Slip Bobber Rigging- How to!

[JoeW]

skinnywater--- if your rod is 6-7 feet long and you're casting over hand (over your head), and you're standing up, there ought to be about 10 feet from the tip of the rod to the ground or bottom of your boat. The bobber stop would be near the tip top. All the weight is down the line around the bait. That's the beauty of the slip-bobber! Much easier casting! 10 feet is about maximum, but any deeper than that, and you probably shouldn't be using a bobber at all! It's also an aid when playing/landing a fish as there's no bobber 6 feet above the fish flopping around. Try it! Best------ JoeW

[bass or bass?]

I'm giving this rig a shot Friday.

[bass or bass?]

Hey JoeW, how do you shape your homemade styrofoam slip bobber floats? I have a piece of foam 5 1/2" by 2 1/4" by 2 1/4" rectangular that I want to shape cylindrical and rounded at the ends, but pieces flake off as I cut it and yours look so well shaped. What's the answer?

[JoeW]

Whooo Boy! You caught me! I used round cylinders of foam from a craft/sewing store. They were cheap enough!
Couple tips:
To round the ends, I first cut them into rough shape with a serrated knife (seems to cut smoother) and then just sanded them. And yes, you're going to have styrofoam crumbs ALL over the place!
I put a small "coffee stirring" straw through them and glued it in with epoxy. Keeps the line from cutting through the foam.
To get your line through the straw, poke it in a little, then suck on the other end of the straw- don't laugh, it works!
Remember-- neatness does not count on these home made bobbers!
What are you going to use them for? I made mine to hold big suckers for bait. The one's I found were either too big or too small! These came out perfect! Have fun--- best--- JoeW

[bass or bass?]

Thanks, I'll work on mine and try to make it as neat as possible. I found out about using a serrated knife when I did my boat rebuild and replaced the flotation foam. I cut all the new foam with a serrated knife. Had some shipping foam and thought it would make a good large slip bobber.

[bass or bass?]

Wow, I just found a great way to trim styrofoam for slip bobbers. I own a dental laboratory and have bench top electric motor grinder/polishers for grinding/cutting/polishing acrylic and metal. The grinder is also attached to a dust collector to vacuum the debris during the work. I cut @ a 3" circle of Scotch Brite pad and mounted it on a mandrel and inserted it into the chuck, then ran the motor on a medium/slow speed. This trims off the styrofoam very nicely and the dust collector sucks up all the foam crumbs. I only spent a couple minutes on it and it turned out rather well. You could duplicate this method with an electric drill held by a vise with a shop vacuum hose directly behind the work piece or do it outdoors to allow the crumbs to blow away.

[BrowningMan]

Just wondering...I have never used a bobber stop but have seen them. If the bobber stop won't fit through the line guides on the pole, how is it that it can be adjusted up to 10 feet without having to cast that ten feet? Let me know if I need to reword this question, it makes sense in my head. LOL

Thanks
Brown

[JoeW]

Hi Brown--- read post #11 above. You WILL have ten feet of line from your rod tip, BUT all the weight (bobber, shot, bait) will be concentrated down together as the bobber "slips" down your line as you prepare to cast. Yes, that ten feet of lie is akward (that's about max for this kind of fishing), but not nearly as awkward as having to cast with the bobber ten feet above the shot and bait. Best---- JoeW

[BrowningMan]

OK, I get it. You will have to cast up to ten feet of line, but all the weight is at the bottom, making the ten foot cast easier...Got it. Gonna have to try this. One more question related to this topic; if you don't have a boat (like me) and have to fish from the bank. I know that water depth in relation to where the fish are is important, but if you don't know the proper depth due to lack of electronics and fishing from the bank, how will I know what depth is appropriate for the use of the bobber stop?

[bass or bass?]

Cast @ a 1/4 ounce weight and the sink rate will be @ one foot per second. Count the drop rate until your line starts to go slack. That's your approximate water depth.

[BrowningMan]

Thanks for the reply. What I was actually talking about is lets say (hypothetically) I'm fishing a 20 foot deep pond. The fish are lurking at about the 8 foot marker, but I'm on the bank with no electronics and I don't know that. So how will I know where to set my depth on the bobber stop in order to make the bait the most accessible for the fish? I understand how this would be useful if you were in a boat and knew how deep the fish were, but alas, I have no boat. LOL, so how can I put this to practical use from the bank for the time being?

[JoeW]

Ha ha ha (or should I say "Ho ho ho"?). The slip bobber rig doesn't find the fish for you. But in that situation, we usually start shallower with the set-up, say maybe 4 feet. If no hits in a reasonable amount of time-- set it 2 feet deeper, etc, until you reach the maximum that still is convenient for casting. That's a second beauty for the slip bobber- no re-rigging to change depth- just slide the stop up or down your line. If no hits after reaching this point, then you probably shouldn't be using a bobber. One trick we do in that case is to just cast a very lightly weighted bait out, one that sinks very slowly. It will pass through all depths and hopefully hit a fish, but it takes time to allow the bait to sink, but this way it spends maximum time at each depth.
Another trick-- worked one day for buddy and me. Couldn't get strikes at any depth with the slip bobber. But finally had a strike (and a fish- we were using quick-strike rigs) as the bobber was being slowly reeled in, which raised the bait up to near the surface. Hmmmm- repeated the action of casting, letting bait sink, then slowly reeling in (bait rose to near the surface) and, yep- another one! Worked all morning for us. We figure either the fish were stimulated by the bait rising up,( like it was escaping), OR the fish (these were Northerns) were attracted by the bobber moving across the water, then came up, saw the bait, and grabbed it. Whatever it was, it worked that morning.
One more tip-- we always start shallow in water of unknown depth, then lower the bait in increments going down. That way, you can tell if your bait is ON the bottom by noticing the bobber is riding higher in the water, or even laying on it's side.

I tell ya-- I use the slip bobber rig anytime I'm fishing minnows, or big chubs or suckers for bait. I also use it for steelhead fishing in creeks and rivers with spawn sacks or even flies! Haven't used the technique much for Bass or Walleye, I prefer to use artificials for them, but it should work any time you want to suspend a bait! Good luck to you! Best---- Joew (PS- I'm boatless now, too, except for rentals or friend's boats sometimes.)

[BrowningMan]

Thanks Joe. Should of realized that its just trial and error. I was watching an In Fisherman edition and they were using "popping cork." This appeared to me to be some type of slip bobber rigging. Is that what it is or something completely different. Sorry about the boat situation, but hey, I don't feel so alone now.

Brown

[JoeW]

Hi Brown--- Not a problem for me not having a boat. I had a 15 foot Starcraft with a little 10HP Merc for fishing for 20 years! Loved it, me and family enjoyed it, put a lot of miles on it! But I was raised as a stream and river fisherman and really enjoy the walking, wading, and more intimate feeling you get when on foot! No hitching, trailering, exhaust fumes, gas/oil, registrations, etc. The last several years I had the boat, I don't think I moved it out of the yard! I just prefer throwing my tackle and waders into the car and taking off! Kept my electric motor and portable depth finder and still put them on rental boats when on trips and still get out with buddies that have boats. Don't feel like I'm missing a thing! Fishing is all about what makes you feel good! Best---- JoeW

Oh yea--- I've used a "popping cork" down in Loiusiana when fishing for weakfish or specks in SW. Basically it was just a big, cupped faced cork with a screw eye in each end. Tie it on, tie a short leader to the back with your bait on it, and cast. Then jerk your line to make the cork pop! We caught a lot of Specks that way- my Dad said the popping sound made them think some other fish were feeding and came to investigate. Didn't use it like a slip-bobber rig at all, but maybe they do?

[tholmes]

Guys, I've never had any problem getting the bobber stop to go through the guides on a spinning rod. Sure, it brushes a little bit, but it goes through if you make it small enough.

Tom

[bass or bass?]

I read the other day that it helps if you DON'T trim off the tag ends of the bobber stop short as the stiff ends tend to catch on the spooled line on the reel and the line guides, and longer tag ends flex and pass through easier.;)

[tholmes]

Good point B or B. I would add that the bobber stop technique, IMHO, is best suited for spinning tackle. The line guide on a baitcaster will catch the bobber stop and this will cause a severe backlash. Ask me how I know this;)

I think that another piece of the puzzle is to use material that is limp and flexible. Like I mentioned before, I've used thin rubber bands and also size A rod wrapping thread. The stopper doesn't have to be very big, either. Just big enough to stop the bead, which will stop the bobber. I bought some small plastic beads in the craft section of Wal-Mart. A whole bunch of beads for little money.

Tom

[JoeW]

Yea, when I started using slip bobbers, I tried many of the commercially made ones that said "casts through guides". All of them made an ominous "ting, ting, ting" sound as they went out! Then one DID catch in the tip top and took about 6" of my rod off! Just thought I would post that warning! (No lawsuits, please!). I personally don't crank the stop in through the guides anymore. But actually, if I'm bait fishing deeper than 8-10 feet, I won't use a bobber-- maybe just a lightly weighted bait, a floating/diving lure or one that suspends, or a slow sinking Sluggo, maybe a floating jig head with a heavy sinker that raises up off the bottom, etc. The other problem with using a distance of more than 10 feet between bait and bobber is the difficulty setting the hook-- that's a lot of extra line to pull through the water before you get solid to the fish! I can't wait to try tholmes's rubber band stop next spring! Great input here! Best---- JoeW

[slipperybob]

I really like to slip bobber fish. Hence my cyber user name contains the words. I use it for just about anything from plain hook with minnow to curly tail jigs, from plastic bass worms to cutbait for catfish, from sinking jerkbaits to small spoons. There's just something about watching that bobber dive under the water.

[Tapalong]

Here is a link to tie your own bobber stop

http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?p=3502650#post3502650

[toadfrog]

I've always seen those in the bait shops even sold them in a shop I had . But until necessity made me I didn't try them . I can tell you when you have a bunch of folks with disabilities and wheel chairs fishing in close quarters you need this system . It keeps you from dealing with long bobber lines flying around. That is unless you want to look like a punk rocker that just found a new look for all the holes poked in his/her hide.

[Tapalong]

I use them when I go trout fishing with my wife or Salmon fishing - bobber with eggs or tuna ball.

[JoeW]

I use them when I go trout fishing with my wife or Salmon fishing - bobber with eggs or tuna ball.


Wait! TUNA for Salmon bait, Tap? How? When? Would it work on Steelhead, too? Never heard of that!

And yep--- use a slip bobber all the time when Steelhead fishing the bigger creeks! Much more accurate to cast, too! I always use the slimmest torpedo shaped bobber that I can get away with--- less drag when a fish takes it down. I carry slip bobbers with me from the size of a quarter all the way up to 4" ers- depending on the bait and water conditions. Best---- JoeW