Slip bobber for walleye

[Tinkhamtown]

Want to try slip bobber for walleye in 12 to 15 feet of water. What is the best bobber, hook or small jig, sinker weight, pound line, etc. for this set up?

[Fowlmouth]

For a bobber I'd go with a splash brite lighted bobber, only for the fact that a lot of slip bobber fishing for walleyes is done in the evening into the night. If you dont want to spend the money for a lighted bobber or dont plan on doing night fishing a nice weighted bobber will do the trick. For line I like 8lb trilene and for a hook i like a size 4 colored hook. Usually red, orange or chartreuse with a big fat jumbo leech dangling from it.

[walleyeking19]

I like the thill lighted bobber with a slip shot about 18 inches above a plain red hook. Hook size i usually go with #4 or #6 and 6 pound mono for line.

[theiceman]

I like the 7 foot medium action openface Rod.. I use 10 four Fireline with a 2 foot mono leader. The bobber kind of depends on if it's calmer water or rough water if it's calm water I like the real narrow float and if it's rougher water I go to a little fatter float. If I'm fishing a minnow I use a plain red hook number two and if I'm fishing a leech I go to 1/16 oz leadhead. The plane Red hook can also be used for the minnow but I don't very often use a minnow on the jighead. Hope this helps good luck fishing!!

[solbes]

Agree with a lot of the above. I have tried out rods with mono only (8#). And rods with 10/4 Fireline and 18 foot Fluoro. I generally prefer the fluro as I just strip that off in the spring and add a new leader. The Fireline has been on there for 4 seasons now. Plenty of stretch with the fluoro to set the hook. Mono works great if you change it once or twice a summer.

I use a rubber core sinker 2' from the hook, medium sized slip bobber. Balancing the bobber with the sinker is important IMO. I want the bobber to be floating even in waves. But don't want much pull to drag it down either.

We got some fluoresecent colored hooks last year. Some nights out they would only hit orange, or only hit pink. Weird. Red has been my standby.

[NAMASafetyDirector]

My personal preference on a slip bobber rig is to have a bit longer rod. 8-9 foot medium for a couple reasons. One is the tip is alot more forgiving when your taking up your slack after "bobber down". Additionally it helps with casting. I would also reccomend a little bit larger open face reel, I made the mistake on my outfit and put a small reel on and the castability is not as good as it could be. I run straight 8lb. Trilene (again personal preference) a Thill bobber and usually a 1/16 or 1/8 jig head with a minnow or frozen shiner. Again these are all starting points, you will have to see what works for you and dial it in. It's a deadly tactic and alot of fun too. Nothing better than bobber down!

[Comit 2]

I like long rods in the 10' range (STEELHEAD rod) with 6lb mono line. I find that fireline is not a good choice for float fishing because the bobber stopper has nothing to bite into and moves to much.

[B-man715]

As said above, a long rod with a bigger reel. I picked up a 9' medium spinning Cabelas Tourney Trail with a President spinning reel. I like using hi-vis 8lb mono for this application. It literally glows in the dark if you have a black light in the boat.

[Luke_M]

I have been playing around with small circle hooks the last couple of years and really like them. The places were I slipbobber walleye there are a lot of smallies and white bass and it helps keep you from gut hooking them. For rod and reel I just use my ml 7' jigging rods.

[Redlineracer12]

For line 6 or 8lb test mono, I use Trilene XL or XT for the most part. You can play with a floro leader if you're in extra clear water. I use bobber stop, bead, bobber, egg sinker, swivel tied on the mono. Then 18" of floro to a colored bead and #4 or #2 circle hook. I use pretty much only thill bobbers, the premium ones with the brass grommets are nicer since the line won't cut into them and get stuck like the cheaper plastic bobbers. At night the splash brite is a sweet bobber, but they are a bit heavy and can tend to tangle if you are pitching them far. That alone makes me avoid them during the daytime when the light isn't needed.

I use 7 to 7'6" ML with fast action rods. I know people who use super long poles though, like the 12-14' range.

[RIPN LIPS]

7ft ML rod, 6lb power pro, 2ft fluorocarbon leader. I use the gamakatsu lighted bobber because they are the brightest I have seen so far, 1/4oz egg sinker above the swivel with a #6 orange gamakatsu hook on the end of the leader. I also put the smallest split shot I have further up the line so my bobber is 3-4ft away from the business end, i have found over the years that by doing this it does not get tangled up with the bait or sinker when you cast. Good luck

[Tinkhamtown]

Thanks for all the helpful replies. Just picked up some thill lighted bobbers and will be trying this method in a couple weeks.