Bobber Rod

[JJ]

A buddy of mine has helped me out recently and I'm thinking about getting him a fishing rod. He needs/wants a "bobber rod" for crappie,perch and ocasionally walleye. My question is what makes a rod a "bobber rod". Is it long/short, soft/firm? Its a surprize so I can't do the obvious..... What do you guys think? thanks

[Keith Krych]

IMHO I like a lone rod for bobber fishing.
By long I mean an eight to nine footer. It should have a fast action with plenty of back bone in the lower part of the rod to set the hook. A longer rod helps you cast a light bober rig farther and lets you pick up the line faster for a good hook set.

I personaly like the double ring slider bobbers fron Thill and lindy little joe. Give them a try.

Keith Krych
NPAA #372

[Pitts]

I bought a Pinnacle proffessional walleye series rod pws70 spb 7' one piece, with a Quantum HC3 longstroke hypercast as a package deal for 49$ and it works great for bobber fishing and pulling cranks and bottom bouncers all for walleye.
The post above is right go long and if you friend will have trouble with a real long rod get a 2 piece. The longer it is the better the hookset at greater distances with mono.
I prefer to use the slips that can be removed any time the ones with the cap and you spin the center core to remove and change to a different presentation just skip the bead and leave the tag ends longer 1/4" they work great with a 1/2 oz splitshot.
I like to use a larger bobber in large waves it's easier to see and with the 1/2 oz shot you can get back down in a hurry in deeper water stay away from using 2 or 3 shots because they get tangled together easily.
This advice comes from a guy who has 2 boys that love to fish and we have been bobber fishing in 4' waves on MilleLacs in a 16' boat when they were 5 and 7 years old all day long and it's fun to see them walk after that ordeal on solid ground again LOL.
They are now 12 and 14 and have really started to figure out other ways to fish.

Sorry so long and I hope this helps

Pitts

[Mattman]

Get a long rod with a soft tip and some good backbone from the center down. I have a Berkley, Gary Roach signature Crappie rod that's 6'6". I really like using it on Panfish and slip bobbering Walleyes. If I were to get a rod soley for Walleyes I'd want a little heftier rod but it pulls double duty rather nicely. Price was certainly right.

[ufda]

I wouldn't suggest anything shorter than 8' You need a long sweep set as, with float fishing you can end up with loose line lying in the water and also, the angle from the rod tip through the bobber to the hook is not a straight line as it would be fishing many artificials and jigs. The other advantage of the long rod is you can side arm nightcrawlers, with or without a float, without flipping them off the hook. The sensitivity of the rod is not important when float fishing, but if it is going to be used for working crawlers or lindy rigging along the bottom, then sensitivity is paramount! The weight of the rod is also important as a long rod that is heavy can wear you out.
Hope this helps.
ufda