What is the purpose of mast on Slip Bobber

I have set out to make the perfect slip bobber for my needs. The line will pass through the center of the bobber.

What are the reasons for mast on the bobber?
- Is the top mast only for increased visibility?
-It seems that a high top mast will hinder the descent of light jigs because of the sharper angle that the line is forced to travel.

My goal is to build a slip float that will

1. facilitate smooth and complete descent of jig head weighing 1/32 oz. 2mm ID grommets on top and bottom are attached to a 3mm ID tube.
2. the bobbers will most often be shot and not cast. Because of this no split shot is used above the jig. Shooting causes the split shot to be consistently pushed down to the jig.
3. a super benefit of having the jig ride all the way up to the bobber on retrieval is that the bobber helps a great deal to make the jig hook weedless on retrieval.

Here are a few of many prototypes.
The Magenta bobber (I’m too macho to call them pink) on the right is a pegged float that my brother will use.

Attachment 457373

Any thoughts and/or opinions are welcomed.

Danny

Nice work

I think the mast IS for increased visibility. Usually if my jig is light I will use weight about 8-10 inches above the jig to help facilitate descent of the jig.

The only time I use a float is when I fish from shore. I usually make 30-50 feet out if not more. All my floats have long stems on both sides of the float. Usually 5-6 inches. So each float is 10-12 long. Since my lake has an current the float I’d always moving. I watch the stem which is usually tilted to one side. When is goes straight up I know to get ready to reel the slack in the line and get ready to set the hook. Most of crappie fishing is done from ice out until the first Saturday in May , after that I put everything away for the year until ice season. The water temp is anywhere from 34-55 degrees.

If the mast is adjustable up and down - all the way down will lessen bobber tip in windy or wavy conditions ... (albeit with less visibility of the bobber) ...

And maybe that bobber tip can be beneficial as mentioned above ...

Rickie

The grommets look like they are rubber. I dont think I would like that.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

CatchnGrease
The grommets I use are metal and the tube is carbon fiber.

Fished today and did some bobber field testing.

Was concerned that the top mast would cause the line to descend inefficiently (sticking and/or stoping) because of the angle created by the 1 1/4” top mast. No so. The grommets make all the difference. Fished 1/32 jig and had no problems with sticking during descend. Was surprised to learn that a string stop doesn’t pass through the 2mm ID grommet.

The mast -
1” x 1 1/2” top and bottom mast seems beneficial. Top mast increases visiblity and also pops straight up once the jig has fully fallen. The bottom mast works to make the bobber stand straight up. NOTE - it is important to have the bobber lay over if the weight of the jig is removed. Without this an up bite won’t be detected.

Will continue to work towards improvement.

Danny