I think I speak for us all when I say, we all have a tendency to get into habits when it comes to fishing. We get use to doing something one way and just don't even think of doing it another way. Then there are some of us that want to try something new, and just don't know how to do it. Well, I'm going to do my best to explain what I feel is one of the most successful methods to target Catfish, particularly during the summer months.
#1 - What exactly is a Slip Bobber Rig?:
A Slip Bobber Rig is used to target fish that are suspended. I'm sure we all know about the regular bobber rigs, most commonly used for Bream, and other similar fish. Well, imagine this, the water you're fishing in is mostly 20 or more feet deep. Yet, the fish are concentrated in a certain depth range, and they are not on the bottom. Lets say they are 10ft down, in 20ft of water, imagine using a regular bobber, the kind that clips on to your line, you would have to slide it up 10ft from your hook, obviously that is near impossible to cast. So here's the beauty of the slip bobber rig, you are basically casting it just as you would with a regular bottom rig. You attach a bobber stop (I prefer the rubber stoppers that slide onto the line and easily adjustable) as far up from your hook as you want your bait to be, when you cast out the bobber stop will hit the top of your slip bobber and your bait will be however deep you set it to be.
#2 - Supplies needed to use a Slip Bobber Rig
1- A Slip Bobber of some sort. They can be purchased at nearly any tackle shop, and also many other places that carry fishing equipment. I prefer a very large Slip Bobber for Catfishing, a good size Catfish has no trouble at all pulling down a huge bobber.
2- Slip Sinkers work best with Slip Bobbers, what size you need depends on your fishing scenario, if you're fishing with a small bobber you will most likely need a small weight, again though, I really recommend a large bobber for catfish. With a large bobber normally you can use a 2 or 3 ounce sinker. A lot of it also depends on the current where you are fishing, a lot of current will of course require a larger weight, while with a slow or moderate current the size of the weight will not make much of a difference.
3- Leader material of some sort. It can be Fluorocarbon, or Monofilament, but it needs to be thick, meaning at least 40lb test in my opinion. I recommend 50lb-60lb.
4- Hooks, you need hooks no matter what kind of rig you're using. I personally use large 8/0 to 10/0 circle hooks mostly, but the choice is up to you, use whatever you are most comfortable with, or have the most success with.
5- Swivels, you need good strong swivels no matter what kind of rig you're using in my opinion. For the slip bobber rig, One-Way swivels are best. They don't have to be fancy at all, as long as they are good quality swivels, and not cheap snap swivels or something of that nature you should be fine.
6- If you are slip bobber fishing at night I recommend buying some sort of glow sticks to attach to the bobber so you can see what is going on. I usually get a tube of 100 glow sticks for only 10 dollars.
7- This is what makes the whole idea of the slip bobber work, The BOBBER STOP. You need something to tie to your line that will control how deep your bait goes. As I mentioned previously I prefer the rubber bobber stoppers due to the fact that they just slide on the line and you can adjust them easily to whatever depth you need to. Make sure you purchase the the right size stoppers that are rated for the pound test line you are using.
#3- How to rig a Slip Bobber.
1- Get the end of your fishing line, that comes off your rod and reel.
2- Put line through the hole on top of slip bobber and guide it through until it comes out of the bottom of the bobber. This can be just a little tricky sometimes, and may require some turning of the bobber while you're pushing the line thru, which helps the line get thru without bending up inside the bobber.
3- Slide Sinker on to your line, it should be under the slip bobber.
4- Tie Swivel to your line which should also contain your leader with hook attached.
5- And again, here is what makes it all come together at the end, decide how deep you want your bait to be, and attach whatever you're using as a bobber stop on to your line at that spot. Here is one way to do this if you're on the bank or at home, let out your line making the slip bobber rig lay on the ground, then let out approximately how ever much line is going to make your bobber the depth you want it, meaning, if you want your bobber to be 5ft deep, let out 5 feet of line. Then just attach your bobber stop on to that part of your line, if you want to get it at an exact depth, you can use a tape measure or something of that nature to measure it out.
#4 -Fishing the Thermocline
Here is where the Slip bobbers have come in handy most for me. I mostly fish a large Reservoir, in the summer it's not unusual for the surface water temperature to reach near 90 degrees. The fish get very suspended when this happens, usually concentrating around the Thermocline. Those of you that don't know what a Thermocline is, simply put it is a layer/depth of the water that has the most oxygen and cooler water. The fish can be so concentrated to that layer of the water that you can't even get a bite on the bottom, I say this because I have experienced it mysel. For me here in Northeastern, North Carolina, it has always started around early June and lasted all the way through late August, or early September. The Reservoir that I fish is mostly deep (30 or more feet, with the max depth around 90ft) and it is very large, and has many creeks that feed into it. I set my bobbers anywhere from 5 to 15ft deep, and will fish in anywhere from 10 to 75ft when bobber fishing generally. I have good success doing this. While at the same time I can fish with bottom rigs in the same spots and often not even get a bite from a decent fish when the thermocline is present.
#5 - Anchoring and fishing with Slip Bobbers
If you are anchoring up and fishing with slip bobbers there are a couple things you need to be aware of. If you're fishing in current, you need to position your boat to where the bobbers are going straight out from where you are setting your pole down, this will prevent them from getting tangled. If there is a wind, you need to try to anchor where your bobbers are going out with the direction of the wind, this also helps prevent tangles, and helps stop your bobbers from floating right up against your boat. Sometimes things can get tricky. When that happens you just have to use your head and figure out something different to do that works for the situation.
#6- Drift Fishing with Slip Bobbers
This is by far one of the most productive methods I have used so far. As I said previously, I mainly fish a large Reservoir, that means there is a lot of water out there to cover, the fish have a lot of different places to hang out, and a lot of times they will spread out also. Of course for Drifting you really need a trolling motor, some wind, or good current. A drift sock is a very good investment to make if drifting with wind or current, it will help you catch more fish drift fishing by controlling speed and helping keep the boat straight. Get your boat positioned to the wind the way you want it to drift. The way we do it is we face the boat sideways to the wind and we put a drift sock off the back and one off of the front, the two drift socks keep the boat straight and can help make a slower drift which seems to do best for us.
#7- Slip Bobber fishing from the Bank
Slip Bobbers can also work great from the bank of course if you have the right situation for them. Whether it be fishing a Dam from the bank, or Floating a bobber over submerged timber or other structure. A couple of ways Slip Bobbers can come in handy while Bank fishing are,
1- At a dam, you can float your bait out into a area of slack current (such as an eddie) where catfish will usually hold. I have done very good for Blue Cats using this technique.
2- You can stand directly upstream from a good spot downstream, like Submerged Timber, a deep hole, etc. And float your bobber down right over the spot, this can be an extremely effective tactic as well.
I believe that covers most of the basics of slip bobber fishing, I hope it helps some of you out. For me it has always been one of my favorite ways of fishing overall. I'm attaching a video below that also shows how I rig my slip bobbers up from start to finish.
Thank you and tight lines,
Zakk Royce,
Blues Brothers Charters (252-398-7192)
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