I know one of the first times I went fishing, my dad handed me a 12 foot cane pole with a weighted bobber (one of those red and white, straight wooden types with a lead weight attached to the top) and a night-crawler. I can still remember catching my first good size blue gill on that rig.
And I still have the picture to prove it.
Today, there are so many types of floats available, with at least three different ways to use each one. To keep from boring anyone, (hopefully) I will explain just a few of the best methods I know of.
Of course, the night-crawler is the oldest, most cost effective and often the best fish producing method known to anglers of all ages and experience. And how the worm is attached to the hook is one of the oldest arguments out there today.
Some say you have to ball the worm up while you thread it onto the hook. Some say you should wrap the worm around the hook while you bait it. Others like to hook their worm straight. Some anglers use minnows instead, which can also cause baiting arguments. (Through the lips, the dorsal or the tail)
Go figure.
I feel that it's up to the angler to find out witch method works the best for their location or preference. Like I always say, "Go with what works."
The night-crawler method is usually used with a stationary or "fixed" bobber. This is where the bobber is fixed to the line so it will not slide along the line. However, it's not necessarily the only way to use a hook and bobber. In some situations, the "slip" bobber can be also used with a night-crawler on your hook.
It all depends on your situation at the time or how you feel.
With the slip bobber method, you can yo-yo your bait up and down, sometimes directly above your target area. Say in and out of weed-bed pockets or brush piles.
Which brings me to the next method, using a jig or rig with a bobber. This can be very useful in targeting those fish that want to stay at certain depths because of water temperature. Or it can be used to get a stubborn fish, out of hiding, that just will not take that live bait.
To use a jig or soft-bait rig with a bobber, you just tie on your choice of either and set up the bobber just like you would with a night-crawler or a minnow. There really is no difference except that. How you use this set up is a bit different though. Instead of just casting and waiting for your bobber to disappear, you work the lure the way you would without a float, except you use the float to keep the lure at a certain depth (fixed) or to jig the lure up and down (slip) in and out of weed-bed pockets.
Traditional methods of "fixing" a bobber to a line can be very simple or very involved. It depends on how you want the bobber to work or how much effort you want to put into it. It also depends on the type of bobber.
Some types require a bead or bobber stop of some kind to stop it at a certain position. These are called "slip" bobbers. They are designed to slide or "slip" along the line so that you can change the depth of your lure and sometimes there's no need for a leader with this type.
The other and most widely used is the "fixed" bobber. This type is easier to incorporate. Generally all you have to do is attach the float to your line in the desired spot and be done with it. The bobber "holds" the line with either a spring or spring loaded wire hook and does not move. Then all you do is attach your preferred lure or bait and cast. When using a night-crawler, a "split shot" weight is attached just above the hook to give the bobber stability.
There are other methods of "fixing" a bobber to your line as well. With the round type, you can tie the line directly to the wire hook manufactured into the float and then tie a leader to the same hook. You can also attach a three way swivel to the float hook. This method keeps your line from getting twisted and can act as a counterbalance with weighted floats. You then tie your line to one eye and a leader to the other.
The purpose of using a weighted bobber is to cause the bobber to tip over at the slightest bite. This works really well when fishing for Crappie or Small-mouth bass since these two species of fish have a tendency to have a delicate bite, which can be hard to spot.
As I mentioned before, you can use a bobber with jigs or soft-bait rigs. Usually, fixed bobbers are used with jig-head lures and slip bobbers are used with soft-bait rigs. However, this is not etched in stone. By all means, experiment and "use what works" for you.
The fixed bobber method keeps your lure at a desired depth when fish won't change to strike. This is a great method if you want to keep a jig-head off the bottom while you "swim" the lure slowly, which you cannot do without a bobber. The jig sinks to fast to be slow-rolled and drags across the bottom. In some cases, this is what you want and is basically what a jig-head lure is supposed to do. But if you want to "swim" your jig-head near the bottom, the fixed bobber is what you want.
The fixed method also allows your lure to "hover" above a weed bed where fish may be hiding to attack from below. This is where the weighted bobber comes into play. When a fish takes the lure and continues to swim upward, the bobber tilts to one side, indicating a bite. Cast this set-up past the weed bed and reel it in stopping about every 18 inches or so until you clear the bed or catch a fish.
If you want to be able to hop the lure straight up and down, the slip bobber is the way to go.
The slip bobber style allows you to raise and lower the lure, in and out of tight spots, which gives your creature bait or worm a more lifelike appearance. All this can be done from a discrete distance. Just cast and let the lure drop to the bottom, then reel in slowly or lift the rod tip until the bobber moves to where you want and let the lure drop again.
The strike will usually come on the downfall, especially if you're dropping it into a spawning bed a big bass is protecting. The slip method also causes less hang-ups in most cases. The trick is to have a light touch, which will lift the lure almost straight up and out of trouble.
This method can be very useful around sunken trees or stumps, considering a bare root system can hold a number of fish. Here is where hopping the lure short distances is needed.
Both of these styles can be used on most all species of fish however, they are especially useful for drawing hidden bass and crappie out of cover. You never know this method might just win a tournament or gain you some nice bragging rights. Give it a try and as always, good fishin' to ya.
Chris Curley lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with his dogs Puranah and Princess and with his cat Sylvester.
