The Slip-Bobber Rig

So i have not been fishing in a couple of weeks now and Yes, i am having withdrawals! With that said and no fishing trips to write about, I figured I would continue with my "Rigs and setups/ teaching" posts which I quite honestly have been neglecting! As i have said before (many times) that i not only want to learn to fish, but I also want to teach brand new fisherman how to get their feet wet (not literal) as well. With that in mind, I bring you: The Slip-bobber rig! (BTW, please take the time to appreciate my fine artistic abilities in the illustrated diagrams! lol)

 

I had seen slip bobbers before but never paid close attention to them. That is until a night with a new moon out on Black Butte Lake when we got skunked. The next morning a guy approached me and showed me a couple of pretty decent cats he had caught. I asked him how he caught them and he told me he used a slip bobber rig. 

I had never actually seen a slip bobber rig set-up close so I paid attention to how it was rigged up and asked him questions about it. Even though catfish are bottom feeders, he told me that they don’t always eat at the same depth. He told me that at certain times they will be in different depths and at those times, a slip sinker is the way to go.

Both regular bobbers and slip bobbers use the bobber as an indication of bites or strikes. The difference between a slip-bobber and a regular bobber is that a regular bobber stays at one depth and your bait normally stays at the very top of the water column. With a slip bobber, you can access any level of the water column by simply moving your bobber stopper higher up on your line. This allows for your bobber to go further up your line and stop when it meets the bobber stopper, essentially allowing you to reach further depths and still use a bobber as a bite indicator. 

When I first decided to use this rig I went to one of my local fishing stores and found a pack with two weighted slip-bobbers and bobber stoppers. Originally I only used the plastic bobber stoppers included with my pack. It looked like a small thin, skinny strip of plastic with four holes in it. Then you simply take your line, run it through all four holes and you have your bobber stopper. As it turns out, there is also a simple fishing knot you can also tie on to your line that will do the same job. You can find a picture of that knot ::here::

A slip bobber rig isn’t the most complicated rig out there, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t catch fish. The beauty of a bobber stopper is that you can fish different depths with it. This is important because if you aren’t getting bites at one depth, you can and should slide the bobber stopper a few inches up or down until you begin getting bites. I have been in situations where one depth will be dead and after sliding the bobber stopper knot a little higher or lower, fish begin attacking it like crazy. The Slip bobber rig works great for catfish, bluegill, crappie, carp, largemouth bass and even striper. 

So a quick recap:

Step 1. Take your main line and slide on your bobber stopper or tie on your bobber stopper knot.

Step 2. Slide your bobber onto your line.

Step 3. Attach a 1-2 foot leader to your line using a barrel swivel

Step 4. Attatch your hook to the other end of your leader.

Step 5. Adjust your bobber stopper at desired length and you are ready to fish!