Cooter Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I'm gonna guess almost all you icefishermen use a spring bobber for small jig/live bait or plastic combos and go without a spring bobber only with heavier jigs/spoons? If you don't use a spring bobber on the light stuff are you watching line, the rod tip, feel, or a combination of the three? While I'm on it, any concerns with say the yellow Stren as far as fish being shy of it? My old man(who ice fishes way more than me) doesn't have the best eyes anymore and he likes the yellow but asked it I thought it spooked fish. I thought probably not on most of the lakes we fish cuz none are what you would call clear. Thanks, later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach1310 Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I fish without a spring bobber. I fish by line watching and feel. As far as Stren's Hi-Vis Gold, I only fish one lake where I have noticed fish being line shy to Hi-Vis Gold. I don't think it makes much of a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinnyVinny05 Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 i have spring bobbers on 3 of 6 of my rods and i love em little tricky and first but you can tell if fish are bitting up or down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Wiggum Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I use spring bobbers for panfish and heavier jigs for walleyes and cats. I like them a lot and think they work well, especially when they are biting really lightly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jigging-matt Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I have spring bobbers on 4 of my rods and after getting the hang of them last year I wish I would have started using them sooner. Couldn't beleive the number of fish you "miss" over using a regular slip bobber. haven't gotten that good at "feel fishing" yet but am also working on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonicrunch Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I do not like spring bobbers. They seem to interfere with my hook sets on panfish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pathogen Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 If the panfish are tentative, I'll use a spring bobber. If they seem pretty aggressive, I'll go without. I generally fish 'eyes without a spring bobber, although on occasion I will use one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Hudson Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 90 percent of the time Cooter I am a no spring type of guy.. But when the fish, namely panfish, start to just hang onto the bait I will bring out a spring... And on some crappie bites as well.. With a good rod and good feel, a spring is not needed the majority of the time.. But I would suggest, for someone who has limited jigging experience to dive into the realm of springs.. A lot easier to detect the bite... The downside, is it can be a hassle to store these types of rods without ruining the springs and such... One reason I opt for only a few spring set-ups... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanson Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 I probably do about half of my panfishing with the St Croix Legend spring bobber. Panfish aren't always aggressive, and when they aren't, you HAVE to use a spring to catch fish. I don't care how sensitive your rod is, how good you are at line watching, you are missing fish! Lots of them!If you aren't using a spring and notice a lot of fish "looking" at your bait on the flasher, they aren't "looking", they are "biting"! But you just aren't detecting it. A spring will solve that problem! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjjams Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Last year I started using spring bobbers for pans and it really stepped up my game. It took me a few outings to get used to it but once you get your timing down, watch out. Hi-Vis gold is definetly one of my favorite mono ice line. I've never noticed it negatively effect the fishing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metrojoe Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 I'm not a big fan of the spring bobber, but Hanson is right. Those panfish can repeatedly suck in your bait and blow it out in the blink of an eye and you’ll never know it. I’ve watched many fish do this on the camera. When I break the tips off the rods I have now, which is inevitable, I’ll take another look at spring bobbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Horn Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 All my rods have spring bobbers ( strike indicator)on them. I use the Croix Legends also. I just use a heavier spring for heavier jigs. When using a spring it changes the action of the jigging a lot. More of a subtle jigging motion. You WILL catch more fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanson Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Quote: I'm not a big fan of the spring bobber, but Hanson is right. Those panfish can repeatedly suck in your bait and blow it out in the blink of an eye and you’ll never know it. I’ve watched many fish do this on the camera. Thats right Joe! It took me buying a $600 underwater camera to learn I can catch panfish with a $6 spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrappieAttitude Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 I use to prodominately fish panfish with a spring bobber. The only time I really didn't care for them was when I was outside in the blowing wind and seeing my spring dance in the wind. It was hard to tell the bites from the breeze. I now have gotten away from the spring bobber and went to a more sensitite tipped rod. Between watching the line and looking for a little "tick" at the end of my rod, I have been able to still catch my share. I will however switch to my spring rod when I see them as "sniffers" on the Vex. I found it difficult to fish anything remotely heavy with the spring bobber. How do you guys fish walleyes with them without having the spring laying flat? CA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metrojoe Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Quote: Thats right Joe! It took me buying a $600 underwater camera to learn I can catch panfish with a $6 spring. You could have bought spring bobbers for everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Wiggum Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Quote:I found it difficult to fish anything remotely heavy with the spring bobber. How do you guys fish walleyes with them without having the spring laying flat? Heavier springs! I've been using the St. Croix MH spring lately and it works quite well with a 1/8 oz Go Devil tipped with half a fathead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrappieAttitude Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Heavier springs! I've been using the St. Croix MH spring lately and it works quite well with a 1/8 oz Go Devil tipped with half a fathead. I realized after I had sent this that there are probably many different sizes of springs. To be honest I haven't purchased a spring bobber for about 5 years and am not up to snuff as to what is even out there. Can you tell? Just curious when you are jigging for walleyes with a spring bobber, does it change the action like on small panfish jigs?I have never thought of using a spring bobber for eyes.I guess I am used to either watching an ice buster, or jiggin. CA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooter Posted January 11, 2007 Author Share Posted January 11, 2007 Thanks for the replies, I don't know if I could fish panies without a spring bobber. When I was young and went fishing with my dad(18+ years ago) he had spring bobbers rigged on all his poles - nothing more than stiff fiberglass cheapies with the tips cut off so they weren't so long. I can still remember him boiling up water for the shrink tubing. Other than bite detection, I'm convinced you get a different jiggin action with the spring bobber, more subtle as someone mentioned. And the St Croix spring bobbers, I was in the local Gander Mtn and they didn't have any. I went with the panfish poppers - haven't fished with one yet but got it rigged up and looks like it should work just fine. Not only no St Croix bobbers, but no stren hi-vis under 4lb test Thanks again, later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elusivecrappiecatcher Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 I started using spring bobbers 2 years ago just because I though ahh what the hell I will give it a whirl. Well I have one rod setup with a spring bobber and one without and with the same hook same depth, I will alway catch more fish with the spring bobber. I use an adjustable spring and I use it for crappies and walleyes and perch on mille lacs. It is always fun to see it bop around with crappies and then I can go to mille lacs and I use a buckshot rattle jig on a spring bobber and when that walleye or jumbo perch hits and that sb folds over, there is nothing better in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Hudson Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 CooterYou are correct on the jigging action with the springs.. One big thing that people overlook... With certain jigs, you definately can swim a lure really well with a spring... But as I stated before.. 99 percent of the time I can catch just as many fish without a spring... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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