thomas jacobs, sorry i forgot to reply to you, so i'll reply to ya now. there isn't really anything different about a bobber rod, it's just a technique of fishing that has become increasingly popular. normally when people describe a bobber rod they are farily long in length, this has a lot to do with keeping your line off the water. other than that they are really no different than a standard salmon/steelhead casting rod. hope this clears things up for ya.