Rapala with weight in river

[foxracing_23]

Hey all, been a long time since I’ve been on here.
I had an idea I’m wondering is viable or if it would work, or if anyones tried it.

While river fishing, you have a 2oz weight on your line, then from there a swivel, 4 feet of mono, and a floating rapala.

Would the rapala “swim” stationary in the water column?

[trigger7mm]

Should work good. I do basically the same thing with a 3 way rig. A 2 ounce weight might be a little much though. Try just enough weight to occasionally hit the bottom.

[Smoky buck]

I have done something similar with flatfish, plugs and spin n glows for salmon

The weight is what often gets hung up and lost so you are best to modify the rig in your pic. I used a 3 way swivel so I could run the weight on a lighter leader so I could sacrifice the weight if it got hung up and not loose my lure. Or a T bare like you see on a pickerel rig only larger

Look up bar fishing, bottom bouncing and back trolling rigs used for salmon to get some ideas

[The Fisherman Guy]

Originally Posted by foxracing_23

Would the rapala “swim” stationary in the water column?

Depends on the bait, a Husky Jerk will react differently compared to a Countdown. This setup works well with baits that have a small bill, and are designed to run sub-surface.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

I have done something similar with flatfish, plugs and spin n glows for salmon

The weight is what often gets hung up and lost so you are best to modify the rig in your pic. I used a 3 way swivel so I could run the weight on a lighter leader so I could sacrifice the weight if it got hung up and not loose my lure. Or a T bare like you see on a pickerel rig only larger

Look up bar fishing, bottom bouncing and back trolling rigs used for salmon to get some ideas

Yeah, a Flat Fish would have been my recommendation too, but you would have to taylor your lure to the current speed.

In the past I've had good luck tying short walleye spinner rigs, and using them with bait and about a 3/8 oz weight. I cast it out and let it settle to the bottom along a seam in the current, let it sit a while, then pick it up off the bottom and let it re-settle. This has worked particularly well for me in dirty water.

P6020094 by , on Flickr

This particular fish was caught on an old school June Bug spinner, but exact same idea. You can see in the picture that the river is running pretty dirty.

[mlee]

I do it all the time. I use the floating cotton cordal rattle cranks that would normally run at 4-6feet.

[OL_JR]

Originally Posted by mlee

I do it all the time. I use the floating cotton cordal rattle cranks that would normally run at 4-6feet.

Do you use that much weight though? Honestly curious, haven't much experience using that kind of rig in a river. I feel like a lot of fish would pick it up and drop it without any indication sans bait.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by OL_JR

Do you use that much weight though? Honestly curious, haven't much experience using that kind of rig in a river. I feel like a lot of fish would pick it up and drop it without any indication sans bait.

Just speculation, but I think with the far greater drag one might need a heavyer than normal weight to keep it in place, especially in enough current to make the plug wiggle properly. Not sure about the biting thing, I personally wouldnt use that rig simply because it sounds needlessly expensive. I prefer to keep my river tackle dirt cheap.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by OL_JR

Do you use that much weight though? Honestly curious, haven't much experience using that kind of rig in a river. I feel like a lot of fish would pick it up and drop it without any indication sans bait.

Use the correct rig and it’s not an issue hence why I advised the OP to look into some different options that would complete the same job instead of the concept in his post

Bar fishing spring salmon on the Fraser we used weights up to 22oz during high water targeting salmon

[EZM]

Use a planner board ...... I think adding a weight to bounce the bottom on a $15 lure would be an expensive lesson.

[mlee]

I do it on the battle river so no I don't use that much weight. 1/2oz usually gets it done. My weight is on a slider as well...not fixed...with a breakaway to the weight so I if I do get hung up a quick snap of the rod and I'm free minus a ten cent weight. Those 3 packs of cotton cordals I use are like $12 at crappy tire....again not too concerned about losing a $4 lure if it comes to that.

[AlbertanGP]

How deep are you trying to run? You may have the option of just running a different crank with a bigger lip. When you start adding weight to the equation (lead core, in-line chain weights, etc.), the dive charts from otherwise neutrally-buoyant or floating cranks become speed dependent. So the amount of weight you would need in current should be less than you would think.

I would also think you would want to use a three-way swivel with a drop line to your weight. Your illustration is going to dig into the bottom unless it’s a floating crank in really slow current.

[SamSteele]

I second the idea of using a planer board instead as it won't hang up on the bottom and it will be much easier to see when a fish picks up the bait. It also allows you to get your lure farther from shore and work the entire width of the river easier.

I do use a similar rig to the one originally proposed when bottom bouncing lakes though, usually with a Rapala Floating which only dives a couple feet at 2 mph. Slow that down to bottom bounding speeds and it stays about a level with the top of the bottom bouncer.

SS

[buckman]

Originally Posted by Bushleague

Yeah, a Flat Fish would have been my recommendation too, but you would have to taylor your lure to the current speed.

In the past I've had good luck tying short walleye spinner rigs, and using them with bait and about a 3/8 oz weight. I cast it out and let it settle to the bottom along a seam in the current, let it sit a while, then pick it up off the bottom and let it re-settle. This has worked particularly well for me in dirty water.

P6020094 by , on Flickr

This particular fish was caught on an old school June Bug spinner, but exact same idea. You can see in the picture that the river is running pretty dirty.

Love the old Mitchell 300.Mine is retired now caught thousands of fish with it.

[trigger7mm]

I’ve still have an old Mitchell 300. Still use it to this day.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by trigger7mm

I’ve still have an old Mitchell 300. Still use it to this day.

I think I've got 4 of them now.. the oldest one was made in the early to mid 50's, it doesnt have the "300" printed on it because at that time Mitchell only made one model of reel... its still catching fish.

I've got some vintage Daiwa's too, which performance wise are superior to the Mitchells. They are nearly the equal of a modern reel but mechanicaly much more simple and sturdy. The Mitchells have their own sort of charm though, and I enjoy fishing and tinkering with all of them.

Favorite thing about the Mitchells, that handy plug at the back. Especially when wading, if you happen to dunk the reel when unhooking a fish or whatever... you can just pull the plug, drain out the water, and squirt in some fresh grease to keep you going untill you have time to do a proper PM.

[ron anderson]

Is the older one made in France?

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by ron anderson

Is the older one made in France?

Yeah, all the Mitchells I have are made in France. The Daiwa's are all MIJ. I have one lonely DAM Quick that was made in Germany.

[fish99]

Originally Posted by Bushleague

Yeah, all the Mitchells I have are made in France. The Daiwa's are all MIJ. I have one lonely DAM Quick that was made in Germany.

the dam quick reel i had was my favourite reel to use. till it broke . we were kids me and my brother had Mitchell 300 , and dad had a 400. still have them but the bail springs are broken

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by fish99

the dam quick reel i had was my favourite reel to use. till it broke . we were kids me and my brother had Mitchell 300 , and dad had a 400. still have them but the bail springs are broken

Yeah, the Dam Quick I've got is Dam smooth and probably the most beefy gear train that I've seen in a reel. The bail spring broke, eventually I'll probably order some springs off Ebay and get it fishing again.

[stob]

I settled on a surgical tube on a swivel slider that i stuff pencil lead into... I like the planner board idea ( i have a couple of places pegged to experiment for salmon with spin n glows etc in the pools/ current)