Patent ID: 7877924

Claim:
A fishing leader and float combination comprising: a tapered fly-fishing leader having a tip end, a butt end, and an outer surface between said tip end and said butt end, wherein the tip end has a smaller diameter than a diameter of the butt end and the outer surface is tapered from said larger diameter butt end to said smaller diameter tip end; a float attached to said leader, the float comprising a single main body and a single bore through the main body, the main body having a first end, a second end, a side surface, and a longitudinal axis between said first end and said second end, wherein said bore extends from said first end to said second end parallel to said longitudinal axis, and the main body further having a Z-shaped slot extending from the side surface to said bore and consisting essentially of a single central slot portion in a central slot plane that is generally transverse to the longitudinal axis, wherein the single central slot portion has a first extremity and an opposing second extremity, a first end slot portion extending in a first plane from the side surface to the bore and from said first extremity to the first end of the single main body, and a second slot end portion extending in a second plane from the side surface to the bore and from said second extremity to the second end of the single main body; wherein said first plane and said second plane are different planes that are each parallel to said longitudinal axis, and wherein said first end slot portion and said second end slot portion are at an angle to each other that is less than 180 degrees; wherein the leader extends continuously all the way through the bore and exits said main body at said first end and said second end, and said float is secured to the leader and immovable on the leader only by means of an interference fit between the bore and the tapered outer surface of the leader.