Ice Fishing Bobbers
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It is time to break out the ice fishing gear again as the hard water fishing season is once again upon us. To that end it is time to put away much of the soft water fishing accessories we have grown accustomed to and make way for our specialized ice fishing tackle. When it comes to winter vs. summer fishing perhaps nothing is more drastic of a difference that ice fishing bobbers.
Ice Fishing Bobbers To Match The Old School Cork Bobber
If we are to look at the old school methods of bobber fishing, perhaps nothing is more well known than the standard, stationary red/white bobber. This works great for casting to a relatively shallow depth for fishing and the weight helps to allow for castability. In the winter, we don’t need the casting portion and it often helps to be more subtle and alert the fish as little as possible. For those reasons a small bobber is really appreciated in these situations. While you could just use a small standard bobber from your open water tackle box, a tried and true method used by ice fishermen is the foam bobber with a toothpick to set the depth. This is a low cost solution to attaching a bobber to your ice fishing rod.
Ice Fishing Bobbers To Mimic The Versatility Of The Slip Bobber
For those that want a higher tech solution the slip bobber really is hard to beat in the summer. In the open water you really need a bobber that allows you to cast the line a ways and move steadily towards your desired depth. An adjustable depth is often very important to ensuring that you can easily change where you are fishing and what depth you are targeting. The key difference in this case is the casting portion when it comes to ice fishing vs. open water fishing. Ice fishing will never require any casting. To that end, we are allowed a little bit of flexibility in terms of the bobber staying on our line. The other key difference here is of course the temperature. In the open water we don’t need to worry about the water freezing to the line and screwing up our bobber system. To that end, the small holes in the slip bobber are really poorly suited to an ice fishing application. It is far better to go with the foam “ice buster” bobber for your ice fishing travels. This ingenious bobber solution has a large hole in the bottom of the bobber which is heavily resistant to the freezing water prevalent in the winter months and still allows for the same depth variability of the slip bobber. The foam bobber can be shortened to a length that allows for the bobber to be almost exactly neutrally buoyant and nearly undetectable to the fish below that are taking your bait. The same slip knot system as the open water slip bobber rig is used, so this allows for the same terminal tackle to be used in both instances.
Thankfully through the years the ice fishing enthusiasts have developed great ice fishing specific alternatives for attaching a bobber to your line. Gone are the days of struggling with our open water applications that just don’t work that well in the winter with its specific weather and fish mentality limitations. When it comes to ice fishing bobbers, there is no reason to be stuck with your open water bobber options on the ice.
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