how to stop freezing slip bobbers

[Polar Bear]

Hey Beerbatter, your question is just like asking which brand of carbon paper is best.

Can you spell O-B-S-0-L-E-T-E ?

Get ice-busters, burn the others to heat your shack. You'll thank me in the morning.

Polar Bear

[Northlander]

Go to home paje and look in Gear so advanced its easy and scroll down. You will see them there or get them at most stores or bait shops.

Here is the link:
http://IceBusterBobbers.com

[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 12-09-2003).]

[Aqua Eye]

If you are as stubborn as I am try this,...one at a time try out every pointer on this topic before you try the ice busters. Then spend the $1.50 on an ice buster and see if the word stubborn doesn't take on a whole new meaning to you. -TROY

Or just try out one of your kids jiggle sticks when he ain't looking. Either way,..you'll come around and thank everyone except me that you took the advice.

[beer batter]

Question: How do you get a stubborn guy to NOT buy something he doesn't want to buy anyways?

Answer: Have people tell him 20 TIMES to buy the thing.

Thanks to those that actually came up with some good ideas. Backwater Eddy, I really like your ideas. Once the ice is thick enough (which should be within a few weeks in metro) my shack will keep things well warm enough so that this will be a moot point. Some sort of saline solution eye dropper along with coating the line/bobber inside with canola oil will be my first experiment.

bim - what's "power-up"?

[Captain B.R.K]

Bobbers??? What the use for them when you have a deadstick from Thorne Bros and a Rock N Reel????

NO USE.

Buy these too products and people will be hearing you YIPPIn' and HOllarin' from across the lake!

[widetrack]

Captain:

Is a dead stick (limber rod) necessary when using the rock-n-reel? I was under the impression the rock-n-reel did what the deadstick was suppose to do...

I ordered one yesterday, so I guess I'll find out soon.

[Northlander]

No you can use any rod. The trick is to get the rod balanced just right to give the fish as little resistance as possible. In my opinion a limber tipped deadstick is only needed when using a ridged mount rod holder.

[Bruce Mosher]

Hey Guys! Thanks for all the Great comments on my Ice Buster Bobbers!!! As simple and Hassle free they are it took me about 2 years to perfect. It's allways fun to do a little Research and Development Wait until you get to try out my New "Rod Strap". It keeps your rod off the ground and not down the hole. You can Velcro it to almost anything - Tubes in your Portable, Permanent houses, ATV racks, Chairs, Cut a 1" slot in the top of a 5-Gallon Bucket etc... I personally like it inside the portable shacks. Attached to the tube I can stack up two Rods. One above the other. Then I switch back and forth between Rods. It keeps them from being stepped on and pulled down the hole! They should be on this sight and my HSOforum at www.todaystackle.com very soon. Then you will see photos etc. Price should be around $5.99 per 2-pack. Very Cheap!! Bruce Mosher

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Bruce Mosher,www.icebusterbobbers.com

[can it be luck?]

I can see the advantages of stubborness, I mean disadvantages. To heck with spending $1.50 on a bobber that works! I will puchase a bottle of canola oil(should be interesting fishing with slippery, oily, hands), an eye dropper/worm blower, saline solution, alcohol, and different diameter line. I figure on spending at least $20 to try to duplicate what the ice buster bobbers do.....And it just might work!! If not, maybe I'll save up "again" until I can afford to purchase the ice buster bobber. PS: Does anyone know which tree branch makes for good fishing poles? Willows are to limber, and the pine ones are always sappy! In all seriousness, if it works, why not use it? Stubborness and foolishness can be synonymous of eachother.

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http://groups.msn.com/canitbeluck

[Scoot]

Polor Bear's point is a great one! I bet he'd also have a good brand of sun dial to suggest to you. Fight it all you want, but you're making a mistake. Bruce, maybe you should send him two ice busters bobbers and then have a customer for life?
If you want to keep fighting it, do so. But keep in mind you'll be told by nearly all of us that you're missing the boat.
Scoot

[bim]

Hi, beer batter. Power up is a product that we used to be able to get here in Canada.
They have oil additives, grease and penatrating oil. I'm talking about the penatrant. We can't buy it here anymore, I hear the oil companies got rid of it here because it was too good! I'm sure you guy's can still get it in the US as I have seen your infomercial's on it. P.S if you find out where to get it let me know, it is great stuff and I wish we could still get it. Thank's bim the canuck

[widetrack]

Beer batter:

Don't let em get you down.

I like your style...

It often pays to be resourceful.

You really need to reconsider bobber fishing altogether though. Think deadsticks, or drop shots etc... Then actively jig your spoon rod. More often then not my spoon rod keeps me too busy to deal with another setup anyway...

Take care.

[Roughfisher]

Mix some epoxy. Use a flat toothpick to scoop epoxy into the bottom hole of a normal slip-bobber. Now take a brass barrel swivel. Stick one end of it into the bottom of the slip-bobber and add a little more epoxy around the outside to hold it firm. Run your line through the open end of the barrel swivel instead of through the body of the bobber. With the right amount of weight, the bobber will be balanced so that the line goes through the swivel a couple of inches underwater. This keeps it from freezing - it's the same way those newfangled ice-busters work, but you can keep using the bobbers that have brought you good luck in the past.

I think you could also use zap-a-gap or gel-type superglue to get the job done.

I switched to ice busters last year, but once I figured out why they never froze up I converted a bunch of my slip-bobbers this way. Just make sure to use a big enough bead or a small enough swivel so that the bead won't slip through the swivel. You can't clip it on and off like an ice-buster, but it sure as heck won't freeze up on you!

Hope this helps,
Roughfisher

[beer batter]

Believe it or not, I have used ice buster bobbers in the past and agree they do work. But just because the old bobber doesn't work as well as the new bobbers does not mean I'm going to scrap heap all my old ones. That's the kind of attitude that sent corporate America into this down cycle we've been in the past 5 years. That's why governments can't stay at a budget. As Widetrack said, resourcefulness is what I'm all about. I enjoy the challenge of making things work. It's not about $1.50, it's just my attitude about being conservative and making due with what I've already got.

I really like Roughfisher's idea. After seeing how the ice buster works, I can make mods to my current setups to mimic how the ice buster's work.

I also deadstick, use tipups, rattle-reels, etc..., so it's not like bobber fishing is the only way I go out on the ice. I use it while pan fishing for sunnies with a small tear drop and waxies while jigging.

Thanks again for the helpful suggestions everyone and ease up on the sales pitches please.

[Guest]

Do what you gotta do. I'm now dumber for having read this whole thread. Thanks widetrack. If you ever need help with your grammer, good vs. well let me know.

[This message has been edited by BBP (edited 12-11-2003).]

[widetrack]

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[This message has been edited by widetrack (edited 12-12-2003).]

[eyewinder]

Amen to the Thorne Bros. deadstick!!

[can it be luck?]

If you can make something work....Great! To settle for something that doesn't, well, not so good. I have plenty of the "old style" bobbers, and use them. Heck, I even use the old red and white plastic bobbers. For ice fishing, I push in the spring and twist it so it forms a small hole with the wire hook end which works great as a slip bobber. Add a stopper and bead, you're all set. There's NOTHING wrong with useing what works. It sort of sounded as though you were "struggling" or "makeing do" with something that wasn't working. When you use the word "stubborn", conclusions are made based on that statement.

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http://groups.msn.com/canitbeluck

[Bruce Mosher]

We are not trying to say that the only way to Ice Fish is with a bobber. I don't think it is either. I actively jig alot. But if you have two rods you can set up one with a jigging spoon and the other with a Ice buster Bobber or dead stick.If you use a dead stick the fish can only pull so much line out. If you are within reach you can quick set the hook. If you use a bobber on a dead stick you can have your bail open and let the fish pull out a few extra feet of line before you set the hook. I guess their are pros and cons for everything! I have used all the old Bobbers in the past. I used to connect my line to the bottom of a styrofoam bobber to make it freezeless. Now I just snap my Ice Buster on and off and it's freezeless. I don't have to use a worthless plastic bead which used to freeze to my line and slow up my line and jig drop time when I opened up my bail. I used to pinch styrofoam off of my old bobbers (with a pliers) to make them more sensitive instead of adding more split shot above my jig or hook. Now I just trim it down for neutral buoyancy. I guess I invented the Ice Buster Bobbers to make My and your life a little easier on the Ice! Now lets catch some Fish!

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Bruce Mosher,www.icebusterbobbers.com

[klbowe]

Beer Batter

This has been a entertaining post to read.

Don't feel bad about trying to redesign your old gear to make it work, it was probably that process that resulted in the invention of the Ice Bobber anyways.

Who knows you may come up with a better bobber design and put them out of business!

When you do I will buy yours but for now it's Ice Busters for me !

Good Luck

[almosthaddabite]

Roughfisher,

I knew if this thread continued someone with a brainstorm would reply, excellent post. Now if I just remember what I did with those old slip bobbers.

[Crappie Killer]

Yes Rough fisher, you turned this thread around. What if you don't have epoxy? Hot glue? Or you could tie six inches of fishing line to a swivel and thread the line through the slip bobber, fastening it somehow on the top side. Maybe with just a couple of knots in the line itself once it's through the bobber.