Last week, I spent a little time talking about fishing in ponds using slip floats. I received a few e-mails asking about these little gadgets. People wanted an explanation as to how they work and how to use them. Good questions to be sure.
First of all, there are bobbers and there are floats and the terms really shouldn't be interchanged.
A bobber is typically a red and white plastic hollow orb that has a spring clip on it that is used to attach the bobber to a fishing line. You put it on your line and watch for the bobber to go underwater, signaling a strike from a hungry fish.
Bobbers are certainly not new; you've probably all started using them since you were children. If you are still using them, I'd recommend that you stop.
The problem with bobbers is that it takes too much effort for a fish to pull the bobber under the surface. No matter how small the bobber, they just don't work well. The fish picks up your bait and an alarm in its miniscule brain tells it that there is something wrong because something heavy is pulling against him.
Try this sometime. Take an empty one-gallon plastic bleach or milk bottle and try to drag it underwater. It is almost impossible to do. That is what it must feel like for a fish to try to submerge a little red-and-white bobber.
Another problem is that a lot times, a fish will bite a bait from the bottom and move it upward. The traditional bobber will not move at all. It will just sit there floating like nothing is going on below it. You might be surprised to find out how many bites are actually from the bottom up. You'd never really know until you tried fishing with floats.
Floats were brought here from the United Kingdom where match fishermen have used them for decades. Match fishing requires extremely light tackle and finesse. Match fishermen aren't fishing for trophy sized fish. They are usually trying to catch as many fish as possible, even the tiniest. Floats fit the technique perfectly.
Floats can be made from cork, balsa wood, plastic or any other light-weight buoyant materials. The floats work very differently than bobbers. Whereas bobbers float on top of the water, a float has to be tuned so that it sits about halfway or more under the water. Only the tip sticks up above the water's surface, like a tiny iceberg.
If you set it up right, a float is neutrally buoyant – it takes no effort at all for a fish to pull it under. You accomplish the neutral buoyancy by weighting the line under the bobber with tiny split-shot sinkers. Add or subtract sinkers until you get the float to sit properly. Two or three tiny sinkers are preferable to one larger one. It will take a little time and effort to come up with the correct amount of weight but the success is surely worth the effort.
As a bonus, when a fish strikes at your bait from underneath it, the float will rise out of the water or lay on its side. Now you are seeing all of those bites you never knew existed.
Another big difference between floats and bobbers is in the ability to change depths when fishing. Bobbers clip to your line. To change depths you unclip the bobber and move it up or down the line. The clip can often damage the line which is not a good thing.
Floats can be fixed at a certain depth or can be rigged as a slip float. That way, it is extremely easy for you to move the depth of your bait without doing anything detrimental to your fishing line.
With a bobber, the best you can do for depth is about six feet. If you clip the bobber any longer than that, you'd never be able to get a fish out of the water. With a float, you can go as deep as you want. When you reel the slip float rig in, the float travels up the line all the way to the tip of your rod if that is what you want to accomplish.
Floats come in many shapes and sizes. They are made for a variety of conditions. They have floats for calm water and they have floats for choppy water. There are even floats made particularly made for river fishing. They are much more expensive than the traditional red-and-white bobbers, but seriously, how many do you think you will use in a season. A couple of good floats are an excellent investment.
Thill, a brand of float manufactured by Lindy Little Joe is the gold standard in the world of European style floats. There are many other floats available. Spence Petros recently told me that he's been using the Rocket Bobber quite a bit. From its name, I thought the Rocket bobber was a gimmick, but Petros told me it was not – it really works. In addition to great sensitivity, Spence says you can cast it a mile. You all know how much stock I put in Spence's opinions – I have already bought some Rocket Bobbers.
Floats aren't just used for panfish. They come in jumbo sizes for fisherman chasing pike and even muskies. Slip floating for walleyes is a deadly presentation. You can run a slip float rig and cast it to a bridge piling or gravel point and let it sit there in the strike zone for as long as you want. You cannot keep your bait in the zone that long by casting and retrieving.
Greg Bohn is an expert fisherman from Wisconsin's Northwoods who goes by the name of "Mister Slip Bobber." There is a "Mister" everything in the fishing world, isn't there? And thinking about it, shouldn't Greg really be calling himself "Mister Slip Float?" Bohn has a website with plenty of info on the various slip float techniques at www.gregbohn.com. Check it out.
Bobber fishing has often been thought of as the lazy man's way to fish. I can't say that is true, but slip float fishing is definitely a little more challenging but it will help you catch more fish than you ever thought possible. Give it a try.Northern Illinois – Dave Kranz from Dave's Bait and Tackle in Crystal Lake reports: "With water levels rising and warming, the fish will go into the shallows. Make sure to cast to anything objects in the water; trees, rocks, docks, seawalls. All of these hold heat and attract fish. Fishing will get much better this week as we warm up. Use small fatheads for crappie, wax worms for bluegills and for bass, try casting a Mann's Baby Minus -1. It is a great choice. Call 815-455-2040 for updated reports."
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The bad weather has freaked the fish out. They are hiding deep, waiting for the water to warm and bring them shallow. They are very finicky and want presentations that are so slow, they are barely moving.
For up-to-the-minute water conditions on the Fox Chain and Fox River, go to [ http://www.foxwaterway.state.il.us/ ]http://www.foxwaterway.state.il.us/ or call 847-587-8540.
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Lake Michigan – Captain Bob Rossa (815-338-8093) reports, "Bad weather and high winds have slowed the fishing down on Lake Michigan. Coho salmon are still being caught in the muddy water. Double 0 orange dodgers, with blue/purple/black Peter Flies have been the best producers. No perch are being caught."
Southern Wisconsin –You can call Wisconsin's Lake Michigan Fishing Hotline at 414-382-7920 to hear the latest fishing information for Lake Michigan and its tributaries.
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The Illinois Department of Natural Resources today announced that the William G. Stratton Lock and Dam on the Fox River in McHenry will resume full-time daily operations in time for the 2011 boating season, beginning on May 1. IDNR lock tenders will operate the Lock and dam seven days a week from 8 a.m. to midnight from May 1 through Sept. 30. The lock will be open 8 a.m.to 8 p.m. seven days a week from Oct. 1 through 31. The lock is closed for the season every year from November 1 through April 30. During the 2009 and 2010 boating seasons, the Stratton Lock operated five days a week, with operations Thursday through Saturday and on holidays from 10 a.m. to midnight and from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Wednesday and Sunday. The Lock and Dam was inoperable on Mondays and Tuesdays. This is good news, especially in light of the IDNR facing an extremely restrictive budget.
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Kevin Van Dam is not the only person that can win a million bucks by going fishing. Now, you can do it too. Cabela's, along with the Outdoor Channel, Wanna Go Fishing TV and other supporting sponsors, is hosting "Wanna Go Fishing for Millions?" It's a competition in which any angler has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win millions of dollars in cash and prizes by enjoying fishing.
Cabela's and Wanna Go Fishing TV are tagging hundreds of fish in lakes near select Cabela's retail stores and every one of them is a winner. Among the winning fish, 60 are grand prize winners that qualify for additional bonuses based on the winning angler using or wearing sponsors' products when they catch a tagged fish.
In celebration of Cabela's 50th anniversary, the 50th tag redeemed will win a $10,000 Cabela's shopping spree that can be redeemed in a store or online. To top it off, there are additional prizes for the first fish tag redeemed in every state.
By catching a grand prize tagged fish while using an Abu Garcia reel, spooled with Berkley line, anglers can double the winnings. If you catch the grand prize fish while sporting Costa sunglasses or Sperry Top-Sider shoes, you can increase the prize package by $100,000. By using all of the equipment, and catching the grand prize tagged fish, the package more than doubles from $1 million to $2.2 million!
Full details on the contest are available at www.cabelas.com/fishformillions or at any Cabela's tore. Anglers need to pre-register on the website and hit their local lakes between May 14, 2011, and July 14, 2011, for their chance at millions.
Local waters that have been stocked with prize-winning tags will be announced via a special insiders' email to contest registrants on May 10. The list of lakes goes "public" on May 14, via the official website.
• Steve Sarley is the host of "The Outdoors Experience" radio show Sunday mornings at 5 a.m. on WIND AM-560. The show can also be heard anytime at his Web site, www.oexperience.com. Contact Sarley at lcjedit@lakecountyjournal.com.