11/25/2002 – Mississippi River Pool 4 by James Holst

Thanks for the repo James!

A couple questions for ya. When pulling the 3-way stick bait set-up, you mentioned pulling them into current
(or something to that effect). Are you fishing in main current areas or adjacent to? Dragging the bell sinkers or barely
letting them graze the bottom?

Also, are you looking for just fish on the graph or looking for fish on the graph in certain localles? ie. near sand shorelines deeper water out from wing dams etc.?

Sounds like a real fun way to grab some fish! ALso, you mentioned a “long leader”…how long. How long is the lead to your bell sinker? One more, “heavy bell sinkers”????

Thanks James.
Getting a boat this July has put a real damper on wading and anything I can do to speed up the
learning curve for the river helps! I don;t forsee myself wading the Mississippi anytime soon!

Keep the rods bendin!!!

Jim W

I do see fish on my locator when doing this but it’s by no means a requirment to fish an area. I mean a guy can pull right up the gut headed for the rollers and catch fish after fish in the heavy current coming through the dam and never spot a fish on their electronics. The fish are just real tight to the bottom in the little depressions and such down there.

I usually like to find the spot on the spot vs. just making long passes at a certian depth. Usually my runs are 150′ long or so and I work them real slowly letting the current supply the action on the cranks. If I hit a fish, I stop, swing around and figure out the “why and where” to get a feel for if it was just one of those isolated instances or if there’s a bunch of fish working a prime piece of ground adjancent to a current edge or structure. Keeps the time spent in unproductive water down to a minimum.

How long? Varies. From 3.5′ – 6′ or so. Less in snaggy conditions when I need real good control of the position of the lure behind the swivel in relationship to the bottom and more when I need to crank to really wander down into all the nooks and cranies these fish hide in when the currents moving good. Really, the important thing is the relationship of the dropper to the leader for EACH style and model of crank you use. A #13 rap runs deeper than a #11 while the #9’s run virtually the same as a #11. Shallow shads run deeper than the floaters and require a longer dropper, Salmos do too. You get the picture. Typically I start with a 4′ leader and go from there.

How heavy? I have bells on board from 3/16th ounce up to “damn heavy.” I usually just go by starting with a 3 ounce bell and adjusting from there if I need more weight or if I find I can get by with less.

I mentioned some very productive areas in my report… that will get you where you need to be good buddy! Let us know how you do.

James, Why do you like the bell sinker over other styles. I have used a pencil sinker the most. Don’t seem to get hung up much. When I do I usually can back up and get it loose. Has your experience been less hang ups or is there something I am not thinking of. I really haven’t given the bell sinker much of a try.

Click Here to Read James Holst’s Latest Report!

Pencil sinkers are more expensive and MUCH more bulky in the heavier weights. Ever seen a 4 ounce pencil sinker? They really are almost as long as a pencil…lol I’ve never seen a pencil heavier than that and I regularly use bells of 4 – 6 ounces. So in that regards, it’s just a practicality issue. Can’t fish with what you can’t find. As far as losing weights… I almost never do. I never bought into the notion of tying my weights up with light line so they break off easy to save the rest of the rigging… I usually use 14 – 20 lb test fireline from the reel and 10Lb xt on the leader and dropper material. If its stuck… I just pull it free 99.9 % of the time and since I run the heavier fireline to the swivel… I rarely if ever break at that connection.

Some point to a different or better action from pencils over bells. I’ve never seen that.

That was the long answer. The short answer would have been I’m really pretty cheap and I can’t find the pencils anyway…lol

I will have to give them a try. Got started with the pencils when a friend who had a mold gave me a few. Still have most of them. You are right about how long they get. This fellow has sold me on the idea that they get hung up less so I’ve never tried anything else. I can see the advantage to the heavier weight when the current is strong. I normally have to let out alot more line with the lighter ones that I use. Thanks for your ideas.

How heavy of a mold did your buddy have? I’m sure somebody out there hs a pencil mold that pours the heavier weights… ideally that mold should be of a larger diameter than the smaller sizes to avoid the need for weights to be so long. From the looks of them, they probably do get snagged less than the bells given their small surface area on their leading edge as they’re pulled through the water.