I am looking at make some dedicated open water slip bobber setups for walleye. I know most people will say any spinning reel will work for this. But I have notice that the bobber tie on some reels will slide a bit over other reels. I am wondering if anybody else has notice this and what reel they think works the best? I know I am over thinking this like I do with all fishing stuff, but I can’t help myself.
I think the rod is more important than the reel in this situation. The less guides, the better. More guides means more spots for the bobber stop to get hung up. Don’t over think it. You literally sit there with the rod n reel in the holder until the cork goes down. Sensitivity is not required for this, I can assure you.
Reels have little to do with bobber stops.
The line will matter as will the guides. Some braids will need two of the string knots to stay put. Some [lots] of the newer rods come with those ridiculous micro-guides and those suckers are a real headache with some of the bobber stops.
Even the type of stop can be an issue. For a long time I relied on those rubber football stops but find the string stops to be far more effective. Those small guides though are a pain in the arse.
I don’t have a specific one but one to stay away from unless they have changed is the quantum catylyst
The OP is specifically asking about reels, not rods. However you do have a good point on the guides.
I have an older Shimano Sahara on my walleye slip bobber set up. I don’t know that it matters much for the knot / slippage…. but obviously having a good drag is still important should you hook up with a big fish.
I think the rod is more important than the reel in this situation.
I would agree with this statement. I’d want as long as a rod as you can get for the hook sets. I prefer a 7’ minimum and even longer if you can find a good rod that fits the bill. Especially once you get some bow in your line, the longer rod helps with the hook set. Another piece of advice which should help with the bobber stop getting hung up is to trim the tag ends of the bobber stop as shorts as you can after you tie it on your line. I usually trim it was down with a scissors and then carefully use a lighter to lightly burn the ends so the bobber stop doesn’t fray.
I have pflueger president size 35’s
on my bobber rods. I like the bigger reel as it seems to manage slack line and the bobber stop better than smaller sized reels.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
I think the rod is more important than the reel in this situation.I would agree with this statement. I’d want as long as a rod as you can get for the hook sets. I prefer a 7’ minimum and even longer if you can find a good rod that fits the bill. Especially once you get some bow in your line, the longer rod helps with the hook set. Another piece of advice which should help with the bobber stop getting hung up is to trim the tag ends of the bobber stop as shorts as you can after you tie it on your line. I usually trim it was down with a scissors and then carefully use a lighter to lightly burn the ends so the bobber stop doesn’t fray.
I’m the opposite with the bobber stop.
I find trimming it too short leads to the line coming off the spool catching the stop.
I like to leave a good 1/4″ off each side. It makes for re-tightening them a breeze
For reels, anything medium size works nice (like a 2500 size Shimano)
For rods, 7′ 6″ minimum for me, all the way to 9′ 6″ (like a steelhead rod)
I just picked up another rod the other day at Gander, I think it’s 9′ and has really big guides. Going to work great for corks. I think it was $40. Don’t remember the name at the moment
I’d recommend a high gear ratio reel. The quality of the reel probably doesn’t matter much considering you aren’t required to feel anything. Something in the higher than 5:1 is important for picking up line to set the hook the same way a long rod is important to do the same.
I’ve been trying to use a couple small shimano sienna 500s and they suck to reel up the slack line to set the hook on anything.
I know shimano Sahara’s have high gear ratio but I’ve had some pretty bad luck with them in the past.
I’m the opposite with the bobber stop.
I find trimming it too short leads to the line coming off the spool catching the stop.
I like to leave a good 1/4″ off each side. It makes for re-tightening them a breeze
I should have clarified – I usually shoot for around 1/4” tag end as well, maybe a tad shorter. Basically as short as you can go and still be able to re tighten the slip. I was more referring to people who leave almost the entire tag end and don’t trim down at all. That causes all sorts of hang ups on your guides and reel.
I am making the rods myself. I have picked out the perfect size guides for this rod (some testing was done involved bobber ties with ¼” tag ends) I have some fantastic blanks that showed up to my house yesterday. One rod is 7’-6” and the other is 7’-10”. At this point I am looking for a reel to build and balance the rod to. I appreciate all the input. I did notice that the line catch on my CI4 was smaller (than some of my other reels) and would move the line tie some. I think the idea of a faster speed reel is spot on. Thank you. I try to always built the “perfect” rod and need to decide on a reel to do that.
But I have notice that the bobber tie on some reels will slide a bit over other reels.
You don’t have a rod or reel problem, you have a bobber stop problem.
Slide 2 bobber stops together and problem solved. 
-J.
It sounds like the bail roller might be your spot of concern and I would stay away from a higher end real like the ci4. More precise is normally smaller. Look at a midrange model in the 2000-3000 size for line pickup and casting.
Never had a problem with shimono, couple okuma, I would think diawa would be fine, just inspect the bail roller for problem spots. Bigger 3000 real should be less problem if it will balance out, but you don’t necessarily need to balance out a bobber rod.
My favorite bobber rod right now is the telescopic limit creek. Ever consider making your blank longer with a telescopic handle section? Could probably push it out to 8.5-9.5?
I will pile on the hate for the little stainless guides. The best thing is the big, fat guides from 20 years ago.
Not wanting to completely derail this… but the old ugly sticks are the perfect slip bobber rods… great big guides and I like the action while fighting fish. I wish I could find some for sale someplace.
Back to the original post. I found that the reels with a bearing in the bail roller is the way to go. I have switched to that on all my panfish rods and on both my walleye slip bobbering rods. I do not recall what model (pretty sure they are regal, might be revros) but they are daiwa reels on my walleye setups. Good smooth drag too. Some reels have a bushing, some have nothing for the line roller. A good smooth bearing really helps. Just be sure to maintain them. They tend to get full of crud and freeze up. A bit of oil in the off season every couple years is good for me.
I have liked the pflueger president for slip bobber or I also have one Daiwa mid range reel that I like too. Agree that not all brand stoppers are good.
Depending on what you are willing to spend, I love my Pfleuger Supreme Xt’s and my Daiwa Tatulas in the 25-30 size range. If you are devoting it specifically to walleyes, then I’d go with the 30 size model. I like the 25’s personally because I can swap them between rods for panfish and walleyes. There are multiple lower level models with both of these brands that will suffice as well if you don’t want to spend $150 on a reel. The Daiwa Revros is the reel that got me hooked on Daiwa, and the Preisdent Xt did the same for Pfleuger, now those are the only two types of reels I will buy. Both have a superb drag system which is critical in all applications. Even though I am brand loyal to Daiwa and Pfleuger and I like the sweet feel and performance of the higher end reels, I think any spinning reel in the 50+ dollar range would get the job done.
Let me guess Fuji size 6 running guides? You got me interested in what blanks your using. I would go to Gander or Cabela’s and look for a size 2500 with the biggest guide bearing and spool size.
It depends on how technical specific one wants to get into it. The more lure specific in light weights control, the more important everything is. The line guides, the reel especially the line roller on it, and even the slip bobber itself. In all aspects it matters to increase control overall, increase bite detection overall, and increase functions overall.
The line roller, the shape of it if it has a line groove or not. The line groove sometimes hang up on the slip bobber line string knot. You may want a reel without a line groove on the line roller.
The ball bearing inside the line roller. It helps a lot to roll over when the slip bobber knot comes into contact with it.
Larger line rollers simply works better.
This is going to be harder than I though. Cabela’s, Fleet Farm, and Gander only have a couple of 3500 and 4000 size spinning reels left in stock. 
I rigged up a rod dedicated to slip bobber this year. The reel is a Pflueger President size 35. I wanted a larger spool to make long casts easier. I have been wanting to try a President for some time now. They seem to be a very good reel in that price range. Put is on a $50 Fenwick medium light 7 foot rod.
Surprised no one has mentioned a baitfeeder option on the reel. Works great for slip bobber fishing. No need to decide if your bail should be open or closed when the bobber is out. If you miss the bobber going under the line still feeds off the reel.
Also built myself a bobber rod for eyes this year. Found a 7’6” cheap blank from Get Bit Outdoors. Will definitely say it is not the lightest or Most sensitive blank but its for bobber fishing sooo. Put a size 35 President on it. No problems as of yet.
Can I ask what blanks you are using?
I went with two different blanks. One is the IMMWS76ML-TC. This blank was designed for this application and feels great. (this is what the manufacture rep suggested I use) I really like this blank and it is 7’-6”, ML power, fast action. Don’t let the fast action fool you. The other is SP942-CG, 7’-10”, mod fast action, ML power. This is blank was designed for saltwater poppers but also feels great for this application (for smaller walleye but could also work for larger crappies). When you compare the blanks side by side they almost have the same flex to them. But the way the IMMWS76ML-TC feels is better.
I went with a Lews spinning reel because the line catch is larger than any of the other reels I saw and it picked up 34” of recovery.
I also picked up a 7’-0” SP840-CG for a pan fish bobber rod and think it feels spot on. After I get them made and some time on the water I can let everyone know what I think.
What blank did you use Red Eye?
Also, another bobber stop trick, if you do much adjusting with your depth, sliding the stops up and down, it heats up the line, possibly weakening it, always give my line a little spray with aerosol cooking oil
Just as a guy thought IDO was all social threads….
https://getbitoutdoors.com/gbc-7-6-m
Wish I’d had gone with the ML. O well maybe the next one. At less than $30 figured worth a shot. Ive built several rods on the Immortal blanks just couldn’t spend the money on a bobber rod.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
