Errr … Bubble Floats? Close, but let’s not get too prejudiced. Thingamabobbers are more or less wee moulded plastic balloons. The story goes that American guides used balloons as sight indicators and these were designed to be both tougher and easier to fit.

So, having gotten over the Bubble Float issue, the smallest and latest size Thingamabobber can be tied into a fly very easily, by either lashing down the stump or by threading the hook through the hole. The result is a bubble of air fitted to a hook, one of the most rugged and visible methods of making a fly float – no need to dry the fly or apply floatant and the plastic bubbles are almost indestructible. It's ideal for faster, rougher water where flies are quickly pulled under and with the best will (and floatant) in the world they become waterlogged pretty quickly.