I was just wondering if it is just personal preference or if there is some reason for the two designs.  Also, how about those floats that have a wood color with the very, very skinny tip and then towards the middle is the round section.  

Thanks.

The lesser the diameter and the more slender the float, the sooner it will telegraph a bite with the least amount of resistance.

In contrast, a wide diameter float will not begin to sink until a greater amount of force is applied.

The "Ball Float" suffers from two disadvantages:

1. It doesn't bob up-and-down as readily, making it harder to notice a light bite

2. It applies more resistance to the fish early-on, before the float is submerged.

When panfishing, "always" opt for the "Slim-Jim" style float.

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When fishing for 6 to 12 pound bass with live shiners, light bites and resistance are not an issue.

For this reason we normally use party balloon where the shape of the float is happenstance.

I generally tell my guest, blow it up to the size of a chicken egg (that'll work) ;-)

Roger

Like RoLo said the slim jim style will show a much lighter bite.

Gotta agree with Rolo.  For smaller fish all I use is thill pencil float.  Works great.