I catch blues often with 9" pole floats.
Floatfishing for Blue catfish
any one here have luck catching blues on slipbobbers
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I catch blues on bobbers all the time.Sometimes use a bobber and just keep the bait on bottomn and the adjust to fine the fish
Riverrat..what is a 9" pole float?
I have success on Blues with floats also, If I suspect the fish are suspended. I use balloons. I blow them up and tie them on at the depth the fish are feeding. You'll have to make a have dozen twist around the line with the ballon tail to get it to stay. Much easier to see the ballon, and if you use circle hooks the ballon will provide the needed pressure to get the circle hook to roll into the corners of there mouths. Good Luck Fishin!!
Thats a great idea with the ballons, might have to give that a shot. I have used slip-floats to catch blues and had good succes just depends on where they are and where i am tryin to fish.If they are suspended then i use them or if i am fishing a place with alot of underwater snags i will use them.Which isd basically what everyone else just said....lol. But i do enjoy useing them.
Something else with the balloons in case anyone is concerned. If you get a big fish on and he takes off screaming drag, the baloon will usually pop due to the pressures created as the float goes down deep. The little ones cant pull the ballons under, however I really dont go out on the river for the runts. Good Luck Fishin
iv herd of the ballon way befor wat im wondering is if u could use the ballon in a pond ??? 
Yeah you can get them on the floats especially when they are suspended. There is also a good method in drift fishing with the floats that works as well.
Yeah you can use them on a pond. Just buy the small size balloons. Shouldnt have to pay more than a buck or so for 25 of them. Of course, a float would probably work better on a pond. I use balloons on the Mississippi so I can see it better in all of the current. Good Luck Fishin!!!
personally i wouldnt use balloons heres why .........the waters are poluted enough ,ballons scraps may be eaten causing fish digestive failure,balloons could jam up a boat motors water intake......but i dont see why a cork or bobber of wouldnt work for suspended fish
I hadnt thought about the possibility of contamination or injuring the fish. You make a very valid point. Thanks for the info.
Heh yea when your using ballons dont use the whites one i've had it happen to me a few times where a fish will come up and hit the ballon and pop it .
We mostly use ballons for striper fishing for when the schools are really skittish and the shadow of the boat scares em off . Havn't tried em for catfish yet but then again we have never needed to use ballons for catfish just put your bait under the boat and hang on
We mostly use ballons for striper fishing for when the schools are really skittish and the shadow of the boat scares em off . Havn't tried em for catfish yet but then again we have never needed to use ballons for catfish just put your bait under the boat and hang on
I've used slip bobbers this August at Copan Lake Oklahoma and have had great success. At night I've Set 'em at 3-4 feet deep on the edge of creek channels with cut Shad....drift slowly crossing over the channel edge (10' deep channel into the cove or shallows area) and back onto the flat just 3-5 feet from the channel. My best catches come from 10:00PM to 2:00AM. I'm sure the fish would continue biting, but I run out of energy by 1-2:00AM.
i bank fish exclusively and really like the low resistance wing-it style bobbers.they cast really well and the larger size will hold up a 5" gill except for a second or two when something big is chasing it!the fish don't seem to notice them like the heavier pole floats,but they work if you need to cast a mile or two!
Eric B
Eric B
oh yeah,all the blues this year have been caught suspended 3-6 feet deep over 11-15 feet of water.
Eric B
Eric B
Planerboards aren't exactly slip bobbers, but has anyone actually tried using them for catfish? That idea has been rattling around in the back of my head for a couple of years now (lots of room there). I've never even had one in my hands, but from what I've read, and what I've seen on TV, it seems to me that they might prove very useful for catfishing. Of course, either the planerboard or the water has to be moving, so they couldn't be used in every situation, but lots of fishing situations fit the requirements.
1. Anchored boat or boat drifting down the current using a drag or trolling motor to drift slower than the current. A planerboard on each side of the boat would give a much wider spread to your hooks, keeping them from all swinging down directly behind the boat where they cover less ground and are likely to tangle. Also, your terminal rigs are generally kept off the bottom, so that you wouldn't hang up as much. Seems like it should be the same as floating hooks below a bobber or jugs; you're just getting a better spread.
2. Bankfishing. When you're bankfishing where there's a strong current, you either have to deal with your sinker/bait drifting downstream, and keep recasting, or you have to get your sinker to hang up, which generally means that you lose your sinker. A planerboard should take your rig out at a pretty sharp angle, and keep it from washing in to the bank. Furthermore, the planerboard does do duty as a bobber, keeping your rig off the bottom. Now, I can see a problem of how to keep the sinker/bait from hanging on the bottom when you're putting out your rig from the shoreline, but that simply requires something that will dissolve, come apart, or weaken after being in the water for a few minutes, so that you can get the planerboard out, wait for the gizmo to come loose, and have your line drop down in the water to whatever depth you have set.
3. Drifting across a lake, either pushed by the wind, or by a trolling motor set on low speed. The advantages are the same as for #1. Seems like the slower you drift, the larger the keel you'll need on your planerboard, but that's just a small technical problem.
1. Anchored boat or boat drifting down the current using a drag or trolling motor to drift slower than the current. A planerboard on each side of the boat would give a much wider spread to your hooks, keeping them from all swinging down directly behind the boat where they cover less ground and are likely to tangle. Also, your terminal rigs are generally kept off the bottom, so that you wouldn't hang up as much. Seems like it should be the same as floating hooks below a bobber or jugs; you're just getting a better spread.
2. Bankfishing. When you're bankfishing where there's a strong current, you either have to deal with your sinker/bait drifting downstream, and keep recasting, or you have to get your sinker to hang up, which generally means that you lose your sinker. A planerboard should take your rig out at a pretty sharp angle, and keep it from washing in to the bank. Furthermore, the planerboard does do duty as a bobber, keeping your rig off the bottom. Now, I can see a problem of how to keep the sinker/bait from hanging on the bottom when you're putting out your rig from the shoreline, but that simply requires something that will dissolve, come apart, or weaken after being in the water for a few minutes, so that you can get the planerboard out, wait for the gizmo to come loose, and have your line drop down in the water to whatever depth you have set.
3. Drifting across a lake, either pushed by the wind, or by a trolling motor set on low speed. The advantages are the same as for #1. Seems like the slower you drift, the larger the keel you'll need on your planerboard, but that's just a small technical problem.
Thanks Riverrat..was not sure what that was. I use balloons instead of the plastic floats..I take a swivel and set it at the depth that I want and hook the balloon through the swivel. I found that if I dont blow the balloon up to big it works better. Make the balloon about the size of a baseball and it works fine. Have not lost one yet and when you are ready to go back on the bottom just remove the balloon and take the swivel off.
I fish near people who swear by bobber fishing, and another guy on the other side swears by bottom fishing. Both guys seems to have the same luck in this particular lake, so I guess it does not matter. It seems that they come into the shallows at night to catch baitfish, so I would think a bobber would be best at night.
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