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IceShanty Main => General Ice Fishing Chit Chat => Topic started by: Gunflint on Mar 15, 2019, 01:27 PM

Title: Awesome new lake trout rig - Vertical Cowbells
Post by: Gunflint on Mar 15, 2019, 01:27 PM


For those of you who troll trout in the summer, you might know of an old-fashioned 4 foot string of spinners called COWBELLS. They look clunky and bizarre, but they catch trout when you are trolling. I kept thinking, could it work for ice fishing? The trolling ones are built on a thin cable and wouldn't work for me vertically down a hole...


(https://i.postimg.cc/68cWS8th/GUTMON-300809-180347.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/68cWS8th)


(https://i.postimg.cc/jnyKh5MP/Snap-Loc-Cow-Bell-Flasher-Rig.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/jnyKh5MP)

I just made a set of Vertical Cowbells and tried them out. They are awesome. I can pull them up in the water column  and let them flash all the way down and attract anything that happens to be in the area. Works better than a Sebile Vibrato!

I used 5 mini-Little-Cleos. I removed the hooks and put a tiny swivel on each end. I put about 6 inches of strong braid in between with 16 inches of fluorocarbon at the bottom to a snap swivel

This thing worked better than I had hoped in my wildest imagination. I put on a lighter jig and when you pull it up 20 feet and release it the entire string spins down in a slow loop and looks like a school of bait on the Livescope.

What was weird is that the trout didn't strike the flashing Cleos but only the tube jig. Who would have thought?

I should get a better video tomorrow.
Title: Re: Awesome new lake trout rig - Vertical Cowbells
Post by: FG Steve on Mar 15, 2019, 01:49 PM
Hey that's cool.  Do you know any good reference(s) to differentiate (disambiguate?) cowbells vs. dodgers vs. pop gear vs. wedding ring vs. etc?  I suspect all but the wedding ring are the same thing.

I'm surprised you've had no hits on the lures.  I use a Kastmaster above my bait or jig and we've had enough attention on the Kastmaster that I have started to put hooks back on them.  Different kind of lure, to be sure.
Title: Re: Awesome new lake trout rig - Vertical Cowbells
Post by: Gunflint on Mar 15, 2019, 02:01 PM
Hey that's cool.  Do you know any good reference(s) to differentiate (disambiguate?) cowbells vs. dodgers vs. pop gear vs. wedding ring vs. etc?  I suspect all but the wedding ring are the same thing.

I'm surprised you've had no hits on the lures.  I use a Kastmaster above my bait or jig and we've had enough attention on the Kastmaster that I have started to put hooks back on them.  Different kind of lure, to be sure.

I think that they use LARGE 4+ inch thin metal flashers or dodgers when trolling in Lake Superior. I have used cowbells on the inland lakes. A major difference is that cowbells are spinners, not thin metal spoons.

I think that the reason (if a lake trout can actually reason) that the trout don't hit the mini-Cleos is that they are very small, the size of a small Mepps spinner blade. they act more as a cloud than as a single large object and the tube jig then gets the attention.

I hope to have a sunny day tomorrow and get some better video. I ran out of space on the recorder just as I began to understand things.
Title: Re: Awesome new lake trout rig - Vertical Cowbells
Post by: fishermantim on Mar 15, 2019, 03:20 PM
Would have been move convincing if the video showed a fish striking because of the cowbells.

You know what this post needs, though????




MORE COWBELLS!!!
Title: Re: Awesome new lake trout rig - Vertical Cowbells
Post by: RuralMT on Mar 15, 2019, 04:27 PM
Quote
You know what this post needs, though????




MORE COWBELLS!!!

You must have a fever...
Title: Re: Awesome new lake trout rig - Vertical Cowbells
Post by: RuralMT on Mar 15, 2019, 04:29 PM
This looks intriguing Gunflint.  I see an immediate application in the world of kokanee fishing (both through the ice and trolling).  Thanks for the creative suggestion!
Title: Re: Awesome new lake trout rig - Vertical Cowbells
Post by: JJBat150 on Mar 15, 2019, 04:37 PM
Seen You Tube videos where people are using pro troll flashers above their jigs to drawn in fish; seems like this may get you more flash and noise to get their attention.
Title: Re: Awesome new lake trout rig - Vertical Cowbells
Post by: stinkyfingers on Mar 15, 2019, 05:18 PM
Around here cowbells and popgear are an interchangeable term for a gang troll such as you're using. Mack's Lures makes a Flashlight troll which has better flash IMO and about 80% less resistance on the pull. You can also buy just the blades from Mack's in various colors which is what I did for my kokanee jigging machine. 27# sevenstrand with crimps and beads, blades about 5" apart, alternating silver and pink, total about 7' long. My machine pulls about 32" on the upstroke, 3 oz weight to pull it back down, about 10 seconds for a full cycle. Crazy flash. Jig your lure adjacent to it or set some deadsticks. Those jigging machines are pretty old school in Colorado and Wyoming but they work. If you're at all handy with rigging low volt systems and can find a used windshield wiper motor, you're half way there. Knowing how you like your toys, you're going to want one.
Title: Re: Awesome new lake trout rig - Vertical Cowbells
Post by: Seamonkey84 on Mar 15, 2019, 10:25 PM
Would have been move convincing if the video showed a fish striking because of the cowbells.

You know what this post needs, though????




MORE COWBELLS!!!
:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:
Cowbell solo!
But really, that action and flash looked pretty good.
Title: Re: Awesome new lake trout rig - Vertical Cowbells
Post by: Light liner on Mar 16, 2019, 08:04 AM
Title: Re: Awesome new lake trout rig - Vertical Cowbells
Post by: Gunflint on Mar 16, 2019, 04:35 PM
Here is a video of the cowbells falling towards the bottom with a tube jig below.

Does a great job attracting fish.





(https://i.postimg.cc/fJSzCZ8H/IMG-3937.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/fJSzCZ8H)
Title: Re: Awesome new lake trout rig - Vertical Cowbells
Post by: meandcuznalfy on Mar 17, 2019, 10:42 AM

Awesome
Title: Re: Awesome new lake trout rig - Vertical Cowbells
Post by: Gunflint on Mar 19, 2019, 03:50 PM
It just dawned on me why the "vertical cowbells" wasn't practical before now.

The concept is simply to complicated to watch on a flasher, too difficult to see the tube jig among the cowbells.

The livescope makes it easy to discern where the jig and fish are amid all the clutter.

Also, great video of a classic skit.
Title: Re: Awesome new lake trout rig - Vertical Cowbells
Post by: haffshak on Mar 20, 2019, 08:50 AM
Works great for attracting kokanee. Things get slow and I have a separate rod with a string of cowbells and a weight on the end. Drop it down along side the other rigs. Brings them in!
Title: Re: Awesome new lake trout rig - Vertical Cowbells
Post by: jethro on Mar 20, 2019, 10:40 AM
I use both vertical and horizontal cowbells off the riggers when I'm trolling open water. Never thought to use 'em through the ice. Worth a shot!
Title: Re: Awesome new lake trout rig - Vertical Cowbells
Post by: Gunflint on Mar 20, 2019, 04:47 PM
Works great for attracting kokanee. Things get slow and I have a separate rod with a string of cowbells and a weight on the end. Drop it down along side the other rigs. Brings them in!

Does this mean that you only have your flasher positioned to look at your jig and not at the cow bells?
Title: Re: Awesome new lake trout rig - Vertical Cowbells
Post by: SirCranksalot on Mar 20, 2019, 06:11 PM
Around here cowbells and popgear are an interchangeable term for a gang troll such as you're using. Mack's Lures makes a Flashlight troll which has better flash IMO and about 80% less resistance on the pull. You can also buy just the blades from Mack's in various colors which is what I did for my kokanee jigging machine. 27# sevenstrand with crimps and beads, blades about 5" apart, alternating silver and pink, total about 7' long. My machine pulls about 32" on the upstroke, 3 oz weight to pull it back down, about 10 seconds for a full cycle. Crazy flash. Jig your lure adjacent to it or set some deadsticks. Those jigging machines are pretty old school in Colorado and Wyoming but they work. If you're at all handy with rigging low volt systems and can find a used windshield wiper motor, you're half way there. Knowing how you like your toys, you're going to want one.


Any pix or further details on your igging 'machine'?