ESB BOBBERS

[Thomas Berry]

Has anyone tried ESB Bobbers

[Johnny wilkins]

I worry about coming off wrong, too strong. While I am passionate - I can't say that there aren't a whole bunch of really excellent anglers that are far better than me o this board - they just have never had the opportunity that I have.

 

When I first started, I forgot that the reader and (you) are the important person. My early posts were to much and people got offended so I am always watching it- trying to offer some good content, some information, some tips etc.

 

I am glad to be more a part of the community this time around - there are a lot of great people on here -  it's a great place. I think it is the fact that we all love bluegills. We aren't like OTHER species anglers... (see how I don't even name anyone's fish)... I'm learn'n.

 

I did manage to ruffle the quills of some anglers : )

But it was the quill anglers who I really like so I can and do write things that aren't entirely what I want them to be. The porcupine quill is one of the items I use when I speak to groups -  Old School.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Well Johnny, as a newcomer here I think you are doing just fine. Whatever 'improvements' you've adopted - they're working. You haven't ruffled my quills.

I was in fact pleased to hear you talking about chumming. While I really AM old school (using chicken feed as chum!), I reckoned I was one of the few to chum for freshwater fish... glad to hear there are others.

And all this stimulatin' talk about quill floats has really stirred me up. I've seen 'wagglers' in Europe years ago but had kinda forgotten about 'em. Now that quills have been brought up here, I'll be trying some. So yeah, there is a great and dedicated group here, that is for sure.

I feel ya, fer sure.

[SeaRay]

Well I got my ESB bobbers today and had a chance to try one. First impression is they are too big for gill fishing. The smallest size is OK for slip fishing with minnows for crappie and the larger ones would be OK for live herring on striper or bass. A note in the package told me it can be difficult to thread the line through the brass eyelet and indeed it is. I could not get 4# to go through so I had to use a dental floss threader to fish it through(an unintended pun).

I still think they are a quality product, but not small enough for my style of gill fishing with crickets.

( I am learning to say "Gill" instead of "bream". My buddies will wonder what the crap I am talking about.

SeaRay

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

I thought they seemed a little  chunky for "feely" fishin. Thanks for sharing the insights.

I been calling 'em "brim" far as long as I've lived below the Mason Dixon line. When I was in Minnesota we called em "sunnies."

I dont think Ive ever called em 'bream.'

 

Thanks again for testing the EBS's for us!

[Johnny wilkins]

Looking at the entire post, and pulling it all together, the ESB bobber has the innovation of adding steel to their plastic and foam. Essentially - the plastic and foam are ok, it is the shape of this slip float that is poor. 

Yes, bobbers are round. But round things don't fly through the air as far as skinny things. Basketballs don't go as far as footballs and arrows go further than footballs.

 

Use this principal when selecting your floats in general. If it is round, your main concern is not how far it can cast but how it flies through the resistance of water. How it goes down. 

 

Bluegill Feeding

 

Watch this video I posted. If you have a round bobber such as the ESB, the fish will attempt to sip in your bait - but the bobber will not go under allowing the bait to move. Any round bobber or large bobber will provide resistance and will cut down on that bait moving left to right (even if it is not a swimming shrimp like in the video).

 

The other trouble with using a slider where the line runs through the float is that the water and line inside that tube cause a great deal of resistance - the line sticks. A true slip float (not slip bobber) the line only goes through the base connector of a float. 

 

Pictured here are some good floats - they are all narrow. The float in the middle is ideal for a slider because the ring at the bottom will allow the line to pass. The trouble with the majority of products from Europe is that they fish with 3 lb., 2 lb. and even 1 lb. line. The green float shows what I mean in that the eye can't be seen so there is no way you are going to get a 4 lb. Trilene (or what I refer to as boat rope) through that eye. To that thought I would never ever fish more than a 2 lb. Trilene as Trilene runs THICK. The lines I use for big fish are in the 4 - 5 lb. range are as thick as 2 lb. Trilene. I would use 4 lb. Trilene to go after 12 lb. carp to give you perspective. 

 

I will have a line of panfish hook & leader that is perfect for these this Spring which you can use on a 2 lb. Trilene. The only thing that matters for the main line is casting (and sliding through the float eye). As long as you keep the main line slightly thicker than the leader - when you snag brush or a big channel cat runs off with your bait - your leader will snap off at the thick line. This saves 95% of your rig. You keep your slip float, you keep your splitshot.

Also when you hook up on brush- you can tug and snap that leader leaving your setup in tact. Instead of fishing thicker in brush piles - I would do the opposite. Fish thinner. Using 1.5 lb. leader, and getting hung up, I could tug without tearing the branches out of the pile. This would leave the school of fish less spooked than if the entire pile was thrashing up and down because you hooked into it with 6 lb. line.

 

The final float at the far right is a pole float used for fishing shallow depths to a fixed pole. It is not for casting. But, you can see from the quarter there (which is slightly smaller than mini red & white bobbers) that any float I would ever use, is thin. Tall is ok, but thin. If you had a 10 foot telescopic or a 16 foot telescopic pole (fiberglass or graphite cane pole) you could fish 8.5 - 14.5 foot of water (all the way to the bottom) without the slider. Note how small this float is - this will create far less resistance to the fish feeding and you will see when a bluegill blinks its lashes nearby or when it sneezes. I am only half joking.

 

What's that - er someone told me that bluegills don't have eyelashses. Well, you get the idea. As with all the brands on the market currently up until this year - Thill, ESB, Blackbird, Eagle Claw, Gapen, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Rocket Bobber, and even the SpongeBob Squarepants in an innertube. While the SpongeBob is the most attractive of all these bobbers mentioned - these do not offer you fish-catching capabilities.

 

All of the mentioned products offer the manufactures opportunities to make a lot of money. Take the Thill brown floats for example. These were originally manufactured with a small steel eye which you could attach your line to to help control the float. The inventor, knew that the line needed to be connected near the top of the float so that the angler could tension the line and control the float - making it more sensitive to bite detection. After the inventor parted ways with the company, this eye was removed from the float. The product is now less effective than it was intended to be to save .08 cents per unit. They don't care if you catch fish in other words.

 

I would wager this- they may or may not adjust their product line once proper floats are hitting the market in great numbers. Maybe that .08 steel eye is placed back on the float. Maybe the round bobbers sales numbers drop very low and are not stocked in shops in the future.

 

For the most part- you want to avoid:

Plastic, Foam and Round - I know that might be much of what is in your tackle box.

Who is willing to take make the move this Spring?

 

I should start another discussion and bring this across.

 

My goal - have a couple of people who can list what they used previously and what they switched to. Talk in detail about their fishing, lake, depths, structure etc. I will want multiple states, different lake conditions on how your have done it in the near past and last year. I will help assemble this content and diagram these so we have a good mental picture. If you can take photos of where you are fishing too - as well as your current setup. I want shots before it goes in the water, where the split shot is and how the float is attached (some closeups) some measurements/distances. There is no wrong answer - this is how people fish. This exercise is meant to capture a true before and after.

 

I would like a couple of different lake and water conditions to sample so that we can compare and contrast. Look for the new discussion and I will take people with different water depths, structures and we need a real gauge of what you were catching from these same spots. We will mark your previous floats and what they would catch you, you try out this new equipment, new methods and report back to the group via our new post. While this is not exactly scientific we will all have some results. I know a few friends on the board might jump in - and, I can't fund the whole switch / experiment but I can help keep it cheap.

 

Who is ready for a revolution? 

 

If you are interested in blowing the lid off bobber fishing with me - volunteer from now until March 31st.

Look for more details in the new discussion if you are interested.

 

 

 

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

Ok , Here is a pic of my basic rig, I like it when they are hitting in the shallows but I can adjust my quill to the depth I need. Crickets are king down south, dont leave home without them.

[Johnny wilkins]

Ok sweet!

Is there a loop around the ring on that quill? This allows you to adjust to depths I take it.

Is there a rubber sleeve holding the line to the top of the quill?

And.. you are in the advanced class but very welcome in the study! I will post an invitation and details if you are in - I am calling it the Bluegill Bobber Revolution and it will be up tomorrow as a new discussion. Hope to have you aboard.

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

 It's a simple o-ring that that you can find at any hardware dept in the sprayer section, works better than a rubber band, and you can get them in different sizes for different size quills, they hole the line tight and can allow the depth adjustment to be made in a fraction of a second.  Also keeps quill in parallel with the line during casting.The loop at the bottom is just a guide for the leader to go through, but it has to be large enough for the fly line to go through also if you are really going deep past your leader.

[Johnny wilkins]

Perfect -

This is a nice adjustable waggler rig and those o-rings are great. Dental bands are also a suitable replacement (dentists can get you a pack of 100 for cheap) -

I will be setting up the other discussion for all to sign in for the Revolution

This is ADVANCED so please when the other discussion is put up - please weigh in with your setups if you want in on the bobber study. I want spring bobbers and every setup imaginable for certain.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Pictured here are some good floats - they are all narrow. The float in the middle is ideal for a slider because the ring at the bottom will allow the line to pass. The trouble with the majority of products from Europe is that they fish with 3 lb., 2 lb. and even 1 lb. line. The green float shows what I mean in that the eye can't be seen so there is no way you are going to get a 4 lb. Trilene (or what I refer to as boat rope) through that eye.  

As far as the small line-feed holes, couldn't you enlarge them, if needed?

As for breakaway leaders – I want to catch that big catfish! So I'm after a compromise. But I do get your point on light lines. I'm having trouble finding 2lb. test line, at least at my local WallyWorld. I made a couple of test floats this weekend. Pretty much inspired by what you have shown here. One is like a waggler with a slight “bulge” at the bottom. I'm thinking the buoyancy near the lower end will help the “flag” section (waggler) upset and signal easier. The other is one of the small sort you have on the right in the pic. All I did was add a small eye at the bottom. I wonder if I will hear the brim sneeze?

For the most part- you want to avoid:

Plastic, Foam and Round - I know that might be much of what is in your tackle box.

Who is willing to take make the move this Spring?

I couldn't have said it better. I'm working on it already. 'Have some coarse wagglers on the way and am working out the production details to make my own floats. Strictly for personal use! Balsa, dowels and wire loops – that's about it!

 

Love this bobber stuff. Can't wait to see the results you compile as the season progresses.

[Johnny wilkins]

Well you are on the track! Remember that course stuff often deals with what they call tidlers - really small fish. Their course tackle is also for pay pond fish which lack the bursts our wild fish have. 

Their tackle as a whole is way too light for the U.S. Keep this in mind when trying to order as when I started I ordered things that I never ended up using.

 

I will need a bunch of people to participate with their setups - If you want to volunteer with the ESBs I need the setups etc. - all setups are needed. I am also planning to provide some tackle - rigged for your waters as well as some bait. 

 

The change would be two-fold (and detailed instructions will be sent on executing some new tactics)- first however, I really really need some data on how people currently fish and their setups., where they fish. Details to follow.

 

Live bait anglers & Float anglers (I hope this shapes up to some really really good stuff!)...

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

 I guess I tell you all all my secrets tonight, as for break away leaders I dont use them , I use 10 lb test floracarbon line, invisible underwater, and a #8 longshank wire hook, when hung up all you have to do is pull straight on the line with your hand and it will bend the hook and nothing is disturbed, then just bend the hook back into shape put on a fresh cricket and your back in business. I have pulled 14 lb catfish in with this set up. A 14 lb catfish on a flyrod is a thrill. So add this with the porcupine quill technology and it's an old school system thats hard to beat.   LOFR