I really like the St. Croix spring bobber set ups, but my favorite is no bobber/spring bobber and using my old counter-balance invention.... you cant make a more sensitive rig for those lite biting panfish... you can even bust those crappies that swim up with your jig... I was going to sell a version of this and even had a few tackle/bait shops that were gonna sell them for me, but they are so easy to make that I would never make enough $$ for it to be worth while... All ya do is put some kind of a tube or straw on the line between the first and second guide on the rod.... it cant be so heavy that the counter weight will drop to the floor& lift the lureout of the water, but not so lite that your jig/bait drops to the lakes bottom. its really much simpler that it sounds! I tried many things over the years & the best ones are made from plastic tubing, like from an aquarium pumps tubing. for those, You cut the tubbing in various lengths from half an inch to an inch or more to counter balance larger minnows/lures.... the longer they are cut, the less spin you will have on the line when ya set the hook... What I use now are those small thill bobbers, Think theyre calles ice"n"flies...(slip bobber type with the little peg, but throw the peg away...) get the smallest, not bigger than 3/4 in. to almost an 1 1/2 in length. depending on your lures weight. You can also add little bits of electrical tape to help tweek the weight down to the right level that will counterbalance the weight of your jig in the water. It works much better with fairly fresh line on your rod with out any twist in it . Ok, here's how the set up actually works once ya have (I call em Lite Bites) it threaded on the line between the first and second guides on the rod.... holding youre rod at that 45 degree angle like when you jig, you pull the"lite-bite" down away from the rod as far as you want to give the fish to run before you set the hook. If you pull the lite-bite 10" down, the fish has 20" to run, pull it down 5" away from the rod and the fish has 10" to run, and so on.... you dont leave the bail open, the fish feels basically no resistance at all... when a fish takes off, sideways or down, the lite-bite raises up towards your rod. If the fish swims up with the bait, like crappies sometimes do, the lite-bite drops down... when crappies mouth/nibble on the hook, you see the lite bite wobble/quiver and hop a little. its amazing how sensitive this set up works, how easy it is, and it actually make ice fishing more fun. Like I said, the fish feels pretty much NO resistance(set a rod up and mess with it at home & you'll see!) like a float/bobber has, It makes bobbers obsolete! havent used bobbers since I came up with this, well, except when I use them for the lite-bite itself, stringing it on the line between the first two guides. Try it out... Most my friends all use it, people that knock on my door and see it in use are kind of amazed at it when they see it in use for the first time, then they chuckle a bit & then ya always see that weird look on their face when that light bulb goes off over their head & they mutter something either like why didnt I think of that OR man you must have way too much time on yer hands to come up with that!
Ya gotta try this... if ya have any questions or problems gettin it rigged, let me know. I guess what I like about it is its the PERFECT second line/deadstick setup cause you can just look over at it & see whats goin on & not have to get up/look down th hole ect. Ya see the lite-bite moving up/down from 100ft away! It works with yer main jigging rod & with spring bobbers so ya have the best of both worlds.... :fishing2:
Check Out Our Forum Tab!
Topic: Spring Bobbers Or Noodle Poles? (Read 12243 times)
