WHO SAYS CORKS ARE FOR SISSIES?

You may have heard some hard-core anglers scoff at the notion of using bobbers (corks or floats) for many types of fishing.  Some believe they're better reserved for kids, novice anglers or those only fishing from shore.  But if the truth be known a bobber can be a deadly tool in an angler's arsenal for many species of fish, particularly this time of year.  Such was the case recently for a couple buddies and I fishing Milford Reservoir last week.

I rarely fish Milford so we were hunting for some likely looking crappie spots.  I found several brush piles and while we caught a few on these piles we found no concentrations of crappie to bite.  So we started pitching jigs to a rocky bank and dipping in and around stick-ups.  My middle-of-the-boat buddy caught a monstrous crappie dropping a jig next to a submerged tree and our day was looking up.  My back-of-the-boat friend strapped on a bobber the size of a beach ball and started pitching his jig there, too.  He followed suit catching several BIG crappie.  The game was on.

One little stretch we worked yielded a bunch of nice slabs with most averaging about 1 1/4-pounds.  Real bruisers, fun to catch and colored as vividly as an impressive painting the fish wasted no time whacking the jig causing the bobber to twitch or go completely under.  Without the bobber the jigs would have been snagged more often than not.  It also allowed a real SLOW retrieve which seemed critical as well.

So don't overlook the ol' bobber.  It can save the day in a pinch and makes fishing a jig more effective in certain situations.  A bobber is also deadly for walleye at times.  But that's a story for another day!

Good fishing!