Slip Bobber or Bottom Fish?

[fishlips]

I haven't fished stocked trout for many years, but my son wants to give it a go. In stocked trout lakes, is it best to go with a slip bobber or stay with a bottom rig and use a floating bait such as gulp? When I fished way back when, we always used bottom rigs with an air injected crawler piece.

[slipperybob]

Hard to say, try both ways and see what the mood is.

Sometimes one will be more successful over the other...

[fish500]

I have fished about a dozen different stocked lakes, and have experienced that some lakes are good for slip bobbers and others are better for bottom rigs. A miniature marshmallow has been the best bait by far for me when bottom fishing. A piece of a crawler and corn has been the best when bobber fishing.

Bobber fishing is good because you can put your bait right above the thermocline, or wherever the fish are concentrated. It's probably a little bit harder to find a really good spot to bottom fish compared to locating the fish and setting your bobbers to that depth. On the other hand, in some lakes, I just haven't been able to catch them with bobbers, and have had good luck bottom fishing.

[CALVINIST]

So when you bottom fish for trout, do you use slip-sinkers or split-shot?

[Rugbyguy]

Use just enough weight to allow you to cast a fair distance and get your weight to the bottom. I prefer split-shot when fishing the bottom.

[slipperybob]

Quote:

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So when you bottom fish for trout, do you use slip-sinkers or split-shot?

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slip-sinkers

[fish500]

I use an egg sinker, swivel, and a two pound test leader.