone clear? Drop to a natural colour. Light fading? Try a glow or UV. Current ramping up? Step up a size. Bottom getting grabby? Shorten the sink count. Feeling soft little touches? Watch the line and pick your moment to strike.

Under a float you’ve got three levers: change the depth, change the jig, or wait. Fishing actively, you’re reading and adjusting the whole time - which is exactly why it out-fishes a float for anyone trying to get better.

For colour decisions, choose squid jig colours by water clarity and light.

Our Recommendation

If you’re brand new, sure, a float might get you a squid.

But don’t build your whole style around one. Learn how your jig sinks, how to read your line, what the current does to your depth, how the different sizes behave, and how to hold the jig in the attack zone without dragging it through the bottom. That’s the stuff that turns you into a better squid angler.

Floats catch squid, but they reward guessing. Active eging teaches control - and over a season, control is what fills the bucket.

Recommended Gear Path

For most anglers, this is the order that makes sense:

1. Start with a solid size 3.0 rotation.
2. Add a 2.5 for shallow, calm or pressured squid.
3. Add a 3.5 for deeper water, more wind or bigger models.
4. Add a 4.0 for winter, wind, current, boat work and deeper edges.
5. Bring in a tip-run jig setup when you want a tighter boat setup.
6. Leave float rigs alone unless the situation honestly calls for one.

You’re not trying to own every jig in the shop. You’re after a working rotation you actually understand.

Shop Active Eging Squid Jigs

If you’d rather fish actively than guess under a float, put together a practical RUI rotation for Australian conditions.

RUI squid jigs are made for anglers who choose by size, colour role, light, water clarity, depth and style of fishing.

shop RUI squid jigs for active eging

For boat work, deeper water or stronger drift, reach for a proper tip-run or weighted setup rather than leaning on a float.

FAQ

Do egi float rigs catch squid?

Yes - they’ll catch squid, particularly when the squid are active, the water’s shallow, or you’re running the float as a passive sleeper rod. They just give you far less control than fishing actively.

Is float fishing the same as eging?

No. Float fishing is a way of catching squid, but it isn’t active eging. Eging is about controlling the jig, working it, reading the line and adjusting your depth and presentation.

Why do beginners use float rigs for squid?

Mostly fear of losing jigs on the bottom. A float keeps the jig suspended and safe - but it also stops you learning to control the sink, which is the skill that actually matters.

Is active eging better than float fishing?

For anyone trying to improve, yes. You get better control of the jig, you spot more bites, and you start to understand how squid react to movement, pauses, depth and colour.

When should I use a float rig for squid?

Beach sessions, very snaggy ground, kids, casual fishing, or a second sleeper rod. Just don’t make it your main method if you want to learn to eg properly.

What should I use from a boat instead of a float rig?

A tip-run jig or weighted egi is usually the better choice off the boat. It gives more direct control and handles drift, depth and current far better than a float.