by Tim Delamatter

Created on: September 23, 2009

The lovable red and white bobber. I remember sitting in my back yard with my zebco and waiting for the bluegill or sometimes carp to make it dive down. It would give me butterfly's as I wondered what type of fish I would bring up. This bobber play still creates excitement for today, even though now a days I mostly use spinners, bottom bounce, or bottom fish. I still love sitting on the bank and putting a healthy amount of bait on a hook and wait for the bobber to dance, telling me a fish is on.

Bobbers are really simple to use, anyone from my four year-old little girl, to her eighty year-old Lolo can use them. What most people forget about is the fundamentals of bobber fishing.

I have seen guys who have the bait hanging down on the floor of the pond of lake, and are honestly baffled when they do not catch a fish. I have also witnessed the opposite, where someone has the line not down far enough and the fish ends up getting scared off by the bobber.

There are a few simple rules for bobbers and floats. Hopefully these are known to you, if not then please use them as they have served me well over the years.

1. What Bobber, float, or cork should you use.

There are all kinds of bobbers. There are rounds ones, elongated ones, foam tube-like ones, small ones, big ones, and are in a variety of colors.

The key here is to realize what type of fish your going for. If you want a skittish fish, then usually you need a small orange, or even just a stick tied to the line, so the fish will go after the bait. If your after aggressive fish then you can use basically whatever you want, because these fish are more concerned with eating than what is on the surface of the water.

2. Conditions of the lake, pond, or river.

Generally bobbers do not work well in rivers, unless the river is calm and lazy. Normally for a river you should use a foam float. They go with the flow and do not cause any trouble when hitting debris in the river.

If the lake is choppy, then I would say go big with the bobber. If it is flat then you can go smaller. The most important thing is to find the bobber that won't be under the water when you cast it out.

3. Depth of line.

This is probably the most important thing when considering bobber fundamentals. You need to figure out where the fish are in relation to the depth of the lake. If they are on the top, then set your hook as close to the top of the lake as possible without it being in the way of the fish. When a fish is going after bugs, fry, or whatever on the top of the lake I usually set the line at five to ten inches below the bobber.

If the fish is feeding deeper then keep trying a depth until you find the where they are. This is critical when fishing with a bobber.

I believe that is the whole kit and kabuddle as they say in the old country. Remember, a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work!

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