Fishing a slip-rigged BulletBobber

This is about slip-rigging a BulletBobber with a jig and for the sake of providing a visual reference – You’re in a boat and casting towards shore. Some call it “Float and Fly” and some call it “Bobber Fishing” and slip rigging is big part of both but a slip-rigged BulletBobber gives both a little more kick. The first thing is to rig it up setting the split shot for depth of water you will be landing your cast. If your cast into 2 foot of water set the split shot at 2 feet. 6 feet is about the deepest you can set it and still cast.

How does it work??? As the line slips thru the BulletBobber it also puts a force on the BulletBobber’s keel that will slowly propel it in a lateral direction! This works beautifully with live minnows, crawlers, shrimp or any live bait. If the bottom slopes at 45 degrees you don’t need to reel, just cast out and watch for the bobber to point up a little and start to submerge backwards, because that’s what happens when a fish hits! If you keep a finger on the line you will feel it too. If the bobber stops moving a fish might be holding it up but it usually means you’re on the bottom and need to reel a little to get it going again. You’ll need to do this more often if the slope is less then 45 degrees. On these lesser slopes a very slow cranking speed will also keep it going, much slower then if you were using a regular slip float. It never hurts to touch down once in a while and even jiggle around a little before starting off again. If the bottom slope is steeper or drops straight off you should reel backwards slowly letting out line to stay close to bottom and reel backwards a little faster on edge of a wall to get down. Don’t let it free fall by opening the bail because you loose all feel and the bobber won’t move if a fish hits. Just reel backwards slowly and keep a finger on the line and your eyes on the bobber. I actually like to use a closed face reel because the line is always right in the center of the reel, right where my index finger can reach. With spinning reels you need to move your hand out further on the rod to have a that light touchy feely thing going on.

Bigger BulletBobbers have bigger keels and bigger keels have more planing surface and that means a wider lateral angle of motion and less casting. The bigger ones also allow for more jigging action, more raising up and dropping down and direction changes per cast. If you think a colored bobber scares the fish use a clear BulletBobber. Many popping corks are popular because they attract fish to the bait area. It may be the noise helps but the bobber’s visibility hurts. BulletBobbers make a popping noise and splash when you flip them. If they are slip ridded they will make a popping noise but not flip unless the split shot is all the way up.

OK, If you cast and it starts moving left and you wanted it to go right, do a little flick of the wrist to reverse the direction. If you want to change direction once the jig has started dropping and planing sideways you’ll need to reel it up so the split shot is against the BulletBobber to you have the leverage to flip it. Since it won’t flip once the split shot moves down and away from the side of the BulletBobber you can really work it without flipping direction. The lateral movement may provide enough speed for some action on twister tails but you should also jiggle the rod tip very gently to get a little extra action and also try some long vertical movements by going from the horizontal “ready to set the hook rod angle” to pointing straight up and slowly or quickly back to the “ready to set the hook position”. I said this was for casting towards shore but that was because it helps with explaining what is going on below the surface by referring to the angle the bottom drops off at. If you are casting from shore you can do this in reverse by casting out and letting jig fall with an open bail and work your way back up the slope!

Again I must say that you need to keep your eyes on the bobber for the slightest backward motion and be ready with the rod pointing at the bobber to set the hook with a quick firm short pull and raising your rod to about a 60 degree angle from the water and maintaining tension by reeling quickly as needed to stay at that angle. Your line is not going directly from point A to B. The BulletBobber, like any bobber makes your line angled and you have an A, B and C to contend with. Making a full swing to set the hook might allow the fish to get some slack and throw the hook if you can't reel up the any slack fast enough.

Paul Lieb
http://www.bulletbobber.com/

Finesse Trolling

My techniques are very stealthy and are the most FUNctional way to fish I have ever experienced.
They can work for kayaks, canoes, row bow boats, belly boats and for lazy guys with trolling motors.
I have an Old Town 3 seat Sportsman canoe with oars that I can turn on dime since I sit in the middle seat. I use BulletBobbers (mini planer boards with directional control) on both rods placed in rod holders on the sidewalls near the oar locks for easy reach. I have the rod holders pointing straight up and use 9’ rods so I can set the bait up to 10’ deep and still net a fish. It is really cool controlling the location of 2 baits or lures at the same time by how I maneuver my canoe. With the baits or lures planing out to the sides and the rods pointing almost straight up I can spin my canoe up to 175 degrees and not effect the speed of the BulletBobbers or cross lines.
I usually slip-rig them so if I stop or back up they drop down deeper. I can even have one drop down and keep the other one moving by circling around the down bait! I often like trolling one BulletBobber close to the shore and if there is a tree sticking out I flip the BulletBobber, by giving it a little tug, so it planes the opposite direction….once past the tree I tug it again so it runs back toward the shore. My rods fit loosely in the rod holders and just giving them a little bump (quick wiggle) will usually flip direction. If a tree is overhanging the water I run under it. I can also put one planer back further and run both lines on the same side.
Sometimes I just row very slowly and frequently pop the rods to flip direction. I get a lot of hits just after a lure reverses direction. They run faster then my canoe’s speed as they swing from side to side. They go the fastest when they are straight back and slow to canoe speed as they plane off to the side in a parallel path.
It really is a great way to fish and you get a little physical and mental exercise at the same time! It took a while to get the hang of watching both planers at the same time and coordinating the right stroke/s to get the result I wanted...especially when there is some wind and/or current but I got it down pretty good now and get better every time out. I have done the best using small jigs tipped with minnows or small spinners tipped with crawlers under small BulletBobbers. I’ll usually use of a variety of small hard baits if I don’t have bait and use a medium, large and sometimes an X-Large BB if I want to use bigger lures.
Old Town Sportsman canoes have oar lock mounts for the front and middle seats and I’ll move the oars to the front seat if I have a guest and let them tend to all 4 rods from the middle seat while I work the oars. I really like watching a good friend or family member having fun steering the baits and catching the fish as I row. I haven’t tried having two guest in my canoe yet but the more the merrier!
If I didn’t need and have a good day job and a wife that doesn’t want to move I’d like to find a place where I could be a guide! I live near Akron OH-IO and fish on Portage Lakes because it is the closest and my son just moved to a place on the lake. The fishing is ok but heavily populated and a bit over fished. I have caught about every species there is except Musky but I am getting the gear together to go after them. There have been a few huge Musky caught here but it takes a lot of hours and the right gear. I’ll try some big chub minnows or shiners to improve the odds because that is what I heard works the best and I’ll use DualFin in-line planers instead of BulletBobbers so the baits can be set back further to run deeper at faster speeds and because they have a line release.