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Comment by Johnny wilkins on February 9, 2010 at 10:26pm

I did some homework and posted a blog article about fish feeding. I found some great videos which will show you how fish feed. Must-see video for all. Take a peek for my live bait fans and see what the floats will do for your game. I am so excited to fish I might drive 3 hours next week to the warm water!

Comment by Joe Hinton on February 9, 2010 at 5:35pm

Count me in as all ears ! I want to hear more, some pictures or vids would go a long way in fowarding your ideas.

Comment by John Sheehan on February 9, 2010 at 3:25pm

JW and 2lbg,great instructive posts!!! Me, JM and BGBM are all ears!

Comment by Johnny wilkins on February 9, 2010 at 7:26am

I will come up with some pictures and rig setups soon. 2lb. is on the money for cold blooded and metabolism.
All float fishing offers advantages in tough, cold front, Winter, early Spring water conditions. Slip float rigs are slightly less flexible and aren't quite as sensitive as a float with a tiny insert stem.
Fish sip the bait in - it's in my Floating Blog I was trained in float fishing by a World Champion angler from England and fish floats 99% of the time. Great posts guys.

Comment by Josh Milczski (Omaha) on February 9, 2010 at 6:38am

I love using slip bobbers. Allows me to work a jig any way I want without having it hit bottom. Very effective with kids too. Much fewer snags.

Comment by bluegillboogieman on February 9, 2010 at 4:50am

I ain't never been guilty of slip floating, but I'm willing to try. I've read up on it when I could and I guess you could say that right now, I'm here for the pictures. I don't see any. I don't mean of the fish either. I mean the set up and them stopper thingys and all. Show me the centerfold will you?

Boogieman

Comment by John Sheehan on February 8, 2010 at 8:23pm

That a way John W ,good post!!! Thanks!

Comment by Johnny wilkins on February 8, 2010 at 7:50pm

I use a 10' or 12' rod when fishing slip floats (slider rig). These rods are specially made for float fishing.
This is a great way to fish a lot of waters which are deeper than your rod. The longer rod assists in "punching" that float rig out to your target. The added length also helps you to set the hook at greater distances with a lot of line out. The long rod travels faster to the hook-set point than shorter rods. When fishing from shore - go longer. If you have a 10 foot rod, this means you can easily fish 6 - 8 foot of water and cast a fixed float (non-slider). Fixed floats fish better, cast better and are much more accurate, easier to setup.
Sadly, there are nearly no US retailers that carry a really good float rod. Most carry noodle-style rods which are really whippy on the top rod blank. Many times we are forced to pick a medium-action rod when we really want a light action - but stiff rod. I will carry at least one model of float rod coming up. I do intend on carrying one but I am still testing a few before picking one model to recommend. I will however have awesome floats for slider rigs in stock this Spring.
With a long float rod, using the slip float, fishing away from shore in 25' of water is possible. Great for quarry fishing the edge of a quarry wall, or casting past a deep weed bed drop from shore for suspended fish, sliders set up at any depth.

At a later date I will illustrate tying your own knot stops using a piece of fishing line. This is the best stop knot.
The key to a great float rod is that it has a fast action or medium-heavy all the way to within 8 - 5" of the tip. If the rod is too whippy, casting, hook-setting is a lot slower, less accurate. Same with casting.
I do have some killer rigs, gear that you can't find in stores coming up - keep up the great conversation!
The tactics you are using are very good. I hope to boost them to great. One improvement I will offer is helping you fish this rig in the wind with much greater success casting into the teeth of the wind and also holding your float in place. Lastly - line thickness is a huge key. When fishing long distance, I like to use a 3 lb. main line or 2 lb. main line if I can get away with it. If you are worried about snags etc. no problem, my rig includes a leader which creates a breaking-point should you snag a brush pile or lilly pad. A quick tug and all your rig comes back to you, simply put a fresh leader on and get back fishing within 1 minute! If you are using 8 lb. line, tie a 6 lb. leader. 4 lb. line, tie a 2 lb. leader. The connection knots on these should be doubled up. Use a double section of line wrapped where the thicker line connects to the leader. Tie a loop on the end of your main line (after all your float and shot are attached), then your leader loop should connect to that loop. This allows you to break a leader or two on a brush pile or crib without spooking the entire crib and or losing your float/cork. All this talk is getting me excited to go warm-water discharge fishing next week!

Comment by John Sheehan on February 6, 2010 at 11:18am

Yeah Steve -I can use the Cabelas rod for pitching to structure .For wading and covering larger areas from shore ,while slip floating,I just Have to find a proper rod .

Comment by John Sheehan on February 6, 2010 at 10:03am

Steve, do you know what size guides should be on a slip float rod ? My Cabelas 7' Easy touch has real small tip top and guides at the top end. I need to get another SF pole.

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