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Do you love big bluegill?

Here's mine for open water season 2015

I just wanted to share my favorite slip bobber rig for the past 2015 season.

2015 open water season found me fishing out of my kayak and limiting my supply of fishing rods to just 3 on board. An UL jigging rod, UL slip bobber rig and an UL drop shot rig. After weeks of tweaking slip bobber systems I ended up with this rig. Most of my UL fishing experiences were shallow less than 2 FOW casting under overhanging brush and next to dense weed slop or inside slop pockets of open water.

The rod I settled on is a Diawa Crossfire 562ULFS series rod with incredible value … under 20.00. the rod is a fast action tip for the first third of the blank and then quickly develops a significant back bone for the remainder . I believe this is the main reason it develops such accurate casting and flipping into tight targets. This system if used correctly I believe would eliminate the need for a long fixed rod for stealth. After some practice I was able to drop the bobber with a flip with a very quiet presentation.

This rig has caught some very large preds such as LMB hitting the 5# mark and N’Pike hitting the 30 inch mark. The large preds would dive and dig into cover and the power pro braid would cut thru the slop and veggies like a weed whacker.

The line is an important component in this configuration providing sensitivity, power, toughness and its inherent weed whacking ability.

The slip bobber is Pro series Thill providing sensitivity and stealth when entering the target area. Use enough split shot to balance the float to a neutral position.

Stop knot was a UNI Knot tied with30# Dacron in bright chartreuse for line signal property of visibility.

 

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Replies to This Discussion

yes the double stop is a great tip ! Thanks Tony , I've heard you mention that before .

an example whats left after landing a large fish with 2# Braid cutting thru the slop

Where does one find 2# braid?

…Kelly... i get my stock from Northwoods Wholesale Outlet in the ice fishing aisle. nows the time to buy at the end of the ice fishing season. They have it priced at $2.99 a 50 yd spool.i see the pony ice fishing spools on sale even at retail outlet such as walmart. i use Power Pro Ice and Berkley Fireline Micro Ice. currently going on my second season with some UL rigs that would be 1.50 /year... im finding it is the cheapest way to supply premium line to my ultra light setups

closeup of float stop knot...

accurate casting landing a cast next to the lily pads 50ft in a stiff 45° crosswind

Want to try this system this year .: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EfvSOZ_-2E

JOHN;; IT ALWAYS SEEMS;; WHEN I TRY CASTING A SLIP BOBBER RIG;; THE ;; SLIP KNOT; ALWAYS GETS HUNG; OR MESSED UP IN MY RODS EYE GUIDES;; IVE GIVEN UP ON THE SLIP BOBBER RIGS !       IF I CAN FISH  SHALLOW ENOUGH;; THEIR GREAT;; BU TWHEN IT COMES TO ;; CASTING; WITH THE STOP;; RUN DONW MY ROD GUIDES;; IT JUST GOES HAYWIRE !!

I get ya Carl ! I have the problem with long casts of the rubber bead getting knocked up the line but I'm not ready to give up on it .Caught too many fish and some real good sized ones using the technique Carl .It is sometimes the ONLY way for me to catch fish during cold water periods! I do prefer the guides without ceramic inserts that get busted up by those beads and am thinking of just going with knots tied from string .Softer and wont bust up ceramic guides .I still find various uses for those beads besides float stops  though .Like making those spinner rigs !

Looks like a nice slip/float system!... thanks for the tip John. Ordering some soon.

never had luck with the store bought rubber or plastic stops... I found once the stop gets on the spool casts fail with line catching on the stop.

 i very rarely fish deeper than a couple feet with a slip float any ways so stops really didn't matter much... however since this has been a recurring problem with fishermen that want to fish deep... ive experimented and came up with thread as a slip knot material solution. keeping the knot small and tight and reeling the knot onto the spool for deeper fishing resulting in smoother casts. using very thin lines like thread and a thin knot may require using a thinner diameter hole in a bead to stop the knot from slipping thru some slip floats.

I trial fitted my knot set-up at the tackle shop and sized the bead I needed and have been fishing successfully with this combination since.

Slip , with the thread stops on your spool doesn't that also hinder casting ? I am assuming you are using rather short rods ,is that correct?

Casting from shore I use 8 ' and 7.6' rods almost always with slip floating .My rubber stop is never on the spool . When I'm in a boat and fishing deep I have more of a vertical jigging tendency .This year  I am going back over to thread stops .I bought about 6  of the Eagle claw ones .I see Walmart sells a bunch in a pack but i want to get to where I am finding the best material for just tying in my own.

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