Deadstick or Bobber

[tisosy11]

One rattle reel is cool - all the rattle reels is the house not so cool...

[muskyjim]

csp - how much does one of those "meat sticks" cost?

tisosy - hey its still better than an alarm clock...beep...beep...beep

[CSP88]

 Originally Posted By: muskyjim

csp - how much does one of those "meat sticks" cost?

Around $30......but I did see Cabelas had them on sale for $18.

Chad

[FishOn!]

I understand the points made. I do agree with donbo. I love watching a bobber sink! As for the rod in a holder, I feel that if a fish swims a little ways it may feel resistance no matter how sensitive the rod. And i also have a better hook-up percentage with a bobber. Its fishing! Everyone has there time tested favorite style! If its working for you then you stick with it!

[talltines]

My dead stick is always paired with a ice buster bobber. I trim my minnow tails, than I can cut my bobber as short as possible without my minnow taking it down. Without the bobber I can imagine missing all kinds of fish. Watching vex and my jigging presentation takes up much of my attention. I love looking over and seeing the ice buster slowly slipping under the ice, or better yet seeing no bobber at all. I walleye fish and have had very little issue with eyes spitting due to bobber resistance. Dead sticking without seems like you would miss seeing bites if preoccupied with the other hole or tip-up or day dreaming, ect. YeaNo??? Always use rod holder and bail open with bobber set-up.

[TroyMcClure]

I use the ice buster bobbers, but as my friends know I am unique. I have some sort of weird bobber mojo going down. We are like one on the ice.

[PerchJerker]

 Quote:

My dead stick is always paired with a ice buster bobber

Technically that's not correct terminology. If you have a bobber on the line, it's a bobber and not a deadstick. Not that it really matters, if that's how you like fishing then go for it. But calling a bobber setup a deadstick is not correct.

I have a far better hooking ratio with a deadstick than I do with a bobber. I use deadstick rods (Jason Mitchell Meatsticks) or add a spring bobber to the end of a rod if it's not as soft as I like. Put it in a rod holder, watch the minnow working away, and set the hook when the rod starts bending down. Works great and I rarely miss a bite.

[blueroof]

To detract from what Perchjerker said, I call any rod that isn't actively being jigged a deadstick. If it ain't moving, pretty good chance it's dead... I call the act of catching fish on a line without a bobber, deadsticking.

I prefer deadsticking over floating a bobber 95% of the time. I find that I get far better hookup rates. Personally I feel that the fish has less opportunity to spit the bait if it has a small amount of tension from the rod. Using a rod like the T.B. power noodle deadsticking crappie, I often find the fish pretty much hook themselves. Some days an ice buster is the way to go. Some days an ice buster that is slightly too small is the ticket, the slowly falling bait drives some of them to bite.

LB

[TurnUpTheFishing]

Their are several reasons I dont go with the deadstick style rods...

Like talltines pointed out, If I am using a bobber it is not my main rod/technique. I pay more attention to my flasher and jigging and dont want to stare at a rod tip. I like being able to quick glance and check on my bobber hole.

I dont see how a deadstick will actually get better hookups. With an icebuster and open bail fish can be fed line til I set the hook. With a deadstick I would be worried about a fish grabbing the line and feeling pressure of a loaded rod if im not being attentive.

Lastly, I can use any old rod for bobber fishing saving me a few extra bucks to spend on other tackle I "need".

[slipperybob]

I do believe that the chances of a fish hooking themselves on a deadstick rod are about the same as a bobber. There's gonna be a point at which the fish will pull on lure with enough tension to drive the hook point in. The timing may be different to how much rod bend from deadstick or slack line for bobber. If you open bail, then that's all up to the individual. The timing for a fish to spit lure back out may differ as well as there's several posssible scenarios for such instances from line tension or lack there of. If the hook point doesn't make it inside of the mouth of the fish, a deadstick will jiggle and a bobber will sink or rise in any manner and you still wont get the fish.

[marine_man]

 Originally Posted By: TurnUpTheFishing

With a deadstick I would be worried about a fish grabbing the line and feeling pressure of a loaded rod if im not being attentive.

There's been a lot of discussion on this thread talking about the fish feeling resistance.

A deadstick - whatever you like to use, coupled with a Rod Rocker or Rod Rocker 2, or whatever Rod Holder that allows you to balance the rod/reel and tackle takes the majority of the resistance out. That's the whole idea behind them - you balance the rod in the holder and when the fish takes the bait they feel very little, if any resistance since the rod is being balanced by it's own weight - so it takes very little effort to tip the rod down.

The other nice thing is that it's a visual indicator of a bite - the rod / reel tips down - no watching the rod tip for subtle movements that are hard to see - when the rod tip tips down pick the rod up and set the hook.

Here's what a Rod Rocker 2 looks like:

It looks like today's tackle is selling them - 2 for $10...

marine_man

[talltines]

TurnUpTheFishing, I think we got her pegged, ice busters cut down have very minimal resistance and give us the ability to pay attention to our jigging. Much more forgiving for daydreaming too.Peace!

[Coach1310]

Nothing beats watching a bobber go down in my opinion

[Bulldoggr]

Reading 4 pages of this, and it I get a chuckle out of how many people think deadsticking is using a bobber.

If you have a bobber on your line while you are fishing with the bail open or closed. in a rod holder or not, is not dead sticking.

Fishing with out a bobber on your line is deadsticking. Now I have both the Rod Rocker, and the "Dangler" type rod holders that balance your rod. Jigging with out a bobber on your line is what I have also understood to be dead sticking.

I can watch my tip and see the bite as well as holding the rod and feel the bite.

I "NEVER" use a bobber on my line in the hole that i have my LX-5 in. The second hole I will either use a bobber on my line. I also have a rig with a String bobber stop on it. i will adjust that for the depth i want. and have it set right at or just under the water Line. I then will use the Rod Rocker or the "Dangler".

Any way you set it up, and you enjoy. is the best way to go for you. if you are having fun, and satisfied with the way you are catching fish, thats all that matters.

[Bruce Mosher]

If I'm fishing by myself in my 2-man portable, I will be jigging a spoon or whatever pretty aggressively in the main hole and I will have the Rod Rocker 2 set up on the edge of my tub in front of the second hole. Sometimes I have an Ice Buster Bobber on the second rod or I will have just the rod with the string tie knot (for the bobber) only on the line to give me a marker point to know when to click the bail and have the correct depth every time. But I always put the rod on my Rod Rocker 2 so I won't have to worry about losing the rod down the hole if a fish bites etc. The Rod Rocker 2 is a tip down holder so it gives the fish a few more inches of travel than a regular rod holder that doesn't move at all. IF the fish dictate that you need more distance before the hook is set the Ice Buster Bobbbers work great. I can give the fish more line with the bobber and then finally set the hook.

Always seems to be a few different ways to look at a situation!

Good Luck!!

Bruce Mosher

todaystackle.com

[tisosy11]

Yeah, I cut my ice busters right to where they nearly sink themselves. Then allow for extra line...this way i can tell even the most finnicky bite without having to pay as much attention as you would while deadsticking...

[Shack]

This is topic that could go on for ever, like so many on this forum.

I will state first off that I use a true dead stick 85% of the time on both my

lines, bobber/dead stick combo 10% and a bobber/bobber combo 5% of the time. It all depends on what the fish want. Like said before, I can fine tune a bobber to be very light, but the initial plunge of a bobber, verses a slight bend of a dead stick can mean a “skunk” trip, verses a good trip. If you are using a bobber/float 100% of the time, you are loosing out on fish. It is a proven fact. I think most of the people who stand behind the bobber method a 100% of the time, just have not tried dead sticking in the correct fashion. I will give some examples of what I do for dead sticking. I would recommend trying it, it changed my whole out look on icing pan fish about 4 years ago and has gotten me way more fish since I started doing it.

Give it a try and good luck.

[Shack]

One important note I forgot to mention also was where to set your drag for dead sticking. Again, this is another point that could very depending upon how the fish are acting, but lighter is key. Not to light as in a free spool, but just enough to keep tension on jig in the mouth of the fish as you reel up, but light enough to let the fish do what they want with out to much slack. After using this system for a couple years now, I am more tuned in to a “no hook set” retrieve. If fish is pulling tip of rod down, I unstrap or carefully pull rod out of holder and tension line and start to reel. I have been perfecting this method more so this year and it helps immensely in keeping fish on with a small light presentation. I sit and watch my fishing partner give the fish “the onion” when the bobber goes down and a big “AHHHH!” half ways up when fish gets off.

Good luck

[PerchJerker]

I just got back from a couple days on lake of the woods, and deadsticks got more bites and caught more fish than bobbers. It was a noticable difference.

Some of the bites were "strong", where the deadstick tip just kept bending and you could pick it up and set the hook. Some of the bites were "finicky", where it worked better to slowly raise the handle of the deadstick and drop the rod tip toward the hole to take some resistance off the fish and give them a little more time. But either way, deadsticks outproduced bobbers for us this weekend.