Thread: Floating yo-yo rigs

darn this was good reading. learned a lot. never used a yo.yo, but sounds like a good way to catch summer cats.

Originally Posted by beagle man

darn this was good reading. learned a lot. never used a yo.yo, but sounds like a good way to catch summer cats.

They are a lot of fun for the kids. We'll use hotdogs and set them about 2 ft deep and put them at the end of a cove and catch catfish and let the kids net the fish and try to get them in the boat. They get wet, scream, yell. I just sit back and run the motor and watch.

And they will catch crappie over deep water brush when there is no where to hang one. Or in a stump flat.

Originally Posted by Fancy Seats

I have a friend in my deer camp who used to fish with some homemade floating yo-yo rigs. They were made of cut out styrofoam for the float and some bent wire that the yo-yo hung from.

Anybody ever seen such a contraption?

He keeps promising to bring me one to look at but he keeps forgetting. Says he used to wear the crappie out on Chicot. I would like to make a few and try them out if anybody has any idea ho to do it.

This is a photo of noddles that I make. They can be much bigger--I saw some on this site made from 1 1/4 pvc and large stro-foam floaters that were huge.---Mine are orange in color----These noddles fall under the law of jug fishing and 20 per person is allowed. You can use a tie line to anchor them to a snag or you can place a weight on the bottom.
Some guys put more than one hook on them. I use a hook to snap the lines on and off.--I also make extra drops for different depths. I chased one of these noddles for quite a while with a nice cat on it last summer. One guy suggested that you use a controlled area to place them. Some guys make a long pole from pvc with a hook on the end of it for snagging the noddles while standing on the front of boat. Trolling motors may not catch these small ones without weights on them--I had to use the main motor. I argue with my sons about using these or trot lines---I like these because I can place them around brush--logs and good places to catch cats instead of stringing lines in water that does not produce. These are great among snags or standing timber and anchor them to prevent them from taking off.

I made some floating rigs---I cut some 3/4 pvc pipe about 1 foot long and drill a hole in the end that will be the bottom. Got some Walmart stro-foam pool sticks---I call them star wars swords--long things the kids use to hit each other with and it has a hole in the center. I cut them the same length and place the pvc pipe inside the length of stro-foam--run a wire through the stro-foam and the pvc pipe to keep it together or use glue on it.---Cut your line in the desired length--add hooks---weight--Tie your line using the hole you drilled in the pvc---bait them---throw into the water and chase them or come back the next day.---This rig I use can be bought at Walmarts at a much higher expense. I can make 20 of them for about 10 bucks or a little more---it is similar to jug fishing--laws are not the same as YO-YO,s----Water pipe insulation can be used also.---Make them any size you want.---I will post a photo of the ones I use. As an addition ad a small lenth of 1/2 inch by3to 4 inch depending on diameter inside the pipe, place in water flat when a fish hits it will stand upand be more visible and, easey to see, you can also add reflective tape to the top for night fishing. I use 3/4 by 18" pipe 10 foam, cheapest is dollar general and the make 1/2 and 3/4 sizes.

Learn to fish with a pole and u won't need them yo yo's , hahaha


You can take the boy out of the country but you can't take country out of the boy