Lake trout set-ups

[BP Swing]

Are the hammerhead cowbells made of plastic blades?

[Sk8man]

Yes some type of plastic material anyway...not sure of the exact type.

[GAMBLER]

Are the hammerhead cowbells made of plastic blades?

Hammerheads are not made of plastic.  They are made of metal. 

[BP Swing]

Gambler,

 

Do you ever use the long string of 7 blades or just the 3 large ones?

[Sk8man]

Brian.....I actually never closely examined mine and assumed because they are so light they were just stiff plastic must be VERY  light weight aluminum with plastic coating?

Edited August 23, 2014 by Sk8man

[GAMBLER]

I tried the 7 blades but they pulled way too much and I lost a lot of fish on them.  You can't beat the 5/0 and 4/0 Hammerheads.  I have tried everything under the sun over the years and the Hammerheads are my go to. 

[GAMBLER]

Brian.....I actually never closely examined mine and assumed because they are so light they were just stiff plastic must be VERY  light weight aluminum with plastic coating?

They are very light aluminum.  I'm pretty sure there is no coating on them either.  Just taped up to look pretty for those ugly bottom dwellers. 

[Sk8man]

  Whatever it is it works for those guys.

[Shawn.Furness]

Can I use Hammerhead cowbells without downriggers? Like using braided line and a dipsey diver?

[GAMBLER]

Can I use Hammerhead cowbells without downriggers? Like using braided line and a dipsey diver?

You can run them on a thumper rig or off divers.  It is a pain but it does work. 

[jigstick]

What Lb Test are you guys using for lakers

[GAMBLER]

What Lb Test are you guys using for lakers

I run 30lb.  They are not line shy at all. 

[jigstick]

Lakers are such scumbags. They literally eat just about any spoon, peanut, or fly that I drag on the bottom of my spot on erie. I can't soak a lure long enough to get my other riggers down. I luv em

[Shawn.Furness]

30lb braid? Or mono?

[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

Both work well... Disturbance on the bottom is the key. Green, White, Blk and purple all work well then. Noise and dust stir them up. After that, they will show you what's hot. I prefer mono for it's stretch. Just my opinoin.  

[GAMBLER]

30lb braid? Or mono?

Mono main line with a floro leader.  I use floro for the abrasion resistance.  Braid is nice for a main line but the fleas end that early.  The hookups are way better with braid and the fight is better but like I said before, fleas are an issue. 

[BP Swing]

Are the cowbell rigs mostly a summer rig or do they work early (now)? I seem to have better luck in summer with them but maybe its just me.

[GAMBLER]

They work all year.  The water is 39* sometimes in the summer in the depths I'm catching them. 

[BP Swing]

I cant seem to find em this year. Was out today (with east wind) and didnt mark hardly anything inside of 80 feet. Was I too shallow? Jeez the water was 46 out there.

[GAMBLER]

They were piled in 120-130 off of sandy yesterday.

[huntercs]

Hi everyone! Question, do you need sinkers or weights for cowbell trolling?

[Wise77]

Not if your running them on a downrigger. 

[Wise77]

I only use them for bottom Lakers so I always have them on riggers but I'm sure you can run them just fine off of a dypsy.  Early season I just use spoons in the upper water column. 

[GAMBLER]

On 2/28/2022 at 12:36 PM, huntercs said:

Hi everyone! Question, do you need sinkers or weights for cowbell trolling?

Downriggers are the easiest method for running cowbells for lakers.  A thumper rig produces but it takes what little fight there is away.  If you run a thumper rig, I run 16oz weights off of a keel with a 36" lead to the weight.