By the Leisure Outdoor Adventures Pro Staff
Nice evening walleye on a slip bobber
It’s Minnesota, you’re a walleye fisherman, you better be familiar with the holy trinity of tactics to catch’em here in the northland which are lindy rigging, jigging and slip bobbering. A lot of “walleye guys” like to rig or jig, not many confess a liking to slip bobbering. However, when the bite gets tough and our white tipped foes are turning their noses to your rigs and jigs, slip bobbering will help you get a grip on putting more ‘eyes in the boat.
At Leisure Outdoor Adventures we are all about making sure we are flexible and adaptable to the moods of the fish for each day. We have spent enough hours on the water to know that we can’t force feed the fish what we want, rather we need to adjust our techniques to suit them. When fish get fickle, sometimes “slippin” or “corkin” is the best approach. One of the best slip bobber fishermen in the midwest is FLW Touring Pro Dusty Minke. Slip bobbering is one of Minke’s favorite ways to fish and he has used it successfully both as a guide and in tournaments.
As any walleye presentation, the slip bobber set up has to be finely tuned for an effective presentation when chasing walleyes. Beginning with the rod Minke notes, “You want to use a longer rod, because it allows you to gather line quicker and get a better hookset on the fish when that bobber has been casted out away from your boat.” When selecting a rod the LOA team recommends using the Jason Mitchell 8’ telescopic slip bobber rod. For the reel, good starters include a Shimano Stradic 2500 or Pflueger President 35 series and spool it with 10-12lb high vis monofilament line. High vis to makes it easier to see line in the waves, as well as being able to watch your slip knot working towards the bobber after a cast. When putting together the bobber, weights, etc.; there a a couple different avenues you can explore. Be sure to use a bright orange or pink slip knot, and don’t forget to put a bead in between that and your bobber to stop the knot before it gets to the bobber. For the actual bobber, consider using a Northland “Light Bite” Bobber with a dark colored bottom to prevent the fish from seeing it in gin clear water. If you are going to be night fishing, the new Lindy Splash Brite Bobbers work extremely well, and to be honest it is hard to beat the sight of that little glow ball of light disappear below the dark waters. Below the bobber put a small barrel sinker and a bead to protect your knot. A 3-4 foot piece of 8LB fluorocarbon tied to a 1/32oz or 1/16th oz jig or more basic a plain hook, bead, and split shot.
Releasing a nice evening walleye
Some of Minke’s favorite Northland Gum-Ball jig colors are crawdad and sunrise or a blood red hook. You can use a variety of bait such as minnows and crawlers, but the leeches excel with this presentation. When hooking those leeches on a windier day, hook the jig or hook right behind the sucker. On calm days, wacky rig the leech and hook it right through the middle of its body to give you a much more active leech within the water. It is also very important that the size of your slip bobber matches your presentation below it. Too light of a presentation will result in the bobber sitting up too high or tipping over, resulting in more tension when the fish takes the bait. Ideally you want that bobber sitting half way or up to three quarters of the way into the water, depending on the wind and waves, so when the fish takes the bait, there is little or no resistance.
Areas to key in on any lakes are mid lake humps or reefs, wind blown points, saddles or feeding shelves, and weed lines. Each lake is going to possess different structure that walleyes will relate to, but be sure to scout out those places and play the wind to your advantage. Some areas that the FLW pro from Forest Lake suggests are, “Wind is ideal for shallow rocks in clear lakes! You can park away from the structure your fishing and sneak the bobber into the spot by anchoring up wind. Use wind and lake current to drift your bobber back to the key areas.” Dusty also suggests paying attention to your depth carefully. When setting your slip bobber the depth, utilize your electronics to determine the depth where you will be casting. Allow enough room between the jig and the bottom to let the bait work hypnotically as it drifts across a rock pile or point. Many fishermen associate “corkin” with the evening bite, and as much as that holds true, we have caught walleyes in the middle of the day with this presentation, by simply deploying it when the
Watching the graph helps you catch the fish.
fish have proven to be in a negative mood. Be sure to take into consideration the mood of the fish as well. If the fish are slowly and methodically pulling the cork down, you may have to wait up to 20 seconds to tighten the line and make that sweeping hook set. Again, learn from the mood of the fish and you will put more ‘eyes in the boat.
The great thing about slip bobber fishing is it can be used as a serious tournament presentation or a great way to socialize and relax with friends and kids, after all the kid in all of us still loves to watch a bobber disappear below the water. This tried and true method is something that can be effective on most any walleye lake in the country and with a fine tuned presentation, the correct set up and location, and a piece of lively bait attached, you can hypnotize those finicky summer walleyes doing what you want them to do, which is BITE!
