Spring bobber

[Mknott]

What kind of spring bobbers do you guys use? I've tried the wire clip ons and foam ones that you stuff into the front eye.  But the clip ons fall off and the foam ones get ice stuffed in them. Are there nice permanent ones you can attach?

[theTUGistheDRUG]

I have the clam nitinol one, but I really do not use it to be honest....

[DR.SPECKLER]

Ive ditched spring indicators but the frabill titanium and the diy st croix indicators are top notch.

[jaeger80]

You can use a piece of shrink tubing to keep the clip on ones on the rod tip.  But really, this is why I switched to noodle rods....spring bobbers are a pain to use in my opinion.

[Mknott]

Shrink tubing! Didn't think of that! Thanks

[Rebelss]

Years ago, I actually stuck a ballpoint pen spring in a 1/4" long piece of tubing, put a drop of red paint on end of spring, and stuck the tubing in the eyelet end. And you can cut spring to any size you like, or stretch it out. Worked for me!

[Snapper]

You can also take any type of thread or braided fishing line and wrap it.  Which will stop it from falling off and getting your line caught up in it.  Then you can coat the wrap with super glue if you would like.

Agreed eliminating the spring bobber with one of these new rods is the way to go.  The spring bobber is just another device between you and the fish that can effect how your jig presents in the water.  But with the ice we get and the price of these rods it is still an effective option if upgrading your equipment is not.         

[Mknott]

Yeah, if I lived up in Minnesota I'd for sure spend 50 $60 on a nice tickle stick

[Spider1]

I have a couple rods with Rapala spring bobbers. Real pain in the butt. They work but my line keeps getting caught up around them. I'll keep them since they work but I'll keep b***hing when the line gets tangled on them too. I have a St. Croix silver and it works good also. One problem I have though is with some tungsten jigs being too heavy for them. At this point, I would rather have a tickle stick or snitch or some other type of noodle rod.

[jaeger80]

I think if the bite is really that light, rather than spending $7 on a decent spring bobber it almost makes sense to just spend a few more bucks and buy the Schooley set up.  I've seen quite a few old timers this year fishing those things with the bipods on them and just setting them perfectly still on the ice over the hole.  Kind of a neat idea.  I feel like if I'm going to be holding the rod though, the spring bobber kind of screws up the action I'm trying to impart into the jig by acting as a buffer.  Plus I feel like I can't hold the rod still enough for the spring bobber to really work up to its potential.  I don't know, but those older gents on the ice this year certainly taught me that sometimes the old ways work...and there's nothing wrong with that.  I'll use anything that works even if it's not the latest and greatest. 

[Nate9292]

Schooley rods are pretty great if you want a permanent spring bobber. Iv had mine for over 5 years and haven’t had one break. They might not be as stylish as a $100 set up but they never fail to catch fish. JT rods also have an option for a permanent spring bobber attached to one of there rods. I have heard spring bobbers arnt the best for jigging but a small jig with bait on it and just occasionally movement of the rod works fine with them.

[Timmy C]

Went to a tickle stick a few weeks ago and I’m not going back

I hated the large wire ones and the smaller springs are good f your in a heated shanty but are a pain if your hole hoping outside in sub zero temp

Not to mention threading your line thru can be a problem sometimes

[ECIcer]

Yeah the Schooley rods are durable and super simple to use.  I have had mine for over 30 years and ever since I bought sonar I really don't use them much more.  I took my buddy and his kids fishing this year for their first time at McDanels and they still work just as good as day one.  I don't mind paying for quality and performance if it works, maybe because I am fly fisherman and fly rods cost way more than ice rods.  I mostly fish in a shanty and 99% of the time I fish a 4mm tungsten and plastic on a DH Pannie Dropper.  I want to get a hole hopper rod to run the same setup and was contemplating a Tickle stick combo, Precision Noodle, or maybe an Al Dente rod.  Any thoughts?

[jaeger80]

I have the Precision Noodle... It's a nice stick and you can definitely see the bite.  Zero bite feel though.  Check out the noodle thread from a few weeks ago.

[ECIcer]

Yeah I read that post.  You were very informative on those rods you were talking about.  I just don't know if it's better to get the Tickle stick combo or a custom noodle since they are the same price.  You wouldn't have to buy a reel for the Tickle, I believe it comes with a Freefall Ghost.  I am still on the fence with inline reels.  I have a couple that I have been playing with so still trying to figure out my preference.

[Snapper]

The Schooleys are a great tool and they have there time and place.  At time will out perform other means of fishing.  There are those days when the bite is tough and a jigging rod and downsizing presentations is the way to get big fish to hit and more action.  Strikes that would otherwise not be detected.       

[jimhaney08]

Just an FYI on Tickle Sticks.  I have them and really like them.  I use the UL, but it's not light enough for 3mm tungsten.  If you're going down that small they do make a SUL though.  I have no experience with that rod though.

[Van_Cleaver]

I always have at least one Schooley rig with me. My favorite spring bobber is the St. Croix but it should be noted that a spring bobber can radically effect the action of your jig. I always try mine in the hole first because sometimes what your hand or wrist, or finger tap is doing isn't the same as what you think your jig is actually doing.

[zcm_82]

The Frabill 22" UL Fenris works really well for super light jigs. The reel that comes on it is trash, but the rod itself gets incredible action on tiny plastics. It is definitely a spring bobber or sight fishing rod, though, because you can't feel bites on it unless the fish absolutely hammers the jig.

I use it a lot sight fishing picky gills in shallow water where I can watch them take the bait. I ended up using it quite a bit this season, because the bite has been pretty light most of the times I have been out.

[swadey012]

break down a bic lighter use the spring in that used them for years and still using them put a little bit of paint on the tip

[DR.SPECKLER]

Anything spring sucks out in the cold temps.threading line thru is a pain,water from line running up inside them freezes.the old bic bobber went the way of the dinosaurs for me.id use a guitar string or cheap schooley indicator.theres much better titanium indicators out there but are pricey.i chose to ditch them and for the price of one get a ht ice blue rod.no indicator needed.another rod that is good that i like is the snitch no 8.

[chumster]

Unless you’ve got money burning a hole in your pocket and want to just get rid of it, you won’t beat the HT Blue ice rods for sensitivity and definitely price. The 24 is an awesome buy. I bought a $130 pickle stick combo and a $75 tickle stick and my ice blue fishes just as well as them both. Should have saved my money.

[tentwiststhick]

I advise caution when using heat shrink tubing. No open flame , use a heat gun, preferably on the low setting. Rod blanks are very unforgiving when heated beyond a certain point. I cut pieces of the spray wands, like the one that comes with a can of CRC or WD-40 and hot glue or tape them up near the end of my rod. The bobber is actually made from a piece of single strand tackle wire. Different diameters will give varying sensitivity. I sometimes put a couple of small kinks in the end so it will stay snug when inserted into the spray wand tubing. They can be easily removed and there's nothing in the way if you want to fish without the bobber. Simple and low cost, they work great.

[Arkansaspete2]

That’s a good idea ten twist I like that design an cost nothing to make us old ice fishermen can relate back in the day their wasn’t, all this gear to choose from so we made a lot of stuff are selfs. A/P 

[Drillin-n-Chillin]

Ten twist is correct. I build custom
Rods and too much heat will cause the blank to break / fail etc. minimum direct heat as too much will destroy any composite blank even fiberglass

[Fat Boy]

Like Tentwist, I make my own out of single strand wire.  I use shrink wrap, glue, tape, or whatever I find to attach them.  I have ideas for a in improved design for attaching them, but, since they last for years, I haven't had to make any more. 

I'm a big fan of the Ice Blue rods and loved the old South Bend glass rods that were similar.  I fish those without a spring and with a spring.  The ones that I rigged with a spring are rods where I broke the rod tip.  Being cheap, I didn't want to toss the rod, so I rigged up my own springs for them.  Those rods catch me a ton of fish.

To see my springs, check this video out:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8k-1RET9CI&t=3s

As far as jigging action goes, I don't believe that they cause jigs to not act properly.  You just need to learn what your jig is doing when you impart some sort of action on it.  I know what my jig is doing because I've seen it so many times on my camera, what the jig does when I impart action on it.  It's the same thing with using rods without springs too.  However, if you always jig the same way every time, of course, if you change a variable or add a spring, if you use the same action, the jig will not necessarily do the same thing.  It may do something different.  The camera lets you see what to do to get the jig to act the same way.

My spring bobber basically is made from single strand wire, with a loop formed at the end up against a bead, and then shrink wrapped/glued to the broken rod tip.  The one seen in the video above is ugly as sin, but, it still works great and is very effective.  When I first made my first one, it looked like something that you could buy in a store, but over the many years of it's use, it's been abused (kind of like the old rod tip was LOL).  After that, I didn't care what they looked like as long as they caught fish. 

Here's a tip if you decide to make these.  Make the loop guide extra large to keep it from freezing up.  You can't prevent if from ever freezing up, but this really helps.

Everyone has their preferences.  I'd say that 2/3 of my rods have springs.  Why?  Because I'm a cheapskate and would rather spend my money on other ice fishing tackle!  After all, you can't have enough jigs, right?