Bobber?

Fish Finder · 12-15-2002, 07:46 PM

What type of bobber do you use for jig fishing? Wood, foam or others.

blacktail · 12-15-2002, 07:50 PM

FF,

I really like the West Coast floats and the Thill Balsa floats. Those two models are the best I've used.

Mike

HOGGEMIN · 12-15-2002, 07:56 PM

Howdy Fish Finder I'm with Blacktail and like the balsa wood Thill and the foam West Coast foam flotes the best. But it dosent hurt to have some others for fishing the crowded holes to have different colors, so you know which one is yours.

KingFisher85 · 12-15-2002, 09:01 PM

Foam for me, I seem to never find the wooden ones. I would rather have the wooden ones cause they are a little bit heaver so then a person could cast them farther.

djb · 12-15-2002, 09:18 PM

For jigs I use the thill #3 balsa woodbobbers. they look like a bowling pin with a wire sticking off the bottom. Thill is making this bobber in 4 different sizes now. the #3, tbm3-1 supports a 1/8 ounce jig perfectly, its not enough for a 1/4 ounce jig though. I purchased some of the #4 bobbers to try out this year when the rivers drop. These are the only bobbers I use for jig fishing and they work rather well in fast water. If I'm dink fishing with eggs, I use the foam bobbers. I believe you can find them at fishermans. They use to call the foam bobbers "nick amato specials" . I wish we could get the blue foam bobbers for dink fishing that they make in Canada. They work the best but Ive never been able to get them here.

AtWorkALot · 12-16-2002, 05:19 AM

I use foam West Coast Floats for all my bobber fishing. I used the Thill brand for a long time, but I kept busting them on hook sets.

Thumper · 12-16-2002, 05:53 AM

The West Coast floats have some advantages. They make great sliders and cast without resistance. They have a streamlined top so that retreiving them is easy and fast. Our fishing area allows for long extended drifts with our levelwinds and I use a reel with very fast retreive (6:1). A streamlined top is important to get that gear back upstream without wearing out your wrist.

ultralight · 12-16-2002, 02:49 PM

I second the Thill Turbo Master Balsa floats for steelhead jig fishing. They're easier to adjust depth than the center-hole floats, and are much more balanced due to their wire, which provides deeper center of gravity. The Fisherman's had them on sale last week, but not sure if it's still going on.

fishing is life · 12-16-2002, 02:55 PM

i like the west coast floats too because you get more float with a smaller profile.

Rock Stick or Fish · 12-16-2002, 02:57 PM

I lost my last West COast Float today and was seriously considering diving in to save it. I was chasing it downstream when I almost ran into another fisherman and it really surprised me since I thought that I had Barton Park all to myself. had I known there was another fisherman downstream I would have tried to save it knowing that somebody could have saved me.

RSF

Fishing freak · 12-16-2002, 02:58 PM

I made a bunch of bobbers from wine corks this summer. I have only used them once, but they seem to have the correct bouyancy. I drilled a hole down the center and inserted a stir straw, disc sanded the bottom to a cyndrical shape, Painted the body orange on top/black on the bottom and put a clear coat over the top. More trouble than it is worth but I already had all the supplies so I thought what the hell!

willametteriveroutlaw · 12-16-2002, 03:04 PM

Another vote for the westcoasts

Uncle Roman · 12-16-2002, 04:11 PM

West Coast Floats

ampersat · 12-16-2002, 07:07 PM

i've used thill floats, i've used wine corks, both sliding. i caught a fish. in two and a half years of fishing this rig, i've caught a single fish. a puny six pound native that didn't even put up a decent fight.

the pro's i've talked to tell me that fixed floats are the way to go. this year, i'm going with fixed floats. hopefully, you'll be seeing lots of pics of my success.

a part of this board is about flattening out the learning curve for the rest of us. i'm hoping that my curve is a little flatter now.

novice · 12-16-2002, 07:38 PM

djb
Go to berrysbait.com to get the floats your looking for.
Just put my order in yesterday
novice

[ 12-16-2002, 08:40 PM: Message edited by: novice ]

Rock Stick or Fish · 12-16-2002, 07:43 PM

I've been trying the sliding bobber thing the last few times out, and I think I'll return to Fixed for the bulk of my fishing. Its just a few less things to go wrong: less rigging, nothing to slip, no depths to check, etc.

Sliding is just sooo nice in theory, though.

RSF

Kilgore · 12-16-2002, 07:54 PM

Another vote for Thill Turbo Masters!

willametteriveroutlaw · 12-16-2002, 08:01 PM

Fixed is fine, if you know depth and where the fish are holding. That being said, you still lose a bunch of the deep fish when fishing fixed. Slips aren't that hard to fish, the key is seperating your leader (imho) I usually run 4 ft of 8lb leading up to my jig and then my toughline from there. Having that 4 ft seperates your main from your jig well enough to keep it kosher for the fish, but still allows you to cast. Depth adjustment from there is a cinch, just move you stop + you jig gets fishing quick as well.

djb · 12-16-2002, 09:06 PM

thanks for the info novice. I tried the site but they dont show any pictures of the floats. I'll give them a call. The blue canadian dink floats are about the circumfrence of a forefinger and and maybe 4 inches long. They work real nice. They are made of a denser foam than we find here.

rags · 12-17-2002, 07:49 AM

I like the West Coast floats. If you want to fish both fixed and sliding just put a bobber stop above and below your float. Adjust the stops close to the float top and bottom and fish fixed or slide the bottom stop down to your swivel and weight and fish sliding with the top stop. I think it is important to match the weight of your float to the weight of the jig and lead (e.g. 1/2 oz. float = 3/8oz. weight + 1/8oz. jig )