Slipbobber rod, reel, and line setup Q & A

If you aren’t using slipbobbers you are missing a great opportunity. I receive many questions about my setup and now you have the answers on one page.

I use 7-8 ½ foot rods so I can fish a long ways from the boat and still get a good hook set. I love fighting fish with long rods but it is too tiring to hold an 8 1/2 foot rod all day. One advantage with slipbobbers is you can lay the rod down with the bail open! I prefer reels with large spools so that I have enough line to fish a long ways from the boat and large spools help prevent line twist.

Trilene XT was my favorite line for years because it is light, strong and abrasion resistant. My new favorite after extensive testing is Northland Bionic Bass line 6 lb. I purposely did not spool any new line to see if the line weakened with exposure to heat and sunlight. I also did not retie my jigs to see if the knots would hold up to abuse. This line is thin, tough, doesn’t deteriorate with time and has less memory on the reel than the XT. You want a thin line for casting that doesn’t break easily when you get eh fish of lifetime on!

I usually have a 1/16 or 1/32 Northland Gumball jig tied on because they can be an attractor and the leech will not ball up on a jig like it does on a plain hook. I will use a # 6 hook at times if they are biting light.

If you fish trees you must use heavier line to keep the fish from getting tangled in the trees. Braided works great if the fish are not line shy. Braided line has no stretch so you can get the fish out of the brush faster than mono.

I prefer large bobbers and use splitshot to keep them neutral weighted so the fish don’t have as much resistant pulling the bobber down and this allows for longer casts.

My preferred bait for slip bobbers is a leech since the bobber doesn’t move much which allows the leech to swim and I think this is the reason leech’s work the best. Walleyes, panfish, bass and rock bass love leeches.
Other bait choices depending on the fish species you are pursuing are worms, pieces of leeches or worms, maggots and wax worms.

If you want to learn more I just released a slipbobber kit which includes the terminal tackle I use and a DVD on how to catch fish with slipbobbers. http://www.hightechfishing.com/store/dvd_bobberkit.html

GO FISHING, THE CLOCK IS TICKING

Doc