I'm taking my son for six days in through Snowbank, and would like him to have a good fishing experience. I've typically fished schnells, rapala's or spinners - but I'm not sure if he would do will with any of these presentations. So...I bought some slip bobbers at the recommendation of a sales clerk at a sporting warehouse, and would appreciate advice on how to fish them. I've heard jigs or a schnell are good to use with them, but I have absolutely no idea how to use them.

Thanks

put bobber stop or split shot at dedth you want to fish

Set them so the bait is about a foot off the bottom. Anchor if you can and let the waves float your bait to the fish.

Be patient.

Walleyes (and crappies) will sometimes play with your bait and even pull down your bobber w/o getting hooked. (I once watched my lit bobber for over 20 minutes just swirling around under the water one night, and then watched it slowly surface the instant I put any pressure on it whatsoever.. only to watch it slowly descend again within 20 seconds of releasing the pressure..)

Bass (largemouth and smallies) and northern will normally hit it and run. You'll definately feel those.

On the other hand: perch, rockbass and sunnies have a tendency to "tap" your bait to death and steal it... One itty bitty piece at a time ... You'll feel them, but you may or may not catch them.

Bobberfishing is fun :)

Hope this link on slip bobber rigging helps.

Thanks a lot everyone - very helpful. Great link that was very descriptive!

take a small hook, a couple split shot and throw a leech on that bad boy and you're good to go!!

Experiment with different depths; as someone said, start a foot off the bottom or so, but move the bait higher or lower until they bite - sometimes a foot or two can make a big difference.

Nice things about slip bobbers are the precision with which you can place your bait and the ability to cast out aways while having the bait set deep (unlike stationary clip-on bobbers). And you can tell exactly when your bait is resting on the bottom because the bobber just leans over on its side. The technique offers great control, when it's not too windy.

Try some of these out I've had good success with them this year so far and they work great either using minnows or leaches. http://www.lindyfishingtackle.com/tackleshop2/home.php?cat=716

The link by snakecharmer is very informative. When trying for small mouth, look for dead trees that are hanging off the shore and into the water. Try to get your slip bobber with leach setup as close as possible to the underwater tree branches. You will get a few snags but will also find some big bass. This is especially deadly on sunny days. I has success with this in mid June and in mid August. Use a rope tied to a big rock as your anchor to help hold your position near the tree.

I would just like to add one thing. The bobber in the picture looks like a thul bobber. for your son I would get a decent size bobber. and put a 1/4 ounce jig head with a sinker this will insure when you are drifting that the lure gets down with good presentation with out enough weight the bait may not get down when drifting.