“The walleye bite happens quickly and ends quickly each day,” said Mr. Slipbobber, Greg Bohn. “There are periods of high and low activity, and you need to be ready. Sitting in a boat watching dead floats is not my idea of a good time. I want to see those bobbers getting jerked down, getting hammered. Getting those floats to be productive, that’s the key.”

    Slip bobber adjustments can be made lightning quick at times when fish come one right after another like rapid fire from a Colt 45. That’s thanks to recent advances in tackle design, packaging and storage, he said.

    Slip bobber rigs aren’t what your grand pappies used back when cowboys  still rode horses instead of ATVs – and hopefully they aren’t what you’re still using. If they are, you are missing out. Whether slip bobbers are used to target specific cover or to drift over wide areas of structure, they present live bait precisely and in ways walleye find hard to resist.

    “Rigging a slip bobber isn’t what it used to be. A split shot, a slip  bobber, a bobber stop and a hook aren’t enough. That’s wishful thinking. You’re out there on a hope,” Bohn said. “After fishing slip  bobbers for three decades, I’ve found ways to improve the conventional slip bobber rig and make it easier to use and rig. Fishing has gotten more high tech.”

    Slip bobbers are as versatile as any other method to catch ‘eyes -  maybe more so. They can be used with minnows, ‘crawlers and leeches. They can sport different colored hooks or jigs like the Bohn-designed
Bobber Bug.

    A Bohn brainstorm led to the addition of a small blade to the Pro-Series snells. The flash caused when a squirming leech or minnow tries to escape is sometimes all it takes for the walleye to pull the trigger.

    “That blade vibration makes them deadly. That vibration drives walleye nuts when the bait takes off. I would say these rigs produce 50 percent more strikes than the common slip bobber, split shot and hook,” he
said.

    People who read Bohn’s book, “Mastering the Art of Slip Bobbers: The Deadliest Method for Walleyes,” already know how Bohn modified the basic rig. A bobber stop made of thread is followed by a red glass bead
that adds enough color to be seen from a distance and slides smoothly to prevent hang-ups. Next, the slip bobber must be designed to slide easily on the line. That’s followed by a Lindy No-Snagg barrel swivel
which features one eye larger than the other. The bigger one goes toward the slip bobber to prevent the swivel from becoming stuck inside. A Water Gremlin rubbercore sinker – not a split shot – is attached halfway down the two-foot snell. A split shot damages the line. The rubbercore sinker balances the bobber without weakening the line at all and allows weight changes quickly.

    The business end is a Tru-Turn hook in bleeding red or gold, or a Bobber Bug in perch or firetiger, the most consistent walleye-catching colors. Bobber Bugs range from 1/32, 1/16 and 1/8 sizes. The Pro-Series offers five different floats from small to XX-L. Different sizes may impart different action to the bait below or slow or speed the drift.

They also come weighted, which allows casts into the wind, or without weight. Rubbercore sinkers in 1/4-, 1/8- and 1/16-ounce are all that’s needed to match the bobbers. Hook sizes vary from #2 for large chubs and leeches to #4 and #6 for smaller minnows, leeches and ‘crawlers. Never leave the dock with only one kind of live bait. Even if you know walleye are hitting minnows, take a couple of different sizes along. If  you think they may want leeches, take ‘crawlers, too. Set the rig so the bait is a foot off the bottom.

    Bohn favors Tru-Turn hook snells when the water surface is calm.    “It seems like just a little bit of flash from the petite bladespinner and a little bit of color is enough,” he said. 

     He likes jigs in rough water.    “I love the Bobber Bugs with big live bait, a whole nightcrawler and big leech,” he said.

    Hooks tend to be used more with minnows and leeches. Bobber Bugs get the call with ‘crawlers and leeches.

    But, the critical factor is to use all those options of colors, sizes and bait choices to give walleye several options to pick from at the start of every day.

    “It’s rare to have a day when every rig is working. Every day they make a choice based on color, jig versus hook, the blade and the bait.  One will out-produce the others. Something in that rig is working.  Whatever they’re hitting repeatedly and for whatever reason, you’ve unlocked that day’s rigging secret. Immediately respond. Duplicate,  duplicate, duplicate that rig. Your walleye catch will soar. The walleye are telling you what they want, and you have to react immediately if you want to take that from two or three walleye to 20 to
30,” Bohn said.

     Don’t even take time to think. Like a quick draw, reactions must be automatic.

    “I never try to figure out what one particular item it is, but I never question it either,” Bohn said. “When a 1/16-ounce Bobber Bug with a large leech in the firetiger pattern is it, I don’t care, they’re hitting it. I just match the rest of the rigs to it. I know they like that one. Why mess with it?”

    Bohn’s pre-tied rigs can be changed simply by cutting the line above the snell to remove one and tie a single knot to add the other. Bohn prepares for that moment at home when he chooses an array of snells and
stores them on a Lindy Rigger Extreme snell holder. Extra sinkers,  Bobber Bugs, hooks, glass beads and bobber stops fit inside the Riggers, which are then placed in clear plastic storage containers for easy viewing. When one rig starts producing fish, he only needs to glance inside to find the rigs he needs in a hurry.

    “They’ll be four of the same rigs in the water in less than a minute.  You can’t believe what that’ll do to the catch. It will change three bites to 30,” Bohn said. “You don’t want to be designing rigs on the water. By the time you’ve done that in the boat – if you can do it in the boat – the bite is done, the fish have moved or become neutral.”

    Word to the wise – Illinois and Michigan permit two rods per angler. That’s enough to watch even in Bohn’s home state of Wisconsin, where three rods each are allowed. More than that can result in tangles when
action heats up. Instead of a bang, you’ll misfire.

    When you find a hot combination, don’t fall in love with it.    “They can change daily, even hourly. You just got done catching 30 walleye, then nothing. Before I leave, I’ll make another rig change.  They may have gotten used to what I was doing or they sensed me out. A change can bring more fish. After pounding them, they’re going to want a change.”

    Keep the tackle box loaded with several options and be ready to switch ammunition in a heartbeat. After all, you don’t want to get shot down by a fish.