Best universal spring bobber?????

[Bronzeback5]

Looking for good spring bobbers for my poles. Got some that use shrink tubing but they aint very durable and have a memory problem. The panfish poppers are alright but there has to be better ones that are made to go on any pole. Seen the newer ones on here but $10 each is a little much. Any ideas??

[trapper2000]

spring out of a empty bic lighter and a piece of tape

[fishinfiend]

HT makes a good one, or the frabill panfish poppers.   I use both.

[blackhawks]

Like Trapper noted...the springs out of lighters are pretty good.  I like Frabill's Panfish Popper springs; however, the rods I use (Arctic Blues by Schooley) have a very small guide at the end of the rod and the plastic piece of the panfish popper won't fit in there (I could probably get it to fit but I am afraid of snapping the rod).  I buy a multi-size pack of heat/shrink tubing at the hardware store.  I pull the spring out of the Panfish Popper plastic holder and shrink tube it on my rods....works great.

[Iceassin]

Like Trapper noted...the springs out of lighters are pretty good.  I like Frabill's Panfish Popper springs; however, the rods I use (Arctic Blues by Schooley) have a very small guide at the end of the rod and the plastic piece of the panfish popper won't fit in there (I could probably get it to fit but I am afraid of snapping the rod).  I buy a multi-size pack of heat/shrink tubing at the hardware store.  I pull the spring out of the Panfish Popper plastic holder and shrink tube it on my rods....works great.

I like the Frabills...and if they don't fit your rod,tell your wife/g.f. that you need a new rod to fit your bobbers ,they always understand

[Haywood]

I like the HT's with the single wire and orange bead on them.  They fit on any rod and they don't freeze up like the springs tend to. 

[dkfry]

My favorite spring bobbers are the St. Croix bobbers. You can also get spring bobbers from Marmish and yourbobbersdown which can be put on your rods. IMO either are better than HT or frabill springs.

[RLWagner]

Ink Pen Spring.

There are a variety of wire diameters in various pens.

They are free

They screw onto the end, can add a dab of glue/epoxy if you want. Can be adjusted as you fish for the sensitivity desired. Can be dipped into bright paint for visibility.

But using a super Ultra Light Rod that is whippy at the end or by watching the line as it coils off the end of the last eye you may find leads to even better results. The line will loosen or tighten before even the most sensitive of indicators is ever budged as long as you use very light line. 

[sam heaton]

   I like the flat spring HT with the snap on clip. Slide the spring out of the clip & run it through the standoff on the tip eyelet. Slide it back in the clip & attach to the rod. I use a narrow piece of plastic tape around the clip & bend the end of the spring a little. Don't know if this is needed. The length of the spring adjusts for different weight jigs. The coil springs freeze a lot if you fish outside.

[baldy]

I don't know what brand they are but have used them for a long time and still see them in the store (green pack) for ~$2.  They are the wire ones with an orange bead on the end.  They slip on to any rod quickly.  One thing I like about them is when I''m putting my rods up or moving, they slide down the rod when I put the jig in the hook keeper and tighten the line. This way they don't get bent or get any memory.  If they do get bent, you just bend them back.

[Bronzeback5]

My favorite spring bobbers are the St. Croix bobbers. You can also get spring bobbers from Marmish and yourbobbersdown which can be put on your rods. IMO either are better than HT or frabill springs.

Which Fiska bobbers do you use and do you just tape them on?

http://www.yourbobbersdown.com/YBD%20CATALOG%202008_2009.pdf

[trapper2000]

to be honest i started fishing for gills with spring bobbers many years ago since then i started tieing my own bream rods and never had a real need except if i use a short rod,another quickie  is a piece of very heavy mono or a guitar string,never had much problem with freezing but i fish shallow water a lot and don't use a regular reel so no winding in

[Bronzeback5]

Guess i will try the St. Croix. Never heard anything bad about them and i ran across this post of Icenutters custom jobbie. Looks pretty simple.http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=33740.msg385977#msg385977

[John_Boy]

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=33740.msg385977#msg385977

[Ice Crazy]

My best spring bobber is a E string from a guitar!  They come in many diffrant diameters. And I put them on with electric tape and use foresept to put a Lupe in one end,and wrap it around a nail.you can match the diameter string to the size jig sooo sensitive you can feel their eye lashes hit it.

[dkfry]

Which Fiska bobbers do you use and do you just tape them on?

http://www.yourbobbersdown.com/YBD%20CATALOG%202008_2009.pdf

The #4 spring bobber. Just installed them on two rods. I removed the tip top guide installed a small piece of fuel tubing (to retain excess spring) slipped the spring bobber on and put the guide back on. The bobber is adjustable and will handle a decent size marmooska and also allow tiny jigs too. The #4 bobber comes with a rubber piece that just slides over the rod.