I have a confession to make...

[hanson]

I am probably the last guy on earth to use a spring bobber.

Whheeeeewwwww.... I feel much better now.

I have no clue why this took so long but it did. I am now the proud new owner of a St. Croix Legend Ultralight spring bobber rod. I bought this with the intention of being my finesse panfish rod but it might be my only panfish rod after this afternoon's outing.

My other confession is I'm not that diehard of a panfish angler. But I start to pay attention when Matt Johnson, Corey Bechtold, and BDR are smoking me when I'm fishing with them. Me being the competitive type that I am can't handle that.

My new St. Croix is teamed with a Tica Cetus SB500 and 2 pound P-Line. I fished strictly Custom Jigs & Spins Ratso's tonight in size 10 tipped with a Eurolarvae and smacked the pannies like I haven't in a long time.

Detecting bites was simply amazing with the spring bobber. The most obvious difference was when the spring bobber relaxed meaning the fish picked up the bait. How many of those bites have I missed in the past. MANY! because I've watched them on my camera do that to me.

I'm just really mad at myself for not playing with this technology earlier. It made a night and day difference in the amount of fish caught tonight. I'm willing to bet 3 times as many as with no spring bobber.

[Matt Johnson]

Welcome to the spring bobber world!

You will see the benefits a spring bobber can have on certain situations (if you haven't already). A great technique for panfish and perch!

[Corey Bechtold]

MJ Wan has trained you well young Hanson!

Glad to see you're learning,

Corey Bechtold

[ivegottabite]

Good to see you took the chance on the Legend. After using one last year, there's no pannie outing that I won't have the Legend with me. It is truely amazing how much you can detect in a small spring. I would recommend everyone picking up some type of spring bobber/spring bobbber rod. You won't doubt yourself about the purchase after having an outing like Hanson did

[gman2002]

i too had gotten away from useing a spring bobber afer using one for many years , after having one custom made years ago and the tip broke off i could never find any type of spring that was half as good, so i just went to line watching and feel. but now that they have gotten so much better, i just picked up a st croix legend. my question is, i know you guys have rod storage, personally i have a revolution which i love, but how do you protect the spring? just slide them in and hope nothing happens ? i do notice with the 24 in. the tip shouldn't hit the end before the reel kinda holds it from sliding. or do you have any other fm ideas.

[hanson]

Medicine Lake UPL results...

Johnson/Rogers - 4.8 pounds (15 fish limit)

Team Hanson (myself) - 4.4 pounds (15 fish limit)

I'm coming baby!! Only 4 tenths off the pace, if I could have just found a few bigger perch.

[mjmader]

i have had my 2 legend's for 2 years. one of them needs to be sent back because it is snapped in half. i have snapped the tip off of my other one and has been reglued. i agree that it is a great rod. i might be alittle hard on it but not any harder on this one than any of my others. has anybody else had these problems????

i was wondering if thorne brothers made a spring bobber like st. croix's or if they would put one on a rod for me????

[metrojoe]

You'll gettem next time.

We missed you for breakfast Saturday.

[Juan Grande]

Guys,

What type of spring bobber do you use? I just started fishing with them this season and the one I use looks like a little piece of tin with an eye hole at the end. Do the actual springs work better?

[hanson]

Quote:

---

What type of spring bobber do you use?

---

The spring bobber that I'm referring to is made by St. Croix Rods and was invented by Greg Wilcynski. After doing much research, I decided that the St. Croix Legend rod w/ spring bobber is about the best thing going for spring bobbers. The rod & spring bobber is sold as a combo for approximately $50.

mjmader - Funny you should mention Thorne Bros. and getting a custom Thorne rod with a St. Croix spring bobber on it. I have never been a fan of St. Croix ice rods, both the Legend and Avid series rods. They just do NOT compare to a Thorne Bros. custom rod at all. In fact, this is the only rod I own that isn't a Thorne Bros. rod and I bought it because of the high quality spring bobber.

My Legend shakes side to side when I have a fish on it. Thats not right. My Thorne rods don't do that. Anyway, if I could get Thorne Bros. to put that St. Croix spring bobber on a Thorne rod, I would be a very, very happy guy.

[Dan Thiem]

Big John, I think the coil type spring is way better. But only if it's above freezing. Then the coil type ices up and reeling in line can be a pain. The other style that I like using is the flat spring steel type. It only has one hole at the end. A little warm breath on the end and it's ice free. Unlike the coil type. But if I'm pan fishin in a shack I barely ever use a bobber at all. If I do it's an Ice Buster trimmed "just perfect".

[iffwalleyes]

So how exactly does the St Croix spring bobber work? I am looking a picture of it but I wouldn't have a clue on how to use it.

[fisherking01]

Hanson, I can assure you that you weren't the last one even on this site to use a spring bobber! Seems like half of my trips recently require some finesse. I'll take every advantage I can even if I'm just fishing to release. I can't think of a better way to get rid of some more "moldy money".

[juggs]

Preach it, man. I tell all my non-spring bobber buddies that they're catch rate would go up but they don't believe me. Oh, well. I'll just continue to outfish them.

[fisherking01]

My dog just evened the odds. She chewed off my new spring bobber rod. not like she could have picked a different one? guess that spring was just too enticing. Oh well, Back to the tackle shop!

[gspman]

I'm a spring bobber virgin (did I just write that???) too. I'll be taking the plunge at this weekend's Backwater Brawl.

[metrojoe]

I've got one mounted on my jig pole and they shine for that type of fishing, but in deeper water or when I'm moving around I rely on a sensitive rod tip.

[CrappieJohn]

Iff....On factory rods they have a bracket that sets the spring over the top of the tip-top of the rod. The line is threaded thru the rod as usual, but then goes thru the large eye at the end of the spring. If you bought the replacement spring, you got only the spring and no bracket to hold it. I guess I'd just shrink tube it to the rod so it is over the tip if that is the case.

[Ralph Wiggum]

I used small strips of electrical tape to hold one on the tip of a rod.

[Swimmer]

The perfect spring to fashion your own spring-bobber can be found in the innards of a Bic (and only Bic) lighter. Just take an old Bic, stomp on it, and fish out the spring.

[Tony Boshold]

Quote:

---

So how exactly does the St Croix spring bobber work? I am looking a picture of it but I wouldn't have a clue on how to use it.

---

Well I hope its OK if I reply to this question with out offending Admin. This is the system we exclusively used for all of our tournaments.

This rod offers so much more than bite indication, you have to see it in action to believe it.

iffwalleyes,

The St.Croix Legend Elite ice rod you refer to has a unique spring bobber designed by one of my ice fishing mentors Greg "the Prowler" Wylczinski. It has really been an honor to have been taught so much about fishing from Greg. Any way what makes this spring so unique is that the line as stated does not run through the coils but rather a single "guide" at the end of a "bite amplifying" straight arm. It takes much less force to move the "lever" than all the coils of the other springs. The flat springs work much the same as the coil ones do. Greg's unique spring doesn't freeze up and continues to be accurate at extreme tempuratures. (recently featured on Good fishing)

Now for the beauty part not only is it integrated and you don't have to futz with tapes or shrink wraps or whatever else has been thought of. It is completely adjustible to different lure weights by sliding it forward for lighter lures and back for heavier lures and each rod accepts at least two spring tensions. There are five rod actions and four spring tensions.

The UL comes with a Light orange spring

The L comes with a Light orange spring

The ML comes with a Medium pink spring.

The M comes with a Medium heavy yellow spring.

The MH comes with a Medium heavy yellow spring.

There is also available a New Heavy Green Spring for the largest jigging Rap type lures and spoons and the like.

When the spring is in the 30 degree position while a lure is on the end of it it and in the water it is most effective. Crappie often lift bite and this spring pops up - fish on! If it stops or drops fish on!

Probably the best thing I like is the natural presentation the spring provides because it acts like a cushion to your jittery jigging even after one too many cups in the morning.

"Be the Scud" is what Greg always tells me. "And they swim they dont jump, easy pickens is what they want on ice" and when they've seen it all a natural presentation leads to more bites. Seeing just about every bite increases your odds of more and bigger fish in the end. The blanks for these rods are not the same as the Premier or the Avid line up they are completiely designed by Greg's prototypes which I was fortunate enough to begin fishing on ice with. That spring is plated in 24k gold making it extremely visible against the ice. I recommend a carrying bag similiar to the steal of a deal going on here on the HSO site. If your gonna put out $50 for a rod not to mention a quality reel it should be kept in a safe place. Many here regularly drop $45-90+ on high quality ice rods and this rod is well worth it's tag. For the time alone saved doing something beside trying to Jury rig a spring to another inferior rod it's worth it. These are a high quality solid carbon and an upgraded carbon to what is used in the Avid and Premier which are built on the same blanks just different handles and guides.

I have tried many other system's for ice fishing and this is what I will always fish with. You'd really be surprised to see how many bites your missing.

Any other questions about this system just ask or PM I'm here to help.

[njsimonson]

Well, after reading this post a week or so ago, I had to see what all the hype was. I got a St. Croix Legend springbobber rod (light, 24") for fishing perch.

UN-BE-LEIVABLE! I swear, bites that wouldn't budge an ice buster were detectable. I outfished everyone numbers wise on Saturday with a Size 12 nymph and tiny split shot with waxies for perch, maaaan were they were finicky. I know that 10 of my 15 perch came on the spring bobber rod, precisely for that reason. Caught a 12-incher, biggest in three years, two 11-inchers and a 10-incher as well as three in the 8 to 9 inch range, and about a dozen smaller ones, while other guys could barely manage 1 or 2. These spring bobbers are vital for those lite baits, when everyone sticks with jigs and minnows.

Thanks for helping me evolve my fishing tactics. I feel more competent as a result. I think it just goes to show the power this site has. I've learned about something new and employed it on the ice, MANY THANKS to all of you, gang. This isn't the usual message board, it is nice to find some practical stuff, rather than partisan bickering and pi-in-the-sky conversation. I won't be without a SB rod again.

[CNY Tim]

I have 4 myself 2 UL's, L, and a ML and I too have been impressed with the sensitivity of the spring bobber set-up on these rods. The more I fish em the more I like em.

I did however break a UL this weekend while fishing, set the hook and the rod snapped right in half just past the first guide. It's on it's way for warranty repair right now. There seems to be a quality control problem or something to that effect, my friend Gerry ordered a UL from Cabela's and the first one that arrived the tip was not attached. The replacement rod that Cabela's shipped arrived with the tip top mounted sideways? The third replacement arrived and the 2nd to last guide is slightly offset and even though it's not perfect he's fine with that because it's his best finicky perch rod.

When it comes down to finessing the St. Croix Legend is king in my opinion. I love my Thornes Brothers rods when I can bull whip em with authority but when there negative the Legend outshines any rod I have used.

[chunkytrout]

Out of pure curiosity, anyone trying these things on streamer stocked lakes. I gotta think they'd be killer on the stealth-biting streamers. My ears are perked for sure. I've seen the OLD-SCHOOL versions so it's not brand new technology however definetly improved. Back to bobbers/Busters for the heavy hitters though but nice for the pannies and streamers I bet. (click here for another run-on sentence/bad grammer)

[hanson]

After using my St. Croix Legend spring bobber for a number of panfish outings now, I am very happy that I spent the money on it. Its pretty simple... More fish on the ice.

The pannies have been very light biting this winter and the spring bobber is definitely the ticket to detecting them.

Here's a couple panfish that fell victim to a CJ&S Ratso and St. Croix spring bobber combo at the Rush Lake Ultimate Panfish League event last weekend. The gill measured 9-1/8" which is really respectable for that lake. Both fish were caught in 7' of water with green weeds present right off the top of the weeds.