If you are fishing with slip bobbers, then you will need a slip bobber stop in order to set the right depth for your rig. There are many different types of bobber stops out there and not all of them are of a high enough quality to put on your line.
Thankfully though, there are a few very good ones that will make your bobber fishing both easier and much more effective!
The best bobber stops to use are rubber stops and 4-hole bobber stops. If you are fishing with a monofilament line, you should use rubber bobber stops. If you are using a braided line, 4-hole bobber stops are your best choice when fishing with a slip bobber.
If you want to learn about all the advantages of using these particular types of slip bobber stops, you should most certainly continue reading this article. It will undoubtedly improve your fishing and catch you more fish!
Pro Tip: If you are in a hurry to get fishing and simply want to pick up the best slip bobbers stops, you can check them out on Amazon right here.
Best Slip Bobber Stops for Monofilament Line
If you are using monofilament line, the absolutely best slip bobber stop you can use is a football-shaped rubber stop.
While the surface of the monofilament line is also slippery, its material just seems to go together well with rubber-based bobber stops.
These types of stops are extremely small and will sit very tightly on your line, making them a really effective slip bobber stop choice for mono.
One of their biggest advantages is being so small that you will barely even notice or see them while fishing. This means that this type of stop also passes through all your line guides without any problem at all, even if the guides are very small.
Another great plus of the rubber stop is that it can be fished with both spinning reels, baitrunners, and baitcasters.
Once again, the only type of reel that is not suited for rubber slip bobber stops (or any other kind of stops for that matter) is the spincast reel. Any other reel you can use safely and tangle-free in combination with a rubber bobber stop!
Personally, I also find that this kind of slip bobber stop is the easiest one to adjust your fishing depth with.
Due to its small size, you can slide it up or down your mainline very fast, which can save a lot of time when you want or need to fish at different depths.
Especially when the fish are in a frenzy, you do not want to have to spend one extra second on adjusting your bobber stop up or down.
With the rubber stops, it literally only takes a few seconds to set an entirely different depth on your line! Pure efficiency!
You can find quality rubber bobber stops for a very decent price on Amazon here
Best Slip Bobber Stops for Braided Line
If you are fishing your slip bobber with braided line, perhaps for northern pike, bass, or crappie, then you should put a 4-hole bobber stop on your mainline!
Very often, people ask me: Can you use a bobber stop on braided line? The answer is yes; but only if that stop is a 4-hole. I can give that answer because I have tried out all types of bobber stops on braided line and have had plenty of bad experiences with most of them.
The reason lies in the braid’s surface, which is rather slippery! This means that it basically is an impossibility to keep conventional slip-knot bobber stops in place on a braided mainline.
They will almost immediately start to slide up or down the line, both when casting out and in the water.
Equally, egg-shaped rubber stops will eventually start to slide up and down the braided line, which will change the set depth of your rig and can seriously affect your catch rate.
Because if you are presenting your bait at the wrong depth, the fish might not even see it and hence, you won’t be catching them. That’s why it is so important to fish with a 100% reliable slip bobber stop.
Thanks to the 4-hole bobber stop’s design, it will be securely attached to your braided mainline, without sliding up or down it and thereby changing your set fishing depth.
This is due to the fact that this type of slip bobber stop has three small holes, which means that the line is going through the stop not straight, but in a zig-zag fashion.
In order to slide it up or down your braided mainline, you will have to use your thumb and index finger. On its own, it will not move, which is exactly what you are looking for in a slip bobber stop!
It should be mentioned that this type of bobber stop is not suited for all types of fishing reels. Here is a little guide:
| Spinning reels | Perfect fit |
| Baitrunner reels | Perfect fit |
| Baitcaster reels | Not well-suited |
| Spincast reels | Not suited at all |
The reason why the 4-hole bobber stop will not work well with baitcasters and spincast reel is that it can easily get stuck in such reels’ levelwind guides. But then again, you do not generally use bobbers when fishing with these reels.
For classic spinning reels and baitrunners on the other hand, it works extremely well!
If you want to purchase the best 4-hole bobber stops, you can find them at Amazon here
Why Do You Need to Use a Bobber Stop?
Without a bobber stop, you won’t be able to set the depth you are fishing at and your rig will simply sink all the way down to the bottom.
As you are fishing with a slip bobber, your fishing line will run through the bobber freely as the rig hits the water and starts to sink down.
Only with the help of a bobber stop will the line stop to run through your bobber, once the slip bobber hits the bobber stop on the mainline.
Hence, you can only fish a slip bobber rig in combination with a bobber stop.
Related Articles on Slip Bobbers
If you’re not sure about how to fish with slip bobbers, or if you simply want to find out more about them, make sure to also read these helpful articles:
What’s the best bobber stop that does not hang up in the line, on a spinning reel? I think I’ve practically tried them all.
Hi Ron,
good question! It depends on the type of line you have on your spinning reel. FOr mono, I’d def go with egg stops. I’d use Gizmo’s 4-holes (or any other reliable brand) for braid. You say you’ve tried them all. Sometimes, there can be issues when not using the right sizes! A large or medium egg bobber stop can and often will slide on a low-diameter mono line! Maybe try a small size?
Also, always make sure that the egg stops you buy are very tight so that they’ll sit better on the line!
Hope that helps
/Max