My
hope is to get a licensing agreement for my patents but until that happens…
It
is a hobby with me to build and test variations to my patent “Planing Floats
with Lateral Motion Control”. I think any fisherman will find this
interesting and will see how they could help them catch more fish. I can get BulletBobbers
to do what I want but many customers suffer a learning curve that is painful.
By reading this you will get a better understanding of how they work and how to
make them do more in your niche. Using them in lakes and ponds is easy if you
rig it right and reel slowly so it can do its thing. Trolling or river
fishing can often require the reading and a deeper understanding of the
instructions but they’re not really much more complicated then flying a
kite. A kite often needs a tail and the tail of the BulletBobber is the
line going to the lure. It needs the right weight tail to handle fast currents.
If the current is to fast, the water too deep or you want to use a heavier lure
then the BulletBobber can handle I have the DualFin to cover the
bases. But please understand the BulletBobber inherently has its limits in
planing power because they can flip direction but understanding the
instructions makes it a very versatile tool.
Some
times it takes experimenting to shed light on the best way to do something and
make any breakthroughs in design. I was having difficulty doing anything
to advance the technology behind the BulletBobber. The BulletBobber is
what it is and did not appear to lend itself to modifications. I needed a new
material that was machineable to work with and decided to try some high density
Styrofoam because they can’t leak. I had to get them made in China because the molds alone in the US
busted my budget! I did have to order a lot more then I wanted for
testing purposes because of the minimum order requirement but it was still 1/5th
the price from in the US for just the molds! I have several thousand each
of 4 different sizes 2”, 2.5”, 3” and 4”. They are the same sizes as
BulletBobbers but lighter.
The
BulletBobber is 35% heavier then the new hard foam bodies I call Prowlers.
Weight balance is critical and the Prowler foam body allowed me to locate more
of the weight where it will do the most good for planing and flipping.
I
built wood jigs to drill the hole at the same angle and in the same location as
the BulletBobber. I can even use the same jig to cut the slot on the band saw.
Unfortunately it isn’t easy to machine because the material melts easily. I use
water cooling, run the machines at their lowest speeds and it still melts
unless I back off drilling to get water down the hole. The same goes with the
band saw only allowing me to cut a little at a time. I am going to try a
dimmer switch to slow down the drill press and band saw but I ran enough of the
3” and a few of the other sizes to begin testing.
I
wanted to find the ideal location and amount of weight to handle the widest
possible lure weight range, to plane out wide and still flip direction easily.
I used a sliding weight to fine tune the weight location for best performance.
The weight goes on the far wing in front of the hole with the line to the lure.
It holds the keel down and provides the weight needed for momentum of the flip
when given a little tug.
The
black pegs have holes and are threaded on the line. The pink bobber stops pop
on and can be forced up or down the line to adjust the depth limits of a slip
rig. The slip rig is great for jigging vertically when the line is slack. Slip
rigging also makes it much easier to set the hook. There are bobber stops
that are small enough to go through the eyelets for deeper depths, that don’t
hang up much when you cast. A very thin rubber band tightly tied and
trimmed is a DIY bobber stop that can be put on without breaking the line and
reeled up on the spool. Anyhow, the slot made it very easy for quick change of
designs or sizes.
After
completing weight balance testing I came up with the idea of testing various
shape fins and tails inserted in the slot. I simply cut them out of a plastic
water jug. My idea was to make an attachment that made it very hard to flip and
very good at planing out farther to the side for trolling from a boat or by
walking the shoreline. This would also make them better for just getting out
into faster river and tidal currents. I knew this could be accomplished by
adding more weight or making them much bigger but I didn’t want it to be any
heavier or bigger for casting or when fighting a fish. P1 worked with the old
style spring clips used on many bobbers but I have had the line break at the
bobber to often because of how they kink the line and they do not work well for
slip rigging. I bought 5,000 of the spring assembly parts at a very good price
from china but think the smart fisherman will want the slip plugs. I can
provide the assembly on the wire with a U bend on both ends letting the buyer
un-bend one end, install the assembly and re-bend using small needle nose
pliers. Using the slot and pegs to hold it in place on the line or threading
the pegs and making it a slip bobber are both better then the springs in my
opinion. I keep the pegs and bobber stops on my line even when I am not
using a float. I can’t say if they help attract or scare the fish but some
folks use what are called flashers ahead of the lure when trolling and swear
they help.
Anyhow,
the P3 fin (shown above and below) was my favorite for trolling at higher
speeds but all the tails, except P4 had merit. One thing about the tails
is I could bend the end up or down to only go one way where P3 needed to be
laid in the water pointing the direction I wanted. Without the fin or tail at
higher speeds the Prowler would roll on its side, point at me and loose all
planing traction. With the fin it maintained the best side planing attack
angle. I could see the little furl of water thrown up by the keel hitting the
fin and that is what kept it from rolling. It was a discovery that the faster I
trolled the harder the leveling force! This was almost as cool a discovery as
the first one I made that flipped when given a tug. You never know what you’ll
discover if you don’t try. Having a quick-connect ultra-light slip-rig
castable planer with directional control and anti flip fin attachments to have the
planing power of much bigger planers is a lot to put into a bobber design… my
hobby really is a new science and deserving of more work to make them do more
tricks and be more user friendly to suit all freshwater and saltwater
fishermen.
I suppose there is a perfect spread pattern for the water sent out by the fin with the peg interfering or helping a bit. Yes, it is tough to imagine how the water coming off the fin is related to planing power and stability through a wide speed range. I will see how small the fin can be before it looses effectiveness.
Here
is P3 & P5 pulling lures longer then themselves out to the side of the boat
being tested at speeds from 0.2 to 2.5 mph.
As
I said, I was brain locked trying to figure out how to do anything to the
BulletBobber for more planing power but after making the fin for the Prowler I
took a BulletBobber and simply taped on a fin!
I
trolled the shoreline by walking and caught some Bass and pan fish.
I tried this without the fin in the past and I was accidentally flipping them
when I stepped from rock to rock or flailed my arms to keep my balance. I would
have to stop and flip it to head back away from shore before it snagged in the
rocks. With the fin I had to get it going the right way but it would not flip
no-matter how erratic my steps or arm actions were. It would shoot forward
always maintaining the proper attack angle. I slid the bobber down and took
this picture with my right hand but I was fishing at a depth of 7 foot in about
10 foot of water, stopping frequently to let it settle down and/or regain my
balance.
Here
is tip and trick sent to me. It is pop release loop to fish deeper from a wall,
bridge, or boat. You can drill a hole through the peg, thread it on the
line and make a loop that will pop out when a fish hits. Everything slides down
the line so you can reel in the fish without pulling the plug. It works with
braided or mono-filament fishing line.
Here
is a way I came up with to attach a tail fin that can be rotated that I will be
testing soon. Looks like a dive lip but goes in back. I did this to a bobber
that leaked to get out the water and needed a toothpick plug but it got me
thinking of doing more then just plugging a hole. I slotted the plastic to fit
around the toothpick and taped both sides. I will try drilling a hole in
the side to attach a fin instead of taping it on so I can rotate the angle and
see what happens. This opens up so many possibilities!
Thinking
that nothing could be better is not how I think. My son and I make DualFins and
I have yet to test this but having a retractable hideaway fin that is hinged
would be better then having loose attachments to keep track of. I cut a
slit with a knife but didn’t really need the screw because it holds pretty well
just stuck in the slit. Without the screw I can switch out shapes and adjust
location very easily. Fins may stop them flipping when given a tug but I would
also like a way to make them right themselves if thrown over by breaking waves.
Maybe bending the end of the fin or a tail will do the trick. I
hope folks that bought a DualFin will do some experimenting too. It is a fun
hobby and exciting when you make a discovery. Attachments to the DualFin
foam body can be made with toothpicks, nails or screws without drilling any
holes!
The
different ways you can use a BulletBobber to fish from shore are amazing.
Last
but not least is my top water frog lure that you can steer and make dive. But wouldn't it be better if it attached like the Prowler with a hole and slot so it could doubled as a planing bobber? After all said, the more functionality you can get for your dollar the better. This was a prototype made from foam RIM (Reaction Injection Molding) and can be made any density and be flexible or rigid for easy machining without melting!
That’s
all I have for now.
Please share this webpage with other fishermen or anyone that likes ingenuity!
Best
Fishes,
Paul
Lieb
Cell
330 608-7539
BulletBobber
Enterprises
3586
Wadsworth Rd.
Norton, OH 44203
