Reply With QuoteI don't have a clue how to find a post in the archive so here goes,
This is my method and I know there are others but this is the way that I figured out how to do it. It took a few attempts. I used to buy the special bobbers until I stepped on one of the store bought FNF bobbers by accident then looked at how it was assembled. You may consider sacrificing one of these store bought deals to see what I am talking about:
You will need several 1" Styrofoam weighted bobbers (preferably the ones that are two tone orange and white), exacto knife ( I actually stole/borrowed a craft knife from my wife's scrap booking junk for it is VERY sharp and the blade is pretty solid), small needle nosed pliers, silicone adhesive glue (something that does not eat up the styrofoam), and an ink pen.
I take the ink pen and make a small mark across the center of the bobber (north to south) across the joint line of the orange and white part of the bobber. This is so you can line up the two halves exactly in the same place when you put it back together. Then take the bobber and place your thunb on the bottom of the bobber and compress the spring so the top wire part is exposed, then bend it out straight with the pliers (Always bend the top part of the wire for the bottom bend is what hooks to the swivel or line). Then remove the middle wire, weight, small spring and both the top and bottom plastic inserts to the bobber and sit aside. It will all come apart, you may have to take the needle nose to get the last plastic inserts removed from the top and bottom but they are not glued in and will come out. Make sure you look at the bobber as you take it apart for it will go back together the exact same way. Look at the different plastic parts and see how they are assembled as you do this. Take the exacto knife and cut the bobber in half following the seam between the orange and white sections. Take the exacto knife and remove some of the meat from the center of the bobber around the center hole of both sides of the bobber. I will remove SLIGHTLY more meat from the white section than the orange section. I like my weight in the middle of the bobber with it being EVER SO SLIGHTLY below the center point of the bobber, which means more of the weight will sit in the white part than the orange part. Do a couple of dry test with putting the weight in the middle and putting the two halves together (without the guts), line up the ink pen mark and make sure there are no gaps around the center. You might find that you need to take out more meat in certain parts which is now the time to do it. You want a perfect fit with no gaps with the weight in the center. If this is accomplished, then take the plastic insert that you removed from the bottom of the bobber and cut off about 1/4 to 3/8" off. The reason for the cut off part is that the weight used to be on the bottom of the bobber and sat on this shaft but since it is in the middle the extra shaft length is not ncecessary. Place the bottom plastic part back into the white section of the bobber, take some adhesive and put all around the white section, put the weight around the shaft in the middle, then put the orange section on top, align the ink pen mark so both halves are perfect, then put the first plastic chamber in the top (orange) section and squeeze together. I take small spring clamps and clamp this together putting each jaw of the clamp on the plastic inserts. Leave them overnight. The next day if you fill the sink full of water and put the glued bobbers in the water they should lay on their sides. This is a quick quality check for if they turn completely with the white side up or orange side up then the weight is not properly centered and you will have to re-do or start over. If they pass this test, then take the long metal shaft that you removed end and cut off about a 1/4" or so from the end that you bent out. Again, you are basically removing the part that was thru the weight when it was below the bobber and with it in the middle of the bobber this does not need to be as long. Take this shaft and stick it up thru the bottom of the bobber leaving the hooked side on the bottom, out the orange top, slide on the spring so it sits in the chamber that it came from originally, then slide on the top plastic piece and push down so the shaft is down inside the top of the bobber. You will see when it is just inside the rim of the top plastic part is what you are looking for. The tricky part is holding this plastic part, which is compressing the spring with one hand, while you take the needle nose pliers and bend over the end into the candy cane shape. The bend will be the last step that holds the bobber all together. When you compress the top part the bottom hook of the bobber should be exposed. Take a small section of line and tie it to a FNF jig then hook it to the bottom hook on the bobber. Put it back in the same sink of water and the bobber should sit up NORMAL, put your hand in the water and bring the jig towards the surface of the water and the bobber should lay over on its side. If this is accomplished then you just took a 30 cent bobber and turned it into a $2 bobber. This bobber will tell you all kinds of information that the bottom weighted, slip, plastic pear shaped bobbers CAN'T. When a fish takes the jig and rises in the water column, the bobber will turn on its side. When you make a cast and as the jig is falling the bobber will lay on its side then when the jig reaches its depth the bobber will turn up NORMAL. If you count down how long it takes for the jig to reach its depth and the bobber has not turned up yet, then a fish could have taken the jig on the drop and you will never know. If your leader is so long and you are on bottom the bobber will never turn up. All of these cases can be known by using the doctored bobber but the others will never tell you this information. I started with the plastic pear bobber, then the bottom weighted bobber, but NEVER again will I FNF without the proper FNF bobber.
I sure hope you understand these steps. If you will print them and use them as you are actually doing it, you will know what I am talking about. It took me a few attempts but basically I figured it out sitting in John's Cabin at Dale Hollow one night and have made them ever since. One bobber will last a while, but there are times when the fish are sitting right up next to the bluffs and I hit the wall several times a day trying to get my jig to basically fall down the wall. They don't last as long when you do this. Good Luck and hope this helps.
