2013 - Will Be Great

[Johnny wilkins]

So 2013 is off and running. There is very little ice on our waters here, so no hard water to stand on, cut through and pull some panfish through, instead, time to get some homework done and time to for training. 

I have begun training hard to get ready for a big fishing gear, rehabing an old arm injury and getting the weight off. Three weeks into the year, I hate lifting weights, but I know I will need it. I am going to have a challenging 2013 and accomplish a lot in fishing. If I want to use the 42' foot pole again to catch fish, I will need my arm at 100% again. 

24 lb. down and another 20 to go- that should put me in good fishing shape to really make a splash. This season, I don't want any hills to stop me, I don't want a sore back to cut my fishing short, I want to be able to fish all day and all night. 

I have a lot of new floats to use this season and new models I haven't fished before. This gives me a lot of reason to get excited and hopefully get more people to fish floats right this year. If I can show a few more people the true awesome power of a true bite indicator setup, the word should spread like wildfire.

One of the most exciting things to happen is that I met a few people at our outdoors show in Chicago. I watched a couple of seminars and saw some videos in which floats were set up not only improperly, but also set up irresponsibly. I have seen undershot floats and floats that were not rigged up properly. Split shot on the wrong side of the float and also slip floats used in conditions where a fixed float should - shallower waters don't need a slip float.

Most every "slip bobber" I see is set up for failure. The kind with the plastic tube through the center that sticks out of the water, with the line looping out the top doesn't help the angler out. It presents the bait horribly and I think it is time to go. There are a couple of setups that I will have to go after that include a jig and slip float which I should be "testing" or fishing side-by-side. Some things need proving out.

Much like my challenge where Gulp took on Real live bait and lost, I should do the same thing for floats. Gulp was close to three times less effective than the real live bait although the jar said that it would "Outfish All Other Baits". Gulp even claiming to "Has outfished live bait 2 to 1 in head to head field tests." The fact is it got beaten by greater than a 2 to 1 margin, making it four times worse than they claim on the jar. In fact, after my 6 heats (3-times each on the clock in the same spot). If anyone wishes the results and my test method, they are available - just ask.

You can take my word, that if I set up a float per the manufacturer's instructions and I fish one of those plastic yellow and white or orange and black slip floats with the tube, next to a real slip float which is set up properly - the real float will win. I will fish both and set the hook as fast on both. I really don't have to run the tests as anglers in our leagues who fish the slip bobbers with the plastic center tube rarely ever finished in the top half of the results. Again, proper floats fished and balanced with the right split shot on a plain hook would destroy the slip bobber - especially if it had a jig under it. All anglers fished the same time period precisely on the same waters - the plastic bobbers would loose 49/50 times.

This will be a very big year, because I am going to be very busy. I have a couple of new Hall of Fame angler friends and I intend to change fishing for good. Passing the good word and getting fishing back on track. I want to make a massive splash this season and I hope you will take the journey with me. I love float fishing as it cranks up the action. Some who read my blog posts have tried some floats and setups, but haven't gone the whole way. Yes floats are great, but slip bobbers are just a taste of what can be. Good hooks, quality split shot balancing a float out on some fine line and you will not believe the fish-catching super powers that you will posses. With a proper setup, you will have powers only Neptune or Poseidon (for the Greek crowd) can match in catching.  

You see, it is not a slip bobber that I caught 203 fish in :30 minutes, it is with a proper float. A new record to wet my appetite for fishing last Fall - an amazing pace of fishing catching. To tell you the truth, my rig could have been fine tuned a bit more. This pace for catching gets me going this year and you are in luck. This is the year I plan on sharing more fish setups and information than I ever have. 

Are you ready to get in shape this year? This is going to be a very big year if you decide to journey further into float fishing live bait. I know I plan on going further.

Johnny

[Tony Livingston]

Sounds good Johnny. When you find a slip float that lets me cast to a spot 60' away, then suspend my jig at a depth of 12', and does it better than the floats I currently use, I want to see it.