# Cowbells



## SlickNick

Do people still troll cowbells on the big lake?


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## det07

I imagine some do. Bigweenie has a product out called the grease trap 

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKDLydbt5VM"]YouTube- 6-14-09 Grease Trap.divx[/nomedia]


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## pikedevil

SlickNick said:


> Do people still troll cowbells on the big lake?


Yes, mostly for lake trout.


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## UltimateOutdoorsman

pikedevil said:


> Yes, mostly for lake trout.


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## Sam22

Wow Steve, you still do read these boards! This weekend will be NUTS. 

For the OP... yea, they are a pain in the butt, be we use them regularly in the Grand Traverse Bays. I put a spin and glow or a peanut behind them and do really well. Don't overlook big dodgers, I do better with those than I do with cowbells, and they suck a little less to reel in. We have done well running cow bells in all depths, not just the bottom in 100 feet.


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## SlickNick

Thanks for the input guys. Still new to this all..


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## rascal trophy fishing

In the early 80's for a decade, these were our prime baits for Lakies, and they sure still work today. Some are going back to these famous baits and bouncing bottom with the ball over 65-90' of water and still having good success. Old techniques are not necessarily obsolete techniques, nor are the colors of some famous lures. Good fishing.


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## Speyday

Just remember; we need _more_ cowbell.


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## Quack Addict

OK... I've been doing Great Lakes trolling for many moons but... how do you guys rig cowbells? I have some that were acquired through the years (came with boats, garage sales, etc), but I never have had a firm grasp on how to rig and run one.

I hear guys running spin & glo's and the wobbling peanuts behind them, but is it that simple... cowbell followed by a little spinny thing the size of a dime with a hook on it? It seems a bit like trolling a spawn bag to me, but maybe I'm missing something.

I've also heard of guys running spoons and spinners behind cowbells and doing well.


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## PITBULL

We always ran the cowbells about 6' off tha ball with a peanut, (wobble-glo) about 20" behind the cowbells. then trolled slow and let the cannon balls bump along the bottom.
We usaly started doing this after the morning bite for kings/coho's had slowed down.


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## ChasinSprints

When I lived in the Keewenaw we used to use cowbells for lakers. Because we were fishing 200 - 225' water using them off the rods was impossible. So we would attach them to the downrigger ball directly using a rubber snubber then trail a peanut behind them. You would manually bounce the ball off the bottom then raise a couple feet then bounce it again. When a fish hit you would feel it tugging against the snubber then just reel them up. Not the most exciting way to fish but it surely put fish in the box.


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## SEAWOLF XI

See the thread spin n glos for lakers.

Also runnin the bells or ne thing else for that matter close to the ball and bouncing balls is a nono with the zebra mussels and thread alge in the new modern day great lakes. 
BUT.....there is a solution use a 3-5' peice of downrigger wire below your normal ball snap. With ball snaps at both ends of couse and hook your release 5 feet above the ball then you can drag and bounce all u want as long as u dont run into an abandoned net.


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