just old fashion i reckon

ive tried the spider rigging, pulling cranks, jigs etc.etc.etc. but i just enjoy sitting in my ole jon boat watching a couple of bobbers floating around. of course i cuss alot about the 20th time i have to retie, but they say if you aint hangin up your not in the right spot. i reckon about the only thing that has come along that i enjoy is shooting docks. but when i think of crappie fishing i picture myself tied off in a tree top somewere drowning minners..guess i just like doing it the way my daddy taught me, cause while i fish i usually daydream of the trips with my old man and wishin i could just fish with him one more time. anyone else here a minner drowner ?

Yea, that would be me on most days. Don't tie up but move from one to another along with the bite.

I've been know to tie up to a tree (or a bridge piling) and drown minners! My dad never fished so, I don't have that memory, but I enjoy drowning my minners sometimes. I'm trying to learn to jig fish, but still have a pretty steep learning curve to get up!

Right there with ya :) fish one more time with dad.

Bobbers is my favorite way to fish. Im a one pole kinda guy too. I like simplicity. I fish to get away from the hectic, over crowded, often confusing daily grind.
I think theres a place and time for cranks, spider rigging, and high class electronics.
Theres just more time in my book for an ultralight, bobber, PBR, and a soft breeze.

Im also lucky enough, that most every time i launch the boat my old man is sitting in it with me.
(and he usually brings the beer).

Thats my plan next summer, and dapping timber in the river.

I grew up running yo-yos and trot-lines on the river with my grandpa. Lots of fond memories there. We never did the bobber thing. I don't think either one of us had the patience for it. He is not able to go with me anymore, and I haven't ran yo-yos in years, but i'm still not big on tying up and sitting on a spot all day. I see lots of people doing it and they seem to do okay, so to each his own. To me, nothing beats the feeling of a thump on a jig pole with about ten ft. of line out!!!

My dad started me out fishing with bobbers and minnows, crickets, grasshoppers, worms, stink bait, etc. We fished for everything although he enjoyed a good catfish on the end of the line. He worked hard and never had much and always put the family needs first. He has passed away and now that I have a nice boat, I would give anything to have him in it with me. We always fished from the bank or bridge. He would only be in a boat if a friend invited him to run lines around Birdsong on the Tennessee River. I will say that everytime I sit in my boat, he is in my heart with every cast. Love you Dad.:fish

I use both,,,,,,,,sometimes at the same time!!!!!!!

Don't want to divert the thread too far away from jhef's original post, but I can't pass up the chance to recognize my dad, too. Pop was older when I was born and had lost some of the fire we all have as younger men, but one of the first (and favorite) things I remember about him was how, when the mood struck him, we would grab the cane poles and go fishing for an hour or so after supper. Tied 'em to the side of his old gravel truck (no car back then) and hit a local farm pond or the town reservoir. I can remember the first rod and reels we got - second hand, of course, as that is what was affordable. His was a Great Lakes mod 75 that had the reel molded into the handle-kind of a big blob as I recall. I hated mine from day one-a Johnson Princess! No one should make a boy use a pink reel! Most of them were a shiny green. When I got the nerve I painted it black, and Pop had a fit. I also remember the first new lure I got-some newfangled thing called a Rapala. Pop was sure he had wasted his money on a gimmic, but he bought two of them. I caught so many fish on mine that there was no finish left on it. I still had it until this year when my wife mistakenly got hold of it and lost it. He could not swim a lick and wouldn't think about getting in a boat, but when Shelbyville first filled and my uncles started catching walleye and crappie they talked him into going. They only took him once 'cause he wouldn't quit-kept them there until way after dark, and he cleaned fish in the basement all night. Here in Illinois there is a magazine called Outdoor News that has a picture section called Remembering where you can send in old pictures featuring outdoor related happenings. I've wanted for some time to send in one of my dad and his brothers from the early 40's taken in Cumberland county at a place called Rocky Ford. They had been seining and caught a bunch of gar which he said bit holes in their nets. They had shoved them nose first down in the sand bar until it looked like a picket fence. All the brothers were standing there in their overalls -thin like all men were then- with stern looks on their faces. Used to be that these pictures had to be from the 50's or earlier, but now they can be from about '84 or earlier. I have one of me from the late 60's with 5 bluebill (scaup) I killed with one shot. I had spotted them resting on a pond from a quarter away and snuck up behind the dam. When I flushed them they cleared the water in a tight knot that dad's old Winchester 97 was choked just right for. He's been gone nearly 20 years now, and I don't know why but I've been thinking a lot about him today, my 65th birthday. When I saw this thread I couldn't resist posting, too. Here's to you, Pop. Hope we meet up again some day...just not too soon!

Nothing wrong with that, do it when the time is right. But a jig pole, and the thump has changed things for me. Grew up watching a float too, but nothing is better than picking them off one by one, mone e mono.

The fun about fishing is fishing.

I am fortunate that I fish with my dad all the time. We do however sit back with a bobber and talk about fishing with my grand parents. I am lucky to have had both sets well into my 30's and both sets spent many a week together with our family fishing in Canada. Great memories. Thanks for the thread.

You should fish however you want to fish. It's your free time and your money.

Those are great stories justfishin2, Ive still got the first lure I used fishing with my dad when I got serious about fishing (more then worms on a hook for gills). I dont use it anymore but its in my tackle box still, along with a few of his lures he gave me. Still fish with him once in a while which is a blast. Cant wait to do the same with mymkids in a few years.

Never fished with my dad or grandparents, but have taken out both my sons. Making plans to take my grandkids out fishing. The oldest needs to grow a couple more years and take swimming lessons first. The other two are still in the ovens and it'll be half a decade before they go fishing with grandpa.
I too love to bobber fish, even Crappie Tournaments. I do have a couple poles. One for over the brush pile, under the laydown, and another I cast about the area to try different stuff. Most days I anchor up on the crib, other days I will just drift along looking for new spots.

Yes Sir Ree! I remember those days tied up to a tree top drowning minnows with my old man. Using a round cork bobber, 30 lb. braid line, and a cane pole. Watching the sun get lower and waiting for those dreadful words, "well, I guess we better go".

the hang ups are why i stopped using bobbers. a jig worked slow in the same cover is way more productive. dont need bait either. i just smear a lil nibbles on the back of the jig head. then when you get a fish wipe its slime in the jig. they love it.

as long as your fishing though:ThumbsUp

I'm lucky enough to still fish my dad. Our favorite way is casting jigs, we occasionally fish minnows under a bobber. The best part is spending time together and for me catching a few fish is a bonus.

I'm with you! I'm a one pole fishing guy! I guess that seems to be all I can handle well. I do a lot of casting around structure and docks, jigs and cranks. But the most relaxing of all for me is sitting on a warm spring day watching a bobber. I have a great collection of floats and now have been making fancy ones on a mini lathe, wood burning designs on them and doing fancy paint jobs and wrappings on them. Give most of them for gifts!!!

I like to fish all around types but bobber and minnow is my favorite to relax! You need to relax after long line trolling 8 rods for a few hours!