Going into a tackle shop can be a scary thing when you are a beginner, especially so when it comes to pole fishing. The HUGE array of floats in all shapes, sizes and colours will confuse nearly everyone. Some designs are pure gimmicks and catch more anglers than they do fish but there are some brands that specialise in providing every angler with good quality pole floats.
Okay so you are in the tackle shop and want to buy some pole floats, but where do you start? Well the most important information you need isn’t in the tackle shop; it’s at the waters you are fishing. It’s no good buying 10 floats for a river when you need floats for your local commercial water. If you are going to fish new water and have NEVER visited it before then go take a look and see what the regulars are using; most people are always friendly and willing to help. Of course if it’s abroad or its half way down the country then that’s not possible but today we have the Internet, forums are a great place to post questions about new water that you will be maybe holidaying nearby etc. Total Fishing, Anglers net and hundreds more are all good places to post a question, you are sure to get a quick answer from the above two forums.
With the “local” knowledge you are now prepared to go back to your tackle shop and buy the right floats. 
A regular question from beginners is “How do I know what size float to use?” This is a fairly simple question to answer with this easy to remember guide. Use 0.10gram per one foot of water you are fishing. An example of this is if you are fishing four feet of water use a float with 0.04grams. Another example is 10 feet foot of water would equal 1.0gram float. It’s important to remember that this is a guide and weather conditions will mean you might have to go heavier in windy conditions. This is one more advantage to having more than 1 top kit.
When starting to make your own pole rigs you will need to buy a lot of small bits and pieces to enable an easy job done. It is VERY annoying to find out that you have run out of something like pole float silicone or even something as simple as a pole winder. Here is a guide to what you will need to start your pole rig making.
The most important part of the rig apart from the hook is your bite indication which is the float. If you have followed my advice above and done your home/lakework then you will have found out which floats you need to go out and purchase. A great tip is to not just buy one of each float, even when you are an experienced angler. Buy at least two of the same float in the same sizes you are intending to use. I always buy 3 of each this way it covers you against tangles, breakage etc. Often the case with fishing is you are using a specific float and catching really well but you end up tangling or breaking that rig. You put another one on the same size and set it to the right depth but you are not catching as well as you were. It can and will happen to you no matter how good a pole angler you are.
Next on your shopping list should be some winders, once you have chosen a type of winder stick to the same manufacturers, this looks much better in your tackle box. I personally use Drennan winders. They are excellent quality, cheap and come in several sizes to cater for every float size and width. Make sure the winder is wide enough for the float. Large 4gram river floats for example will require a wider winder than a 0.5gram carp float, finally on the subject of winders make sure the float fits. Do not put a long float on a short winder this will end up causing damage during transport. A short float although will not take any harm being on a long winder try to match the length of the winder as close as possible to the length of the float. This will save you a lot of space in your tackle box as well as looking better.

To keep the loose ends of line on the winder you will need some Pole winder anchors, these come in packs of 10 for around 99pence and come in 3 different sizes. Small, medium and large, this is to avoid over stretching. Over stretching the anchors means you are stretching the line and therefore will reduce the life of the line and lead to possible breakages when using that rig.

Next on your list should be some good quality HI TECH mono line. Hi tech has a stronger strength to diameter ratio compared to the old types of line. One of my personal favourites is Preston Powerline. These lines are generally much more expensive compared to normal type mono line but will work much better when used in conjunction with the internal elastic system of your pole. Lines are just like your floats, buy the sizes that you will need for the fish and waters you are aiming for. Its no good buying a line with a breaking strain of 1.7lb if you are going to use the line for Carp. Balance is the key with all fishing and I will cover this later on in much more detail as this is VERY important to get right.
Now you will need to buy olivetes for your rigs over 0.75gram, these reduce the amount of shot required on the line.

To save money on olivettes takes a look at my top tips page. I highly recommend Drennan for olivettes and as you can see I have plenty of them to cover loss etc. Although you will not need to buy this many its worth having enough, 2 boxes of the sizes you will come to use most is plenty.

Micro Split shot, you will not need your large AAA, BB, 1, 4 and 6’s for your pole fishing, instead you will need much smaller shots a mixed selection of 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 is what you will need to use for 95% of your pole fishing. In rare circumstances will you need bigger shot, but I won’t cover this now. I can personally recommend Preston micro shot, good quality and value. Shot are one thing that if you ask 10 different anglers as to which brand is best you will probably get 6 different answers but Preston shot have been my choice for the past 5 or so years without any problems.

Finally some good quality pole float silicone for connecting the stem of the float to the line after you put the line through the eye on the float. Again these come in several sizes but Drennan make it easy buy selling two packs with 3 different sizes in each pack. Its worth buying both packs as this will last ages and will cover every pole float size you will possibly come across.