Reel/Line for a dedicated corkin’ rod

Going to set up a dedicated walleye slip bobber rod. Up till now, I’ve always grabbed one of my 7′ M or ML and made it work. Have pretty much settled on the 2B Sharpshooter, and 8′ telescoping rod designed for this. No doubt I could get by with a cheaper rod, but I usually go by the saying “buy once, cry once”. Now I’ve been a Pflueger guy up until the last year or so and have now added a few Diawa’s to the lineup. Shimano is one other I’d consider. Which reel/size from these 3 would pair up nicely with this rod? And, what would you spool it with?

Lately I have been gravitating to Diawa for reels, but on a cork rod anything with a good drag will work. I use only mono for mine, I have one set up with a day time bobber and one with a nighttime bobber. I love slip bobbering for walleye, something about watching that cork sink.

Im running size 35 presidents with 10lb suffix advanced mono in high vis yellow on my bobber rods.
I think the longer the better for rod’s.
I love my Gapen’s 10ft ml rods for bobbers.

Size 30 should be plenty big.
Line is personal preference. I have some with braid some with mono. Don’t have to put new line on the braid every year but performance wise I don’t notice a difference.
More of my mono cork rods are for 15ft or less anything deeper and i am running a leader and barrel sinker. To get down fast.

Mainline I like hi vis braid of your choosing. Keep the slip bobber on the main line then us a swivel to a leader 24”-30” ish long of mono or flouro. I don’t care for mono as the main line because it sinks so darn fast. Slip Bobbering shallow the line ends up drooping on the bottom or in the weeds. No bueno for me.

Good call on the long rod for this! I’ve be saying I should do this for years! Will make hook sets much easier

I run all ugly sticks for bobbers minus my one sunfish rod which is an older Cabela’s ultralight combo, barely larger than an ice fishing rig.

I don’t think you can really go wrong with anything when bobber fishing.

I use braid, mono leader, 2 bobber stops, James’s rigging, but first and foremost I had Rodworks build me a rod (7’- 6” I believe) with larger eyelets to keep the stops from hanging up.
Freakin love that rod!
Also have the same in a crappie rod.

John,
What bobber do you use for a nighttime bobber?

I like to use a 14wt fly rod with a spinning real sized to balance it. That rig will cast a long long way, yet has a decent backbone. I’ve got 2 of these 14wt fly rods with spinning reels and love em.

I’m amazed by those real long Thill bobbers with a bulb on one end and almost no weight at the hook. I think they call it a waggle bobber. If it lays flat on the water it will swim into the wind. As a wave goes by it will slip down the back side of the wave and move upwind.

Ep i heard you are a little hard on your rods.Was that bobber rod 7’6″ when Rodworks made it or is that what it’s down to now?

8-6 telescoping Limit Creek ML, 6 pound mono, with a Diawa. Bigger reel will give less memory, and you get amazing sweep length!

I cheeped out on the rods, and figure sometime I will upgrade them, but I run 7 foot Medium ugly sticks and have Diawa Revros LT in 2500 size. Spooled with 10 pound hi vis neon tangerine suffix siege with a bobber stop, bead, and 3/8 ounce wobble bobber with a ball bearing swivel tied on. then I run 2 or 3 foot of 8 pound fluorocarbon with the jig and bait of choice. If there is a good chop, I like to run a gulp alive or impulse leech. There are days when a live leech is a must, however. Some times a good tail hooked fathead is best as well. In clear water, don’t get too worked up on getting the bobber stop set to the right depth. If I am finding fish on the tops of humps that are 18-20 foot deep, set the stop at 15 foot, they will come up and hit it. Then if you see one at 16 foot, you are still good to drop on it with out adjusting and wasting time.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

I use braid, mono leader, 2 bobber stops, James’s rigging, but first and foremost I had Rodworks build me a rod (7’- 6” I believe) with larger eyelets to keep the stops from hanging up.
Freakin love that rod!
Also have the same in a crappie rod.

I run braid on most of my other setups and like this idea. Is that 2nd bobber stop set just above your leader so you don’t pull the knot through the bobber? Or 2 stops above the bobber?

Scheels has the Diawa Fuego on sale for $80. They have the 2500XH available which has a bit faster retrieve speed. Wonder if that would make sense on a bobber rod to pull in any slack quicker?

chuck100 wrote:

Ep i heard you are a little hard on your rods.Was that bobber rod 7’6″ when Rodworks made it or is that what it’s down to now?

That 2B is a great rod for this. I prefer high speed reels in the size 30 on my slip bobber rod. The bigger spool helps the line come off easier and less chance to catch (loose bait). The combination of a high speed reel and long rod makes picking up extra line and setting the hook easier and less chance of missing it when you are sleeping.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

John,
What bobber do you use for a nighttime bobber?

I have gone through several. The thill splash brite is ok. I now prefer the VMC brand it works the same when it hits the water it lights up and it is a little brighter than the thill.

I was in this same situation last year. Bought 2 of the 8’3 Limit Creek Extendable rods (lots of positive reviews on this board) and have 2500 Daiwa Legalis reels on them spooled with suffix 832 braid (12lb) to a spro barrel swivel and then to a 3-4ft Seagur flouro leader. I also changed my setup to having a 1/16 or 1/8 oz egg sinker above the swivel and a 1/8 or 1/4 (depending on depth) fireball jig below the thill bobber. This rod/reel combination and rig setup have been a gamechanger for me and increased our amount of use and catch with slip bobbers. Maybe I’m just slow to catch onto things?

John Rasmussen wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Eelpoutguy wrote:</div>
John,
What bobber do you use for a nighttime bobber?

I have gone through several. The thill splash brite is ok. I now prefer the VMC brand it works the same when it hits the water it lights up and it is a little brighter than the thill.

I have a bunch of the Splash Brights and love them. Didn’t know VMC made one. Since they are brighter, I’ll have to check it out.
DT

I’ve pretty much given up on battery powered lighted bobbers 75% of the time they don’t work when I go to use them. I have been using Wing-It bobbers for awhile now, because I can swap sizes without retying or take them off so they fit in rod sock easier, and then attaching a glow stick to that. The glow sticks attach to the top of the bobber with a piece of tubing. They are big, very bright, and stick up pretty far off the top of the bobber.

Yes Reef Whooligan, this is what I do too. Can get 100 glow stick packs on amazon at a pretty low cost. Keep a couple of the tubing pieces around and it’s a quick adjustment versus full bobber change.

Joe Jarl wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Eelpoutguy wrote:</div>
I use braid, mono leader, 2 bobber stops, James’s rigging, but first and foremost I had Rodworks build me a rod (7’- 6” I believe) with larger eyelets to keep the stops from hanging up.
Freakin love that rod!
Also have the same in a crappie rod.

I run braid on most of my other setups and like this idea. Is that 2nd bobber stop set just above your leader so you don’t pull the knot through the bobber? Or 2 stops above the bobber?

2 above the bobber. Keeps the bobber stop tighter from slipping on braid.

Joe Jarl wrote:

Scheels has the Diawa Fuego on sale for $80. They have the 2500XH available which has a bit faster retrieve speed. Wonder if that would make sense on a bobber rod to pull in any slack quicker?

Sounds like a great set up.

Two bobber stops…agreed, especially on braid. Do you trim the tabs? Ice fishing i trim tabs then dab them with super glue or nail polish. That doesnt work as well open water, maore eyelet catch when casting. Ideas?

Joe, I think you are on the right path. I have an 8′ telescopic Cabelas Walleye bobber rod from several years back that was may $80 – $100 back then and that has been paired with a 3000 sized reel. I also have a 9′ 2 piece soft salmon rod with a 4000 sized reel on it and those two have 8 or 10 lb hi-viz mono. I have another 7.5′ one piece rod with braid. I think most of mine have mid to low ($30 – $80) end Shimano reels as it doesn’t take much to reel in and toss a bobber. I tend to use the 8′ telescopic combo the most, simple, casts great and I like the extra length along with mono that holds the bobber stop well. I am sure the 2B sharpshooter will exceed your needs.

acarroline wrote:

Two bobber stops…agreed, especially on braid. Do you trim the tabs? Ice fishing i trim tabs then dab them with super glue or nail polish. That doesnt work as well open water, maore eyelet catch when casting. Ideas?

Get a rod with bigger guides. Micro guides and bobber stops don’t work well together. I used size 8 on most of the bobber rods I make. It is way larger than what it needs. But I have had 0 complaints about the bobber tie causing any problems and bait coming off in the cast from catching.

Rodwork: eyelet size for catching, yes, partially. I referenced eyelet catching on polished or glued trimmed tabs, they also catch line in the spool. Main question was if anyone doesnt trim tabs, how do they like that, anyone find a better mousetrap? Do you trim tabs and just deal with eventual fray? Maybe you are saying with larger eyelets no need to trim tabs and that works for you??

acarroline wrote:

Main question was if anyone doesnt trim tabs, how do they like that, anyone find a better mousetrap? Do you trim tabs and just deal with eventual fray? Maybe you are saying with larger eyelets no need to trim tabs and that works for you??

I only use mono so one stop, I trim the tabs down to I would say about a 1/4 inch or so. I do this for a couple reasons. It helps it pass through the eyelets and lessens the catching the line on the spool. It also allows me to tighten the knot on the stop when it loosens up a bit.

Thanks for all the input! Will stop by Scheels and choose a reel that feels right on that rod. Either 25 or 30. Still debating between braid and mono, but leaning toward braid.

John Rasmussen wrote:

acarroline wrote:
Main question was if anyone doesnt trim tabs, how do they like that, anyone find a better mousetrap? Do you trim tabs and just deal with eventual fray? Maybe you are saying with larger eyelets no need to trim tabs and that works for you??

I trim the tabs down to I would say about a 1/4 inch or so. I do this for a couple reasons. It helps it pass through the eyelets and lessens the catching the line on the spool. It also allows me to tighten the knot on the stop when it loosens up a bit.

Same. Not for passing through the eyes but for catching in the spool.

Walleye set up as this is how I fish 80% of the time in open water. 7’6” ML XF. President 30. 6 pound XL mono. Trimmed bobber stop, I apply a touch of flame to the tag ends of the stop, carefully to not damage mono. Just bend the mono at the stop and hold in fingers with tag ends of stop facing away. This slightly melts end of bobber stop and prevents fraying. Then bead. Then VMC night bobber in 1/8 ounce size. Then barrel swivel. Then a few feet of 6 pound flouro. Usually a 1/8 ounce jig with a leech but some times put a 1/8 ounce egg above the swivel and run a plain hook. Been doing it this way for years. You can replace the batteries in the VMC bobbers but I usually just replace the bobber to be honest.