Slip Bobber Fishing

[darkstarr33]

Looks like I will need to do a little slip bobber fishing this season so I guess I better get cracking! I'm not new to using a bobber, but I guess there is more techneque, and finess now days so I would like to get some input on equipment i.e. rods, line, bobbers, hooks and a few tried, and true tips I really like the idea of bobber fishing takes me back to the days of when all you needed was a Zebco 202 and what ever line came on it(drag never seemed to work) a 5' glass rod a spring set bobber maybe a split shot or two, and a big fat nightcrawler, and you were ready to catch anything!

darkstarr33

[ILMarbleye]

I learned more about slip bobber fishing from Greg Bohn then anyone or any magazine. He was doing the Walleye Masters Institute last year and gave a great presentation. I would recommend you see a seminar of his or get his book. If I remember correctly, his basic rig has 7 parts.
1. A braided dacron bobber stop
2. Red faceted glass bead
3. Top quality bobber
4. A rubber core sinker
5. Ball beraing swivel
6. Red faceted glass bead
7. Hook or jig

The top bead will help you see the bobber since it will reflect light. A good bobber with a large diameter center to allow the line to slip through easily. The rubber core sinker will not damage the line like a split shot. To swivel attach a slightly lighter line going to the hook. This will allow the bait to move more naturally and also will break before the main line if you get snagged and you will not lose most of the rig. Hope that helped.

http://www.gregbohn.com/modules/web/index.php/id/1

[flemij1]

Ditto the comments on Greg Bohn's book, Master the Art of Slip Bobbering - excellent info on technique and how to. Was at a swim meet this weekend and read the entire book. Can't wait to add floats to the arsenal.

[MN_Moose]

There is also a nice article by Gary Roach in In Fisherman 2007 Walleye guide. The one with Tom Skarlis on the cover.

[hgmeyer]

Bohn's book is a MUST Read... Add to that the new "Pro" series bobbers with the brass insert... Then take in a full day of "seminar" from Mick Thill about bobber fishing.... much more about very subtle bobbers... And, add several years of experience and you will be a great bobber fisherman... The fun is just as much in the learning as in the catching...

[Tom B]

To add to the already great advice....

Use a long rod. We use 8.5 foot salmon rods. Soft enough to lob baits a mile and enough backbone to fight big fish.

We also use larger size reels, longer casts, equals more line.

Tom B

[Chad]

I agree on the longer rods except when you are in the trees, then a short rod is in play.


ChadM

[Reelmn]

I agree with Tom B. I use 9-10 foot steelhead rods and size 4000 Shimano reels.

[duckbutter]

I've found that when using several rods. it really helps to use different colors of line so you can tell them apart. I use the yellow power pro, the green fireline and the pink fireline (am switching to the red power pro this year) Having four or more rods in the water all with bobbbers on a reasonably windy day can cause lots of problems if you can't keep them all straight

[darkstarr33]

Thank you all for you honest input this just what I need to get going on a package. I have been told that a longer in the wind is best 9'+ anyone have a recomondation on rod selection something mid range price for the angler on a budget(tournament season is very expensive)?

[Tom B]

I use Berkley Series One salmon rods. I think they are Buzz Ramsey models. I think they are around $60ish. Bass Pro also has a good selection.

My favorite bobber rods are 8.5 with medium power and med/light action, rated for 6-12 lb line and 3/8-3/4 oz lures.

If you are goofing with one at the store, you want to see a fairly limble tip to upper 1/3 with a strong backbone. When fighting fish, the rod will bend well into the blank, but not into the handle (that would be too slow of an action for me.)

I have looked at longer rods, and to me, it seems like you get extra soft tip and not much else. But, I would also add, that finding rods longer than 8.5 is difficult, so comparing for me, has been hard.

Once I found the rods that I liked, though, I did find some good deals on ebay. I have found that our 8.5 rods are the most versatile, most used rods that we own.

Tom B

[REW]

Tom,
I agree on the discovery of the best rod can be a bit troubling.
For most bobber fishing, I have found that in general, the rod can be pretty stiff. As a matter of fact, if at least 60 % of the rod would be rated a medium or medium heavy - so much the better.

It is nice to have a bit softer tip, but even that is not really that important.

The thing that you don't really want is something like the typical "noodle" crappie rod, or similar rod, where the upper 1/2 of the rod is very whippy, and even the butt section is still pretty wimpy.

The problem is that with this style rod, you h ave so much whip that you lose all of the force of the rod during the case in rod bending.

On the other hand, you can use a very stiff rod to whip out a live bait, if you are a bit careful when you start your cast that you don't accelerate the bait so quickly that you whip it off the end of the rod.

All of the sensitivity you need is in the bobber, so you don't need sensitivity in the rod. Since, you will often have a lot of line out, and you also have to worry about the angle of the line down to the bobber and then back to the rod, you often have to take up a lot of line on a hook set, if you didn't get all of the slack out of the line before starting the hook set. The stiffer rod, and extra length allow you to do a better job of getting a nice clean sweep for the line pickup and hooking of the fish.

Again, you don't want to be so vicious in your hook set - especially if you are using a stiff rod and or non stretch line that you rip out the hook.


I just ran across a rod that I think will make an excellent bobber rod that I will be building later this spring. It is a 10 foot medium action steel head rod, that has a very stiff initial 60% of the blank and then a medium action fast tip for the last 30% of the rod. I believe it will work out well for this application.

Take care
REW

[Bugtussle]

I bought one of the Bass Pro Shop Microlite Float N Fly rods last year to use for slip bobber fishing. It has worked very well for me. Like REW said, the sensitivity is in the float so you don't need to spend a ton of money on a rod.

[Johnnie Candle]

Scheels Outfitters has a nice 7'6" bobber rod in the $60 range. I do believe that Sheldon Miedinger used it to finish 2nd at the PWT Super Pro on Mille Lacs Lake last year.

It bends very much like REW is describing. Very solid back bone and a nice fighting tip. The rod works well for me here on Devils Lake.

[fishinnut]

>Bohn's book is a MUST Read... Add to that the new "Pro"
>series bobbers with the brass insert... Then take in a full
>day of "seminar" from Mick Thill about bobber fishing.... much
>more about very subtle bobbers... And, add several years of
>experience and you will be a great bobber fisherman... The
>fun is just as much in the learning as in the catching...

Mick Thill doesn't talk bobbers, he's a float person.

[hgmeyer]

okay... very subtle "floats".... Mick is an absolute expert at helping you to refine your skills to a fine edge...