Tips for Basic Bobbering

• One of the most efficient ways to present a bait is with a bobber. The bobber has likely been around since man figured out how to fashion a hook and didn’t like losing them from snagging the bottom.

• Rule number one when bobber fishing is to use a float size that doesn’t add any more resistance than necessary to hold that bait in the zone. You want just enough buoyancy to keep the weight and the bait from pulling the bobber under. This way when the fish grabs the bait there is little resistance so they won’t spit the bait.

• When you have some wave action use a jighead instead of a plain hook and tip the jig with a plastic paddle-tail body as well as a leech, nightcrawler or minnow. The addition of the plastic body will act as an attractor and the live bait will get the fish to bite.

• Use fluorocarbon line when bobber fishing. Fish in a school can become line shy quickly when a few of their brethren get hooked and released, but using a line that is totally invisible will negate much of that shyness and then it’s just a matter of changing lures or bait occasionally to keep that bite active.

• One of my bobber tricks when the bite is tough is to use a real small jig and tip it with live bait and then put enough split-shot a foot above the jig to just keep that bobber barely floating. The small profile of the bait and the lack of resistance will often get a wary or finicky fish to commit.