What’s a no role sinker?

Thought I would post this here for some of the newer folks wanting to get started in catten.
Although there’s a bunch of other type of sinkers used to hold cut bait and live bait in place, for rivers with any kind of current…it’s hard to beat a no roll.

PS the core pin is used to keep the line hole open in makeing these at home.

So, 115 lbs of these things huh Brian?? Gonna try catten a bit this summer and you say these no rolls are difficult to find…. I may put in an order The season has got to start soon…ice fishing boards are dead and there are fair-weather expos all over the place….it’s a great sign!!

Chris

YUP Chis, Now is the time to get your hooks, sinkers, swivals, rods and reels ready….’cause soon you’ll be getting your boat ready (if your not already!)

No rolls aren’t “that” hard to find. Steve at Everett’s, catfish connection to name a couple have them. If you order on line, the shipping hurts a bit.

Useing my math I figured I need to use 160 (4 oz) no rolls to pay for the melting pot, molds and the lead. I didn’t include the 30 mile drive to pick up the lead or my time in making them.

Once I had a couple tricks down that Dirk and Catten Addict taught me, it’s really quite fast to make them.

I justed using them last year, man what difference. I was using egg,pyramid and bell sinkers but the no-roll takes the cake.Best one out there imo.

Briank just be carefull around them fumes if you know what I mean(experience ).

Thanks Eye-full…but…I kinda enjoy them…

I do open my garage door about 6 inches and have a fan running…not so much because of the lead in the air…it’s just when you drop a new chunk in the melter…you can’t see!

Thanks!

I’ve been goofin around making a few sinkers myself (The bottom of a pop can makes an excellent mold) I’ve been told the lead from tire weights is not the right kind but seems to work just fine for me….just hold the piece of metal with a pliers and hit it with a small torch and walla!….Instant “Dark30 UFO Sinker” just drill a hole on one end and your done.

Briank I was just messing with you, you seem like a smart guy and know what you’re doing. I just had a bad experience, and it involved a senseless teen, an enclosed basement, and plenty of ambition

DARK30 you can use them fine for sinkers, but it’s not to good for jigs and such, won’t go down the shank of the jig and mold right. Thats what all them sightings have been UFO sinkers.

I plead the 5th on who the senseless teen was .Boy does leave you w/ a bad headache and duh dhu uhd . just kidding on the second part.

I remember being a senseless, very ambitious teen spending time in enclosed places! Now days, I might as well just fish.

The lead I get from those tire weights does need to be cleaned up. Lots of gunk in with the lead. After being heated really good the stuff floats and can be skimmed off. The pop can weights come out between 4-6 ozs…no way to be exact. Those little “hyper drink” cans make a smaller one. If you need lots of staying power, a Fosters beer can makes a regular down rigger!…Course ya gotta drink the Foster’s first! Being the cans are aluminum, care is needed not to over heat the can itself. I’ve found that a small piece of surgical tubing between the weight and the hook (swivel if using a leader) helps keep the line from twisting around the weight.

I just went out and bought a new ABU 7000 C3….can’t weight to try a weight! Course I still love my Penn 320 GT2…This time of year is very dangerous when using a VISA!

dark , a 7000 is gonna make that penn look bad. sell it quick.

Eye full…you may have been kidding…but it’s a good idea to point out…to the unsuspeting person that wants to do some melting…Might save a teen

Dark? It sounds like you are using the tire weights whole and just putting a hole on one end…sort of like a bank sinker? So to get 3 oz, do you have to use more than one? How do they work in snags?

Inquiring minds want to know….

Edit…Guess I should have read the new posts first!

Love the 7000’s. Just sold my Big Iron to a good Musky guy…the bait clicker on it was too light and I didn’t want to mess with adjusting it everytime I cast.

I spent an hour teaching my wife how to pour no rolls this morning. I told her she could stop when she saw the bottom of the raw lead pail…I’m going fishing!!!

PS…If you believe I’m going fishing while she pours…..I have the bridge…

Just a note about the 7000s and the Penn 320s.

I went through an “over tackled” phase where I thought I needed bigger rods and reels. After a while you realize that most of the cats you catch do not require such heavy gear and it takes some of the fun out of it. Abu 6500s are big enough to handle the occasional 40-50 pound fish and they make the 20s more fun IMO.

BTW I have the 1-3oz and the 3-5oz No Roll molds and it sure is a nice feeling to be able to crank out as many as you want after having to buy them through mail order for years. I first saw them in summer of 1998 and boy where thay hard to find back then.

RB…although I haven’t had the experiance, I’ve been told by a couple catters that the gears and the level wind have gone out on the 6500’s.

Catten Addict tears them up on the Red River catching those little channels

I do have a couple 6500’s for channel cat fishing which unless I’m hit by lightning and land the 35 lb state record channel, should do well.

I hear what your saying and I’m sure alot of it’s in personal preferance…but I’d rather spend the extra $20. on the reel and know I can count on it (if there’s a chance of the gears going).

Just trying to point out the other side of the coin.

PS the no rolls still aren’t exactly what I would call easy to find..I can’t imagine what it was like a few years back. Last winter I was looking flathead info on the net…not much was out there…now with a google seach…there is a ton of info out there! The times they are a changen!

It is about personal preference.

But just so you know, I am going to use a 7000 this year on the Red ….so my 3 year old can reel them in!

That gear ratio is way too low for any sporting man.

I don’t see the 6500’s failing in my experience either. In fact I know several guides in the Lockport area that use them and say they last 1 to 2 years on their client outfits. They catch more big cats in BIG current per year than most of us do in a lifetime.

The only reason, IMO, you need a bigger real is if you are consistantly in 30+ pound fish. Heck if you are truely wearing out 6500s, great, you are catching a lot of tough fighting fish, but I’d just buy another 6500 or a differnt similar sized reel if you are unhappy with Abus before I’d drop down to 4.1:1 gear ratio.

If you saw what Denny Halgren uses to catch huge flatheads you’d think he was tackled up for bluegills!

I have to stand corrected here. Again, I point out that I haven’t had enough experiance with a 6500.

There seems to be a big differance in a C-3 and C-4 6500’s as far as the gears go. The C-4’s have the higher gear ratio and tend to rip the gears…

But I’m curious as to why you don’t like the 4.1:1 gear ratio?
To me the higher gear ratio is good for musky fishing… (only)

Well, it sounds like I’m no (real) sportsman! Will the little guy be guiding soon? Looks like I got some learning to do. Does he like to pee in the boat or over the side?

I do remember catching one 30# class flathead with 6# mono and a 3″ mister twister tail…quite a tussle that was. I have caught several large catfish using artificial’s while fishing walleyes. Another just last spring on a 2″ shad rap…a 38# flatty. Large fish are plenty fun on smaller gear but no need to send um off with extra hardware in their face either.

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Does he like to pee in the boat or over the side?

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Just don’t start talking about bass…then niether one of us will get wet!

Ps Dark, don’t tell anyone about the cat on the shad rap…you are giving cat fish a bad name!

It is just personal preference. I am not talking about fishing for upper Mississippi flatheads with 6# test. I’d use at least 10#. Just kidding.

Like I said, when I first started catching bigger cats I was undertackled and I went through a phase where I did buy a bunch of HEAVY gear. Nothing was too big. But as I used that stuff for a few years it seemed as if I was always thinking about how much more intense and exciting it was when I used to catch these same size fish on the smaller gear.

Also my choices where influenced by what I saw as I traveled around. The guides on the Red using 6500s when my freinds and I were talking about 7000 (back when they cost $159). Dark30, you’re a Moyer fan aren’t you? I saw him up there with a 6500 on and E-Cat #2! Now that is light for those fish IMO. I’ve been to the James a couple times where we caught multiple 40s and 50s per day and while some, not all, of the rods where pretty heavy no reel was a big as a 7000. Denny Halgren uses bass tackle and 20 pound test line and lands more big flatheads than any man on Earth. I came to the conclusion that these guys where not all undertackled.

Now when I go out, I tackle up for the average sized fish instead of the top end sized fish. That is just what I like to do now. I just assumed it was process that a lot of cat guys go through.

5.3:1 just feels right for me. Actualy my favorite reel is a 6600AB that I bought because the thumb bar is nicer. 6.1:1 was too high so I then bought a set of 5.3:1 gears and a 7000 style power handle from Hatteras Outfitters. Now it is just right…..for me.

Yup, to each his own I guess….I don’t even remember what Jim was using when we fished the Cumberland last Feb. Maybe he had some 6500’s but he was trying to sell me a 7000. I remember the rods were Berkley Tiger rods.

I just like the idea of “beefy” tackle. My biggest Flathead (so far)went 48# and was wrapped around some timber in about 15 feet of water. It took about 30 minutes to finally get him free. I’m glad I had a beefy rod and a beefy reel with lots of extra line on the spool. I spend most of my hours fishing from shore where I am more susceptible to snags…Its nice to have a winch with extra yards of line on the spool. The clicker needs to be loud enough to hear from a few feet up the bank too…The best alarm clock I know of! This all comes from fishing Kings on lake Michigan……I like beefy tackle for beefy fish.

I’m gonna try and catch a few more Flatheads with artificial’s this year. Depending on how the river is behaving,I’ve got a rig dedicated for the job…A 7′ Gapen Far North Series muskie rod. A Shimano CS400 baitcaster spooled with 65# Power Pro and some big, beefy crank baits to “troll” through the rocks with. I guess the question will be can I catch them on artificial’s when I want too and not just by accident.

The water was too dingy last I time I was up at Stu’s place on the Red, but I’m looking forward to some of those channels on crank baits as well..next time.