St. Croix Spring Bobber Ratings?

[Ed_r]

Anyone know the recommended lure weight for each rating on the St. Croix Spring Bobber? Their information on their site just flat out sucks. lol. I know the Light is for all the tiny stuff, but I see they even have a Heavy Spring Bobber now. Anyone have any info on lure weights for each? For M, MH, and H.

[michianafisherman]

I would say it is a preference thing. When I go to a shop and buy a spring bobber, I end up with, what they have in stock and make it work. Meaning I find how to use it best for the action. It also depends on how stiff of a rod I will be installing it on and the target fish. The target fish determines the jig size for me. I have caught large pike on #14 jigs,  to me its a blast, to others not so fun. I take several poles set up for different fish.

To answer your question though, I would say that the springs M, MH, and H are for the rods. You would not use a lite spring on a heavy action rod because you would need a small jig to use the action correctly. Not the purpose of a heavy rod. Same for a lite rod with a heavy spring. Kind of defeats the idea of being sensitive enough to detect a bite. Hope this helps.

[Ed_r]

Well spring bobbers have to be matched to the lure your using not the rod. You wouldn't use an UL spring bobber made for 1/64 oz jig, and put a 1/8 oz walleye jig on, the spring bobber would be doubled over and pretty much worthless. They need to be able to hold their shape with a slight bow so downward strikes and lift bites can be detected.

I have a couple ML and a M rod I used for Perch and Crappie with a UL spring bobber so I have a stiff rod for hook sets without having to yank the rod over my head to set the hook, or something with enough back bone if a Bass were to come in and take it. Instead of fighting a Bass on a noodle rod.

Also when fishing a tournament or even in the fishing cities, you don't want to do the yank over your head hook sets, because the city or all the tournament guys will be fishing the hole your in just to try for fish. So a M or ML action rod lets you get a firm hook set with only a slight wrist shot, so the world doesn't see you have fish.

[dkfry]

I have all the springs that St-croix offers including the Heaviest green spring. The only reason I can think of to need the MH (yellow) and H (Green) springs are if you are deadsticking a fairly large jig/bait combo and want a visual strike indication or are using a dropper setup like with a spoon or a Hali. The amjority of the time the L (Orange) and M (Pink) springs will fit the bill for most jigs you would want to use a spring bobber with.

[Skipper]

The pink and orange covered much of my panfishing needs. The orange covered most jigs up to size 8 and the pink got the bigger size8, size 6, and most of the high mass jigs like the genz bug. I really didnt use the yellow or green springs, I think heavier jigs and spoons are much better used without a spring bobber. They dont list a jig weight because they are adjustable and the springs overlap in weight. Always choose the heavier spring that gets the job done because St.Croix indicators work much better at full extention. (AKA: if you are using an orange spring that is shoved all the way in, switch to a pink spring.) IMHO, springs are for panfish, so pick up a few orange and pink and forget the yellow and green.

[oyler]

Hey Ed, I heard you are supposed to be getting pictures of the best spring bobber on the market!   

[Ed_r]

I heard that too Craig lol I think I know what your talking about  though. Just was looking for a heavier model. I do some jigging spoon with droppers at times. I have spring bobbers that tension wise work great. It's just the way they connect to the rod that leaves a lot to be desired, they flop around, rattle, just really poor designs, but they did work well. I just didnt like them. So I figured I would go the St. Croix way on my heavier rods.