Which bobbers do you use for windy days?

[Shoemoo]

The best crappie and bass water nearby is a reservoir around 6,000 acres. It's formed by a dam built at the confluence of two rivers. Both rivers dump into wide, shallow basins before narrowing down into steep canyons and emptying into a large, deep main basin right behind the dam. The reservoir is managed for hydropower and not flood control, so 99% of the time it's at full pool. I've never seen the water level fluctuate more than a foot.

Most of the shore access areas are on the south sides, and the wind typically blows from the northwest. That means it's almost always blowing in your face, and there's plenty of space for waves to kick up even under mild wind speeds.

The spots accessible from shore are usually 10 feet or less, which means you have to use a bobber when jig fishing for crappie and sunfish. If you cast into the wind and reel with no bobber, you either don't have enough weight to get very far or you have to reel like mad to keep a heavy jig off the bottom.

The challenge is keeping a natural presentation that's not jumping up and down like mad because of the chop, while still being able to see the bobber at all times. What size and shape bobber do you use for these conditions?

 

[quivira kid]

3/4" or 1" pear. Weighted sometimes, rattling sometimes.

 

[Kdog]

I've always been partial to a 3/8 or 1/2" pencil float. Usually repaint the tops Fluorescent yellow which seems to have most visibility for me

 

[AtticaFish]

I usually don't worry about the wave action since 90% of the time if i am using a tied jig with a bobber, i am giving it constant action. Either a slow/steady retrieve or adjusted with pauses and pops.

Have to get out to the fish, first and foremost. I mostly use the weighted, pear shape, clip on floats. Size depends on how far i need to cast. Fixed floats are by far preferred, unless i am bait fishing and just letting it sit 12' deep or more.

I fish on one notoriously windy up-ground reservoir for crappie and bluegill pretty often. It has fairly (30'+) deep water straight off shore, but the 'golden hours' of fishing during the hour before and after sunset....... the fish rise up and suspend from 12' to the surface and feed like crazy. It is a heavily insect bite, not minnows, so tiny kip and buggy jigs rule. This creates a dilemma to try and cast tiny jigs and keep them around 10' deep. The tiny little 1/64 or 1/32 jigs i use don't work so well with slip floats. Thinking of getting me a longer rod so i can use (and cast) a fixed float at 12' deep....... with ease.

 

[Bkabina]

Thill wobble bobber. http://www.lindyfishingtackle.com/productdetail.aspx?id=thillwobblebobber

When I use a slip bobber with light jigs or fishing deeper than about 7' I use a split shot, just like I would if I was using a bare hook, usually between 1/16 or 1/8oz.

The wobble bobber will cast a mile and the line slips through a lot easier since the bobber is so short. If it's calmer water and I'm fishing closer distance I usually use a weighted thill pro series. http://www.lindyfishingtackle.com/productdetail.aspx?id=thillproseriesslipfloats

 

[jiggerjohn]

A fillable oblong water bubble will cast any jig or fly further than anything,can be adjusted to work any level -even used as a slip float, and is very stable in water despite wind or current. Check out the videos and written info on this method at http://www.bestfishingsecrets.com/

 

[LedHed]

great post - fantastic links - thnx

 

[Shoemoo]

My main concern is that when the wind kicks up here, it's not unusual to see 4" - 6" of chop or even whitecaps on the water. Short bobbers disappear when they fall into a trough between the waves, so if you get a bite while the bobber is out of sight it often takes several seconds to notice your bobber is under. That translates into missed fish.

 

[Bkabina]

Might want to check out some of the English/European styles. The waggler is the most popular.

http://www.lets-go-fishing.org/waggler-float.html

 

[Bucho]

The waggler is actually a very good idea if you want the lure/bait not to move even in a decent chop. It casts like a dart and equalizes waves with its long antenna. It is the last thing I would connect to jig fishing since it is originally designed to anchor tiny natural bait on very delicate tackle to the ground, but why not?

These bombarda floats are very popular over here for fishing streamers in the salt. They are nomally 1/2 to 1 oz heavy and cast more than 60 yards on medium spin tackle. The´re available in a variety of densities and sizes. They derive from italian trout pond fishing, where they have a whole universe of rattling and clicking more or less slow sinking bobbers, glass bodies, lead chains etc. with some very delicate and stealthy stuff among it. You´d be surprised what people come up with when they have no jigs

 

[eyecrosser]

I use weighted pear or cigar floats at all times whether windy or not, love the control they afford. If water deeper then 6-8 feet I normally opt for a weighted slip bobber or wing-it style slip bobber in windy conditions.

 

[papaperch]

If you want to maximize your time in the strike zone. Put enough weight on bottom of line to sink your slip bobber. Adjust length of marker until just the top 1/4 of your bobber sticks out of water. The weight will have a tendency to hold your bait still if enough weight is used. If you would rather it " slow " drift back to you , since wind is primarily in your face. Use a light enough weight that the waves will still push it.

Baits are to be tied above the sinker of course. To be fair I primarily used live bait with this method. I had same problem with strip mine pond here in Ohio. Thing was about 80" deep or better. The 10-12 ' depth was very narrow but usually the most productive.
Owner did not allow any kind of watercraft or float tube fishing. Size of bobber will determine how much weight you can use. If you want to use jigs let system be light enough so that jigs will appear to be swimming by the water pushing it along.

If you have trouble vizualizing what I am talking about . I can post a pic and diagram later.

 

[Shoemoo]

The waggler is actually a very good idea if you want the lure/bait not to move even in a decent chop. It casts like a dart and equalizes waves with its long antenna. It is the last thing I would connect to jig fishing since it is originally designed to anchor tiny natural bait on very delicate tackle to the ground, but why not?

That's really funny, because we do have wagglers here. Lindy makes a pretty extensive selection under their Thill label. I even own a few for very light biters. People here use floats pretty much exclusively for drifting, cast/retrieve or suspending bait and jigs at a specific depth above the bottom.

For some reason, the idea of using a float for bottom fishing just never caught on in North America AFAIK. We use slip sinkers or rigs with a fixed sinker on the bottom and leaders tied to loops in the main line instead. If you broke out a float for keeping bait on the bottom, people would think you were nuts. Maybe it's because the only specialized bottom feeders we have are catfish, and their idea of a subtle bite is inhaling the whole thing into their enormous mouth and running like a scalded cat when they feel the hook.

 

[Shoemoo]

If you want to maximize your time in the strike zone. Put enough weight on bottom of line to sink your slip bobber. Adjust length of marker until just the top 1/4 of your bobber sticks out of water. The weight will have a tendency to hold your bait still if enough weight is used. If you would rather it " slow " drift back to you , since wind is primarily in your face. Use a light enough weight that the waves will still push it.

Baits are to be tied above the sinker of course. To be fair I primarily used live bait with this method. I had same problem with strip mine pond here in Ohio. Thing was about 80" deep or better. The 10-12 ' depth was very narrow but usually the most productive.
Owner did not allow any kind of watercraft or float tube fishing. Size of bobber will determine how much weight you can use. If you want to use jigs let system be light enough so that jigs will appear to be swimming by the water pushing it along.

If you have trouble vizualizing what I am talking about . I can post a pic and diagram later.

Thanks, a diagram would be useful. Unfortunately, the state where I live does not allow live fish as bait so it's going to have to be jigs or worms. You can use cut bait from whatever fish you want, but not live. Worms are great for bluegill, but crappie are only mildly attracted to them in my experience. They might eat one occasionally, but they ignore them more often than not.

Then again, one of the biggest crappie I've ever seen was caught on a nightcrawler sitting on the bottom in 45 feet of water. Fish are weird sometimes.

 

[jiggerjohn]

Actually a friend of mine, an Alaskan Eskimo elder, has written a small book on his 50+ years extensive experience with casting small flies (mostly for grayling,of which he's caught tons, but also for all other types as well on flies on small jigs) with the fillable WATER BUBBLE, to work all depths and lake/river conditions, from surface fishing to bottom crawling. You can contact Chris at [email protected]

 

[deathb4disco]

For some reason, the idea of using a float for bottom fishing just never caught on in North America AFAIK.

It caught on with me.

To the OP, the Thill wagglers are perfect for fishing jigs. They're built to handle a lot of weight.