Slip Bobbling

Prevailing winds onshore to offshore, a light chop of the surrounding waters and boiling baits succumbed to a slip-bobbler rig and the infamous Down-East Little Sunny or Little Minnie, both at weights in the 1/3 ounce range and armed with a stainless steel split ring with #8 Eagle Claw® Treble Hooks. The sudden stop and sink action precluded to a thrashing of the bobbler against the surface boiling waters make slip bobbing one of the surest ways to get finicky fish on a bite. The slip bobbler, developed years ago for spin fisherman, is a way to cast out a Clauser Minnow or any fly with ease like any other lure. Clauser minnows, a form of a wet fly, are what I used in fly-fishing in the Rockies as an outfitter. The bubble or slip bobbler is filled with water giving it weight for cast presentation. Depending on the rigging, this slip system is deadly on any type of fishing from small mouth bass to tarpon. It is extremely effective when angling for Spanish mackerel on the surface with quick darting action. Tie on a casting bubble, leaving about 3 feet or so of line, to which you tie your lure, being a fly or my favorite Florida fancy the Down-East Dodging Sucker in producing large beach and dock Snook. The bubble, a clear bobbler that does not scare fish, provides enough weight for you to fling the tiniest of lures to rising fish. This type of float, a casting bubble or slip bobble was invented for the fly rod in an aid to not need to backcast when fishing heavy brush. Placing the bubble between two barrel swivels on a short length of line, attach at least three feet of free line behind the bottom swivel for attachment of the spoon. Quarter filled with water your spoon now has weight for casting. Short jerking action while continuously retrieving the line will imitate a wounded baitfish and generally produces a strike or a fast steady retrieve can be quite deadly as a stream of flashing occurs at the surface. Slip bobbing is great for flipping out weightless baits also. With a number one, bait hook, attach it to the free line coming through the casting bubble for an easy cast method of flipping whitebait. The bait will freely pull the line out from the bobbler and appear natural in its flight to safety. Another method of slip bobbing is the use of the casting bubble in its presentation of jigs. A slip-bobbler and jig combination allows you to fish a jig at the proper depth and in a natural horizontal position. The bobbler stays against the jig when it is cast. The weight on the jig pulls it down to the fish upon rest of the retrieve. Casting bubbles or slip bobblers are effective in use on wire leader too, when fishing for species such as Kings or Cuda but when angling backcountry waters of inshore Florida, they are deadly on Snook too! As you can see, the casting bubble or slip bobbler is one of the most versatile pieces of terminal tackle to which you should own. Do not go fishing without it! Wither angling a trout stream in Colorado or saltwater fishing in Florida, slip bobbling catches fish.

"FISH ON!"