So here I am in the Super Walmart in Escanaba trying to think of things to use for catching panfish in the U.P. I didn’t really bring anything in the line of rods, but thought I would rig up some slip bobbers on my medium light Avid drop shot rods. Only problem, no bobbers or thread, but did have the beads for rigging some carolina rigs in case the smallies were hitting.
Have you ever walked up to someone in the sewing dept. and asked if you carry thicker thread? You get this crazy look in response like what is this guy talking about! So after striking out there, I picked up my bobbers anyway, then it hit me.
I had been stripping and retying braid on my line the whole trip. Not wanting to simply throw the line overboard I had saved it all for some reason. Worn out braid gets fairly soft after a long period of use folks. So there it is, I used the line as thread and was able to rig up my slip bobber rods. Worked like a charm, and I have spools of this stuff back in the shop. Have I mentioned I got this pack rat mentality from my mother? Well it rubbed off on my anyway.
Tied my thread, put my bead on the line followed by the bobber and tied the hook on. Set my depth and began catching some nice gills. Not as nice as my cousin Christine’s kids, but still had my fun fishing.
Good call on the braid for bobber stop. I ran out of stops one day and I just took a rubber ban off the bottom of the boat and knotted it around the line. It worked but it didn’t last that long.
Have tried the rubber band thing too, they never do quite seem to work out though; slipping off, dissappearing…etc