Slip Corking/Bobber Fishing

[Hanr3]

How many of you Slip Cork for Crappie and what is your favorite technique, lure size, color, time of the year, water temp, and define your preferred location, etc? What do you do when the bite turns off?

It's a Crappie forum and I have seen a lot of BS threads, plus saw one saying there isn't much new in Crappie Fishing. Im betting there is a variety of techniques being used for Slip Corking/Bobber fishing. I am going to post the same for other forms of Crappie fishing.

[crappiefarmer]

I mostly tight line for crappie but will use a cork when fishing water that is 3 feet deep or less. Have used slip corks in the past but don't have as much of a use for them as some fellas here do. They work good for flipping jigs around tree tops and visible cover. CF

[sea-sons]

I use slip bobbers quite a bit. Mostly when fishing minnows in brush piles and
laydowns on the bank. I like to use 15lb braided line on my reel and a 10'-12' rod. The long rod keeps the bobber stoper out of your reel when fishing the deeper brush piles, which makes for easier casting. Attach a small barrell swivel to the braid and add about 18" of 10lb fluorocarbon. Then tie on a #4 or #2 gold extra light aberdeen hook with an overhand loop knot. With this setup when you hang the brush pile or laydown, the hook almost always straightens out. If the line breaks it's almost always the leader at the hook and you simply tie on another hook. You hardly ever have to go retrieve the bobber and spend extra time retieing the whole rig. I used this rig yesterday on docks and did not have to retie a single rig all day like my buddy did about 5 or 6 times using 4lb line.

[rnvinc]

I keep a couple of slip cork poles rigged up and in the water even when I'm spider riggin ( my normal spider riggin setup is simply a weight, leader, and hook with minnow or jig).....you never know when you might want to cast a slip cork rig to a laydown or other fishy lookin spot.....

One thing I encountered when slow trollin with a slip cork is the tendency of the slip cork to slide down towards the bait during forward travel of the boat due to the friction of the water on the slip cork....

I solved this problem by putting a bobber stopper above and below the slip cork....this keeps the bait down in the water column instead of up against the cork....

Then, when I need to cast the slip cork rig I simply slide the bottom bobber stop down and out of the way to let the slip cork slide as intended...

[shipahoy41]

This is what I use. Hope it helps some.

[wildhunter066]

Good post and pics!

[feelay]

I like a fixed float when fishing open shallow water. Never much cared for slip floats. The "float and fly" technique is one of my favorite ways to catch 'em in the winter, fishing sandy or rocky bottom humps and drop offs.

[Gamblinman]

Nothing better than catching crappie in the spring on a float with a minnow below it. Love to see that float either go under, or, lay up on it's side. My favorite way to crappie fish.

Gman

[blairarnold]

I love fishing heavy brush with slip corks and minnows. One thing I like about slip corks as opposed to fixed corks is that I can nearly always bounce loose from a hang up while using slip corks. I do use a fairly heavy split shot that helps knock the hook loose.

[STUMP HUNTER]

When the crappie are biting in the 2' to 5' depth I spider rig with fixed corks. I use a heavy jig head so I don't have to add any weights. I also tip the jigs with small minnows. Enjoyable way to spend a morning on the lake.