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Post by bobberguy on Feb 19, 2009 20:33:38 GMT -5
I guess slip bobbers can be used in many ways. lets hear some of these ways for whatever fish you fish for!
This includes cas and the baits and hook types! Since the top of the BWAB converts to three different weight slip bobbers I am interested in new methods in case I decide to try something different!
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Post by rockbass on Feb 19, 2009 22:35:48 GMT -5
For Crappie I rig a slip bobber with a bobber stop....the tie on kind that don't interfere with your reel or line guides. Below the bobber, I usually just tie a jighead. Size depends. Some people with use a hook of verying sizes with a split shot or 2 above the hook a little ways. I prefer the jig head myself......don't know why. I use both ways though  For cattin is all depends on the circumstances. I also only use bobbers for cats in lakes. they don't do well in current. The little river I mainly fish has pretty good current in most of the places I fish for cats, so bobbers aren't compatible  For fishing for channel cats, I pretty much rig the slip bobber like I do for crappie, except I use larger tackle and bobbers. Most times I use just enough sinker to cast to the desired area. Many times I will allow my bait to drift around when there is a wind. I experiment with depths until I find some fish. Sometimes being stationary is key. Other times drifting your bait under a float is ideal. I don't know for sure, but I think is just allows the bait to flow with the natural water movements and helps push the bait to the fish instead of the fish having to only locate the bait.  Really don't know though. For live bait fishing for catfish, I use decent size bobbers because I usually use decent size bait. on the small side I use 4 inch live baits on the larger size I'll use 9-11 inch baits ;D Several ways to rig a slip float the way I use them at least. I use a rig pretty much the same as for channel cats many times. other times I'll use a heavier sinker so that the live bait can not simply drag your sinker/bobber around everywhere. I always use leaders of varying lenghth's and any time you use live bait, make sure to use a swivel to lessen twisting. I don't know about anyone else, but even when I use swivels I will still get some twist in the line. At times, I'll even use a bobber on a rig normally meant for tightlining. Reason being COVER. Sometimes it works best to be able to allow a bait to drift near cover, other times you need to be able to drop the bait on the cover and be able to reel it in. Many times in good cover you can't reel it in like normal because you will snag up. Using a slip type rig will allow your bait to lift as you reel making the snags easier to avoid. Of course this is also not fool proof. Most situations take practice. I know ponds where I can go fishing and have one person use a bobber and live bait and outfish anyone using any other method. On the other end of that, there are places where the bobber rigs don't catch many fish, but other methods that actually search for fish work best. I always recommend using what works best in each situation. Too many times it takes till the last effort to find the best method. When you do,..........HOLD ON! |
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Post by rockbass on Feb 19, 2009 22:42:42 GMT -5
I forgot to include hooks. for crappie I use anything from size 4 hooks to size 1's. I also use jigheads from 1/32 nd oz to 1/8 oz. Bluegills I mostly use 1/32 and 1/16 oz jigs, but also use size 6 or 4 hooks. Usually bait holders because they hold the worm on best  Creek Chubs, I use 1/32 oz jigheads most of the time, but in creeks with some current I'll use 1/16 oz I don't really bobber fish for bass since it's not really a challenge....... White bass I use 1/16 and 1/8 oz jigs under slip floats so I can find the depth they are feeding at. Sometimes they are at the surface sometimes they are 3-10 foot down. Channel cats, I use anything from 3/0-8/0 circle hooks......2/0-4/0bait holder hooks. 2/0-4/0 kahles......and 3/0- 8/0 Octopus hooks. Flatheads, I don't do a ton of bobber fishing for, but when I go it's the same as bottom rigs. 7/0-8/0 Circle or Octopus. |
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Post by bobberguy on Feb 19, 2009 22:53:59 GMT -5
TWO Good post RB ! Lots of different situations when fishing! I remember 50 years ago Iuse to use egg bobbers for channels with minnows! The reason being you could get it out really far and watch till they ran with it! I would like to make a bobber that had settings that would allow the bait to go down 20 feet of 10 feet with justa twist of the bobber but that would have to be in my next life time! Lots of snags in the current. I do use the BWAB in a current with 3 to 4 feet of leader below the swivel and sometimes a small split shot. I place a minnow and leave it drift in the current in water starting at 10 feet then going to 4 feet. I use it for trout and small mouth in a strong current below a falls. What I like is the BWAB works just like a weighted slip bobber but stands up tall and tips when there is a bite and is easy to tell! I just started using it this way since the place has oo many sags otherwise. Catch alot of trout that way. Sometimes I wll put a fly on tipped with a way worm and the crappie love them. Like Rock Bass says a small jig head tipped with some type of bait is the ticket! makes you want to go fishing now doesn't it!
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Post by rockbass on Feb 19, 2009 23:12:41 GMT -5
I always want to go fishing  Though I am not good at explaining things through typing.........It gives something to do when it's crappy out and can't get out to fish |
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Post by bobberguy on Feb 19, 2009 23:56:39 GMT -5
I always want to go fishing Though I am not good at explaining things through typing.........It gives something to do when it's crappy out and can't get out to fish Get on some of our two daily trivia games! Different catagories every day! |
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Post by mastercatter on Feb 20, 2009 1:39:28 GMT -5
I use the BAWB to fish for bait at the city park or out at the lake. Some times at the river I will use eithera 8in,10in or 12 in weighted slip bobber depending on the current and bait size. At the same time I will tight line using from 1oz to 5oz sinker . Again this depends on the current and bait size...When fishing at the lake I will use the same bobbers, depending on bait size, and will sometimes add a 24in straw if the bait is really active...The added straw helps to keep the live bait from crossing over the main line while it is drifting around..I use from 5/0 to 8/0 circle hooks sometimes switching to the same size kahle hooks..If I know that there is a large shovel head about I may go to a size 12/0 circle with fresh shad cutbait...At night time I use a 3 in glo-stick on the bobbers..The 3 in is the largest glo-stick that I use.....Above the swivel and below the bobber I use a 1/4 oz or 3/8 oz bullet weight to help keep the bait down. For a leader it is 12 in,18in or 24 in attached to the swivel and hook. I never use wire leaders for any reason in fresh water fishing..I can adjust the depth by adjusting the bobber stop. Doing this permits me to put the bait what ever depth that I want it and can change it on the next cast...
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Post by rockbass on Feb 20, 2009 9:29:13 GMT -5
WOW........Those are some rigs that I would love to see in action!
a 24 inch straw? Please explain what that is. New water for me......might just make things a little easier for me sometime ;D
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Post by daveedka on Mar 31, 2009 23:08:38 GMT -5
For Channels, We typically Use the a large slip float, with a good sized swivel tied below it. I tie up 24-36" double hook rigs with some sort of bait hook (Kahle, circle, or standard bait holder) and a second hook 6-9" below the first. I use the second hook as a stinger when fishing live or dead natural bait. over the years I've found the stinger actually hooks more fish than anything else. For stingers I typically use either a treble or a bait holder of appropriate size for the bait I'm using.
When rigging the bait, the primary hook goes through the head (Lips for live bait) and the stinger attaches at the belly or just behind it if the bait is live. The stinger idea was started in response to finicky fish sucking the guts out of shad and chubs.
When I rig up I hook a catsing sinker into the swivel and then attach my hook rig to the same swivel so I have the swivel pulled straight down and the bait either circling it (Live) or floating 2 foot behind it (Dead) I set my depth to place the sinker roughly 1-3 feet off bottom and we drift with the wind across flats. If the wind is less than 10 MPH, or we are using smaller (3-5") baits, I usually go with about 3/8 to 1/2 OZ of lead. If the wind is stiffer or we have large baits, I try to use 3/4 oz or even 1 OZ sinkers, but it's difficult to find a bobber I like for heavy sinkers (That problem is in the remedy stages right now).
At night I like to attach a lite stick of some type, and as long as it's bright enough to see I don't care about the size. most nights even small light sticks are adequate. In the Daytime, we like a float that will sit high in the water and can be seen easily. I am anxious to try the BWAB because we've had trouble with finding slip floats that put enough color above the water line with heavy weights below them.
For crappie I keep it simple, and run a long thin slip float, with a split shot and a long shanked aberdeen hook below it. I usually set the split shot about 18 inches above the bait, and then set my depth to put the sinker about 24" above whatever cover I'm fishing. The only down side to this rig is that you need to be quick on the upswing when you have a fish hit. Crappie will come straight up out of the brush, grab a minnow, and go straght back down. if you don't turn them quickly, they'll snag you regularly. If you set the bait higher you will see a huge reduction in the number of bites and the size of the fish you catch both. it seems the big boys don't usually leave cover as easily for minnows further away.
For any slip float rig I have gotten completely away from any bobber stop except the string type that you tighten around the outside of the line. Thed little platic Dogbones, kink the line and weaken it. this makes little noticeable difference with crappie, but with the big Cats you will see a huge difference when you avoid kinking or weakening the line.
dave
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Post by rockbass on Apr 5, 2009 16:51:23 GMT -5
AWEOME post dave! I've been known to use a stinger hook not and then. Usually when lake fishin. It sure does help at times |
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Post by bobberguy on Apr 5, 2009 19:45:07 GMT -5
Ya Davw some good points. A tip for sinker use with slip floats at night. A heavy sinker does take a slip float down too low to see the light stick. Try our ceramic sinkers since they weigh 1/2 ounce in the air but loose a 1/3 of their weight in the water allowing the slip float to set up higher in the water! also i have noticed that bigger crappie seem to be near the bottom maybe that is why we catch so many big crappie on the BWAB! The one day we caught over 30 trout on wax worms near the bottom while others were not catching anything with floats!
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Post by daveedka on Apr 5, 2009 20:48:58 GMT -5
I almost always fish Crappie in brush, which negates any thought for touching the bottom with any part of your line. As far as the weights, I don't use them for cast distance, I use them to hold the bait at the depth I want. the ceramic sinkers are awesome for certain things, but not useful with drift fishing so much. I plan to try the BWAB and the ceramic sinkers both with bait hunting, and I may also do nome carp fishing this summer with it just to give it a good try on something that doesn't live in cover. The concept and design look really good to me, I just seem to use the few methods that aren't really suited to the BWAB. I will definately be using it as a slip float with lighter baits this summer.
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Post by mastercatter on Apr 5, 2009 21:00:56 GMT -5
Try using a large foam ( not weighted ) bobber for drifting. I find that it works quite well for this type of drift fishing.
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Post by daveedka on Apr 5, 2009 22:49:27 GMT -5
That's generally what we do when drifting, Either large foam floats or LArge Balsa floats, no weight. The size of the weight is dependant upon whether the bait is live or dead and how fast the wind pushes the boat. when the wind is going strong it sometimes takes a 3/4oz chunk of lead to keep a dead chub at the desired depth. Shad can be worse with the wider bodies. The Size of the Float is dependant upon the Weight and of course whether or not the bait is live. We use line out alarms on most of our reels, so it's not the end of the world if we lose track of a bobber, but losing track of two or three can often lead to hours of untangling lines.
I'm planning to order some of the larger Comal floats if I don't move forward with another idea bobberguy is looking at for me.
Dave
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Post by rockbass on Apr 5, 2009 23:16:14 GMT -5
The large floats are awesome for cattin! I love using them with weights the keep the bait in check!
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