Here's a quick question-- after all the great threads and responses about bobber fishing, I've assembled a beginner's rig. Now I need to spool line. I've got 14 lb. Fireline in smoke color, 20 lb Fireline in high vis green, and 30 lb Spiderwire in moss green. I lean toward the high-vis for help in following the drift and adjusting the float's position. Any opinions? What would you use?

Maybe I should add that I'll be fishing mostly smaller streams although at least one does have (or used to have) some real pigs.

I don't know about best float line,but I've always stuck to 8 lb test Maxima ultra-green tied directly to the jig or with 6lb leader in clear water conditions.

Eddy's got the right idea. I use Maxima Ultra green as well 8#...can't go wrong with it.. especially if you fishing a smaller stream.
I land many of Steelhead from the Deschutes on 8# Ultra green..It's plenty strong enough

Another thing I use to use Power Pro...After a while it got to be a pain and bad on guides
that 8# ultra green will land fish over 30#'s..
I've done it

I like the power pro high vis line. It's tough, it floats and you can see it. It's also low/no strech. I've used fireline and other brands and wasn't happy with them. The power pro 20lb test also cast great. Use a good knot and your set. Also great for drift fishing. Also reffered to as bass line.
Bill

I use 14 Fireline in green! 20 may be too heavy depending on your rods power. If your gonna bonk a 30 pound Steelie then use 8 pound mono. The fish has a way better chance of not makin it too your club!
But if you C & R big fish then use heavier line or you might as well bonk it! It will swim away but it probably wont live to see the next day with 8 pound Mono! Remember its Steelhead season so most fish will be 6 to 20. But you always have a chance at a bigger fish between Jan and April. Be ready in case you hook him! One thing I have definately noticed is that we rarely catch small fish on the bobber. Anybody else see this trend?

Bob D

Using braided lines for bobber fishing will give you a lot better flotation of your line because the line grease stays on a lot longer than with monofilament lines. This is important because you want to keep the line above your bobber floating on the surface so you can keep it mended and get a quick hookset when your bobber goes down. If the line sinks you cant mend it and you get a big bow in the line, creating too much slack. Also less stretch.

I float fish quite a bit (about 90% of the time) so I'll throw my opinion out there and you guys can do whatever you want with it. First of all, Every last thing I use is subject to change to best suit the conditions at hand. First, I'll talk about float fishing in tide water for chinook. I use a shimano Calcutta 250 with Fireline fusion usually somewhere between 14 and 20LB test. I use a sliding foam float, like thse dink floats, only rigged sliding. I run the fire line down to a swivel and about a 1oz. teardrop sinker, then I use TRIPLEFISH Brand mono in what ever LB test the situation calls for. For Steelhead I use 6 to 8LB line (Always triplefish, no matter what)Rigged up on a GL3 1141 or a Packbay (sp) 10'6" rod. I use exclusively the old Cardinal spinning reels (size 3 on the GL3 and size 4 on the 10'6"). I never run to a swivel or use a leader I use fixed floats usually the biggest cheater you can find, takw it and run it up the mainline, peg it with a toothpick at the desired depth, throw an 1/8 oz. chenille jig on and start fishing......But as far as the line goes, Triplefish....It's the best line in the world. Fish can't see it, it has a nice low diameter to LB Test ratio. and with a little mucilin (sp) it will float dandy. I love the Triplefish! I dont know of anywhere local, except maybe Sportco, who carries it, but it can be ordered out of several different catalogs

Does Triplefish hold line grease as well as braided line, and if so,whats the secret? You have convinced me to buy some next time i am near Sportco, i just want to know what the difference is between triplefish and other monos. While i have the floor, whats the best line grease to use for bobber fishing for chinooks with relatively heavy lines? rar

How about the night before taking your mono line and waxing it like fly line? It'd float then...

12# Izorline green. Not sure why you would need anything over 15# test.

Little Zo - In the past you and I have not agreed on much but I strongly agree with your choice of spinning reels! I have a fairly sizeable collection of old Cardinal 3's, 4's 6's, and 7's. I love those old reels and they're the only spinning reel I use. Good to hear from someone else who uses them.

Thanks also for the tips on float fishing. I've tried it recently with no success but with the information provided by folks like you, I'll get the knack for it soon. Good fishing. <@)(((><

Yeah, you'll get the hang of it. It took me a while to gain confidence in a system that I was not familiar with too. I was fortunate in that I grew up fishing at Blue Creek as my Dad always packed me around with him on his fishing excursions.(My Father is the ultimate combat fishing champion). Anyway, I was fishing next to a liitle old man by the name of Leo. (Leo's jigs...... Does that ring a bell?) Everybody was drift fishing except for him.... He was using one of his jigs. Everyone was glaring at him like he was an idiot or something. Next thing I know, Leo goes and digs a coffee can of these jigs out of his day pack. He then proceeds tyo start handing them out to ALL of the fishermen at Blue Creek. Most of the guys said thanks and put the jigs into their vests. A few of the guys just tossed them into the river, and about 1/2 dozen people, myslf and my father included, put on the jigs and a couple of old 1-1/2 inch cork floats we bummed from Leo. IN THE NEXT HOUR OF FISHING THE SIX OF US ALL CAUGHT FISH!!!! With a limit for my father and for Leo. You should have seen the scrambling that was going on as people tried to find thos jigs! Also, hardly anyone had bobbers, so anyone who did have one had every jerk off on the bank trying to buy one from them. Since that day I have been a jig fisherman. I've tried to refine things a bit from those old days of using an old eagle claw glass rod with a Zebco reel and 12LB Charterboat line, but the basic theory is still the same. Keep your line out of the water (keep Mending it) and try to produce as dragless a prentation as possible. Talk to some flyfishermen....... They will tell you all about drift mending.

I don't understand the need to fish braided lines for floatin Jigs
A little muslin and "Rock & Roll"
As far as line goes I like Ande,I use the envy(flo-green) or the standard green,I cast great especially in cold weather ( can't do that with U.G.)
I've witnessed it explode off spinning reels on cold days.
seams to me braids take all the "sport" out of it.just my .02.......Os

OSprey, I dont understand the need for the new superbraids when it comes to jigs either.....And yeah, Ande is good line, just not as good as triple fish..... That stuff rocks! Zero memory, ultra low visibility, low stretch, and it looks damn cool too

I use the green 14 lb test Fireline for several reasons.

1. It's high vis.

2. It will always be stronger than the leader I'm using so in case of a snag, I never lose my float.

3. Small diameter.

4. It floats. It's easy to mend the line without disturbing the natural float of the bobber.

5. Unlike braided lines, Fireline doesn't have the tendancy to wrap around the tip of the rod.

Little Zo, you and I and your father must have at one time or another float fished at blue creek right next to each other! My brother, a buddy and I can all relate to that exact story with Leo handing out those jigs. It wasn't just a few days that we were searching out hooks and beads and getting together to manufacture our own Leo Jigs. It was a hoot to be down at Blue Creek with the bobbers and to be catching all those fish while the drift guys would give us bobber guys the dirty stare! Wasn't it funny, all those different types of bobbers back then...especially the ones that would crack and sink. Do you remember a guy that looked like the actor "John Candy"?,(LOUDMOUTH) he and and a fellow started fighting on the bank and were rolling in the mud behind the fishermen, it was toooo funny. I do not fish that scene any longer, but I have to admit it was a great time....although I dreaded dragging those fish back to the truck on that old trail.

I like the Power Pro braided line for fishing bait and pink worms under a dink float. I like to fish lighter gear off the spinning rod when using jigs and go with straight 8 or 10lb. line through a cork float and then tied to the jig.

Hey, thanks, guys. I appreciate the input. From what I read, it looks like I try things until I find what works for me...as your opinions vary quite a bit. I think I'll be using Fireline in green, and will have to make do with the 20 lb I have in stock until I get a chance to pick up 14. However, I also have a second, lighter rod I'll be rigging for floats as well, and I'll put mono on that for a try. Now if I can get out next week to fish, I'll be happy.

Keith

Lil'zo'

Great Blue Creek jig lesson story! I love that.

As for line kj, either good muscilin coated mono or quality braid work well with floats. So you are right to try both out to find which feels best to you.

RT

Fishng1, Yeah, I remember the loud mouth guy that looked like John Candy. I remember all the different bobbers too. It was funny, all the drift fishermen down at the point and up towards the creek, just standing there with steam coming out of there ears as the jig guys would stand down there by that sawed off tree (remember,somebody sawed steps into it, and made it like a seat that hung out over the water) and just pull one fish after another. I remember one time, I was down there with the old man in the middle of December and it was cold that day. There was this guy of about 55-60 fishing next to us, a real nice old guy. Well his bobber went down and he had a Steelhead on. He fought the fish downstream and landed it and when he came back up to start fishing, some kid about 23-24 was standing in his spot, trying to drift corkies and yarn right in the middle of all those jigs and bobbers. People were cussing at him telling him to move, but the kid didn't care.Finally the little old man tapped the kid on the shoulder and said "Excuse me son, but I think you kind of took my spot while I was fighting this fish, I'd like my spot back." The kid then looked at him and sai "F**k you! I'm not moving, this is my spot now and if any of you A$$holes has a problem with that, then why doesn't somebody do something about it." The kid no sooner got the words out of his mouth, and that little old man reached out and pushed that kid right off of the ledge and into the Cowlitz.... None of us could believe it! The little old man just stepped right into line and started fishing again, and a jet sled picked the kid up about 50 yards down river. Yeah, those were the good old days.

Sounds like some hard-core combat fishing!

~ Dr Pepper