thill splash brite lighted bobber

Just ordered a medium and large one of these. Heard they are really nice. Anyone have any experience with them? cons or pros? Whats your favorite lighted bobber?

i just make my own. get one of the kits that has a bunch of clips for the glow sticks and instead stick in the lighted batteries. you can cut up the clips into smaller pieces so they dont weigh so much. ive been doing this for years and the batteries work fine even if they get wet. whats also nice is u dont have to switch bobbers when dusk comes.

i make my own lighted bobbers, just get some of the platic clips that hold one of those lighted batteries. each battery lasts like half a season even if it gets wet. u can get kits at places like cabelas or sports stores that have the clips in various sizes. another trick is to cut the clips (they are plastic) into smaller pieces so they dont weigh down the bobber and u can get like 4 clips out of each one that way. The other nice thing is that when dusk comes, u can just clip on the lights and dont have to switch bobbers.

The thru hole of those Thills suffers from the fatal flaw that the line (especially PP) cuts a groove in the plastic, and eventually prevents the line from sliding all the way to the stop. Worse, there is no indication to the angler that has occurred, so you wind up fishing 5' down over 15' of water. The Gamakatsu's come with a snap swivel. The float is snapped onto the snap portion, and you thread your line through the swivel. This eliminates any wear issues with the line. When cast properly, the Gama's will lay flat on the water until the stop knot is reached, then stand up straight, giving absolute assurance that you are actually fishing. You will need to use a bead to prevent your stop knot from sliding thru the (float) swivel. They are not weighted, so we add weight just above the (leader) swivel, and a small one near the hook if a jig is not being used. I personally only use the largest size, suitable for walleye/bass. The smaller size would be more appropriate for crappie. Most of the time we terminate the main line with a small swivel, and use a couple feet of mono or flouro as a leader. Proper weighting and casting technique is what prevents tangles. If it looks like you are throwing a bolo out there, you have something wrong....

I like the all the way thru hole of the thill lighted bobbers. Does the line get caught up on the gamakatsu bobbers? I heard that is an issue with them. I'm going to order a couple of them tonight and see how they work. Are there different sizes? What size would you recommend for just a minnow, small weight and hook? medium? Are they weighted? thanks for all the input!!!!

You get what you pay for, as a rule. Yes, the Gamakatsu's are pricey, ~$15-17. Dorn has them here in Madison, ebay has them for a bit cheaper. The batteries are available on ebay for less than $1.50 in reasonable quantities. Search for "BR435". I wear out the Gamakatsu's after a couple seasons, but that represents 200+ uses. The batteries last an honest 15-20 hours if kept dry. I will tell you that I find lighted floats are at their most valuable at dusk, NOT after dark, and the brighter it is, the easier to notice that it disappeared, or something is toying with it.

Save your money and buy the Gamakatsu lighted slip bobbers. The splash brights are a gimmick.

We have used them. Good slip bobbers but the batteries don't last that long. Longer lasting batteries would be great for any of them. Sm