Monday, June 28, 2010

An Interview with a Fellow Junkie....




This amazing collection of glass fishing floats belongs to Patrick. I recently befriended Patrick on Facebook after he joined my Glass Fishing Float Collectors group. He lives in Malaysia & is also a glass float enthusiast. He answered a few questions for me regarding glass floats.

1. How did you become interested in glass fishing floats?

P: I became interested since encountering them while hunting for wild boars. Never knew anything about it before. Was forewarned by local people about taking them home. They believed they housed evil spirits. That fired me even more.

2. Where do you find them?

P: In the littoral forest bordering the beach in my country. I have traveled the length and breadth of my country hunting them down. I guess there are not many left to be collected. From analysis of currents and winds, I conclude that the balls arrived here via freak storms/tsunamis originating from Japan, Taiwan, Korea....some 40-50 years ago. They were pushed way beyond the high tide zone, stashing them away for decades. Moss has covered many of those I have collected. Many have been covered by sea sand and re-exposed by wild boars digging for food.

3. What types of floats do you usually find?

P: From 1"-14" balls. We find very few 14" balls though. There are also rolling pins, sausages, a bullet roller, half of a binary & others but nothing compared to yours. You are the champ.

4. What is your favorite float?

P: A very black-brown 6" ball, beating my bullet and all others for good reason.

5. How long did it take you to collect all of the floats in the photo?

P: 4 years, but the rate of strikes has diminished. That's why I have time to weave nets to hang them up. Hahaha!

6. How many floats do you think you have?

P: Big & small - a thousand plus-minus. All self found and all authentic. All definitely my darlings! Ah, I fight tooth and nail with my family for space! Hahahaha!

Patrick also mentions that shards of glass floats that are found on rocky beaches are also considered treasures.

Here are a few more floats from Patrick's vast collection.

Patrick with his daughter after a long day of beachcombing.

Sausage roller

Hokkaido roller

A float buried in the sand. Patrick says the wild boars had dug it up.


An American made float found on the beach in Malaysia. It's been on a long journey!

Taiwanese float with the "pie seal"

Patrick with a Tohoku roller


Bullet roller

Thank you so much, Patrick, for answering my questions & sharing your floats with us! May you have many more successful float hunting trips & continue to find these amazing treasures!!

12 comments:

  1. such a neat post!
    thanks for sharing!!
    warm sandy hugs..
    Loui♥

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    1. Love these! Imagine how many days and nights they have lolled around on the surface of the ocean! Lensball Photography

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  2. How awesome! That's crazy about the wild boars. Who would of thought? Thank you for sharing Patrick's story.

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  3. WOW.. so enjoyed this interview. Not only a beautiful thing to collect but they are a part of history! Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Another world is opening up for me! Thanks for such a wonderful interview~

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  5. Kamichia, thanks for the post. I hope it will encourage others to take up this very special hobby. It is really very unique. And the world needs more people like you, people with a vision and mission. Soon, the glass ball journey around the world, will, hopefully unite people from the 4 corners of the world.
    Bottoms up!

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  6. So cool! What a great collection he's got..., and he weaves the nets!! The roller he's holding is quite large too. Great post!!!

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  7. I love how spirited he is about collecting and I think it's so interesting how he tells that many are nowhere near the shore, but infact buried further inland for decades- how cool is that?! Great post, thanks for sharing!

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  8. I'm in awe... simply breathtaking.

    Thanks for posting this - a beautiful blog.

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  9. I have one float that my husband found on our last Vacation to Oregon, before he passed away, it isn't netted, can you tell me the best way to display it?

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  10. I just measured it it is 27" in diameter

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