Seen quite a few people do that but I'm yet to be convinced of its real effect. Is it really worth adding weight to the very tip of the blank?

Frank there are so many ways people apply bobber stops to their line I build to what the customer does. My personal rods and my bobber stop, no.

Frank there are so many ways people apply bobber stops to their line I build to what the customer does. My personal rods and my bobber stop, no.

I can say with confidence that I use the best - Thill's string knots with 4-5 barrel wraps(they come with 7ish wraps which is unnecessary so I undo them), trimmed to near perfection. I get the smallest profile with the tightest lock. Just FYI.

Frank,
Just do a test.

Make two identical rods with identical guide trains.

Put a size 3 tip top on rod and a size 6 tip top on the other rod.

Then, while blindfolded do a bunch of casting and retreiving with each rod - having an assistant to call the shots - so to speak on each rod.

I would doubt very much that you could identify every single time whether you were / are fishing with a rod that has a size 3 tip top - compared to a size 6 tip top.


Good luck

I would think it would be more than just using a larger tip top? What about the running guides up near the tip top. Depending on how deep you're fishing a slip bobber, the bobber stop may actually wind completely on to the reel.

I haven't used one of the thread bobber stops in a long time, but I do use rubber bobber stops to peg my weights when fishing Texas rigged baits in moderate to heavy cover. The bobber stops aren't all that big in diameter and they will barely pass through a 4.5 Fuji guide with an Alconite ring. No way would they pass through a #3 tip top.

You guys must use some real tiny bobber stops lol

Oh, I can guarantee you that the bobber stop is in the guide train every cast and on the reel many times, nobody is running #3 guides on these rods, he just simply asked if an "oversized" tip top was necessary. No specifics were mentioned, or the temps the rod is subjected to, many use braid because it's limp and it floats, decreasing drag in the water on the float and the offering running in water running in a variety of speeds and depths, the Pacific Coast is known for deep, fast, cold, high gradient (steep dropping) rivers. Depending on the water, floats and baits used my rods run from 4 mm to 8 mm running guides, the 9 1/2 to 10 ft. rods many times, are used for anything from drift fishing to spinners and spoons, to float fishing depending on conditions and situations. The 12 and 13 ft. models are float rods exclusively. Our knotted bobber stops are little bitty things just big enough to not go through the float, if necessary we use very small beads to shim up from the bobber stop to the float.