Slip Bobbering the mechanics of it not that tackle

[Big Jeff]

Slip bobbering has produced very well on the big pond for me but I have not mastered some of the finer points of using the technique on other lakes. I have the tackle portion down i.e. bobber, swivel, split shot hook. But I still struggle on how to approach some structure and how to search and stop and fish.

On Mille Lacs I watch the graph, see some fish, circle back with the big motor then use my I-pilot to stay over them, use my depth bomb to get set right then some time we catch them sometimes we don’t get any but often we do well. I have not had much success on other lakes. Most of the time on the pond we are fishing mud or gravel/rocks.

How do you search out your spots and then how do you approach them from a stand point of driving the boat and then casting to where you want to be? I am hoping to get some more time chasing the eyes with bobbers over the 5 day trip up to Voyagers this 4th but I have had better success with a jig, rig or blades. Up there we fish similar structure as Mille Lacs, rock humps, mud flats, weed edges, and mid lake drops but I have yet to key on anything but some weed line eyes under the old slip bobber.

Am I looking in the wrong spots, mud flats are 20-40ft and rock humps are up to 10 on some but others only up to 15ft. Best luck has been in water under 15 ft off of a weedy point or a big rock about the size of a dump truck. All over the 4th of July week.

Looking for advice on what to tweak or try to get more people successes in catching some fish as a bobber is kind of no brainer as far as someone knowing what a bite is versus hitting a rock on the bottom or missing the strike.

And good luck over the 4th!!!

[mainbutter]

When I'm slip bobber fishing, in my mind I'm essentially just giving myself the ability to vertical jig out away from my boat on a cast, along with setting a firm maximum depth my lure/jig/bait settles at.

I actually never slip bobber fish for walleyes. I'm not much a walleye fisherman, but have never had as much success with slip bobbers compared to other techniques. I've recently fallen in love with drop shotting on typical mud flat structure.

I've been using slip bobbers to fish over and just outside of weed edges and rock piles for pike, bass, and crappies, basically anything that hunts UP. Ice jigs under a slip bobber are kinda cool

Like I mentioned before, I work it like I'm vertical jigging. I can hop a lure or bait, let it settle at where I *think* the fish might be looking, hop again to try to attract attention, let it settle and wait for a potential strike, all on a slow retrieve all the way back to the boat working a larger area than just sitting still. getting my bobber stop set at the right depth is a key part of the equation for me!

[Big Jeff]

Do you power corkers just run the main motor then drift or do you search with the trolling motor?

[Gus]

When fishing shallower structure I like to let the wind carry my float into the structure keeping the boat off a ways. Especially in clear water or during daytime hours, bright sun. Depending on how you set your depth you can drift right up the the break, or drift onto the top of it. Depends where the fish are holding. I consider slip floating a finess application and treat it as such. When carefully thought out and executed it is very deadly to the eyes. Not a lazy way to fish at all. Although it can be when necessary!

[Stick in Mud]

Interesting idea, mainbutter, about using drop shots for walleyes you've marked on the graph. Makes a lot of sense....don't know why it shouldn't whack them. Would be very easy to change the length of the dropper, too, to match how far off the bottom the fish are. Good idea.