Caspar rebar experiment 7-23

A while ago a commercial fishing guy told me about the dingle-bar method for trolling for Lings.  As Sean pointed out in another thread, they (I guess) use huge bars and bang them along the bottom with split tails or whatever hanging above.  The claim is they don't hang up much and the dingling sound makes the lings more aggressive.  I don't remeber whether the guy adapted it to rebar for my benifit or whether I came up with it on my own, but anyhow I've been wanting to try this for a while and I finally got around to it on Sunday.

The reason for this is that I want to be able to troll for Lings and as a tool for feeling the bottom on fast drifts while still using swimbaits and scampi type setups.  So I cut up a bunch of 5/8" (I think-I found it) rebar into different lengths going from about 4" to 14".  I developed a weight length relationship so I can determine the weight of the bar by its length.  I drilled holes on one end of the bars and used nylon cord tied in surgeons loops to make loops to attach to the line.

Using 40lb line for leader, I tied off a loop at around 2.5' ft above the bar.  To this I tied a 1.5 ft lead to double hooks and a 7 or 9 in. tail.

I started trolling on the north side of Caspar bay beginning at the beach.  I got my first hookup within site of the surfers at the beach, a Ling at 28".  By the time I reached the point (1/2 mile ?), I had brought to the boat 4 lings, all about 28".  I also had a number of strikes that didn't take, which made me wonder if they were biting on the rebar itself.  After I got to the point, I put the trolling gear away and worked on the rock cod, which wasn't very productive.

During the 1+ hours of trolling, I never got hung up on the bottom, although I had some near misses that I was always able to free either by backing up or just releasing tension for a minute and reeling back in.

This method has plusses and minuses.  The plus side:  It catches fish; you can cover a lot of ground; you can use it on fast drift windy days; you don't get hung up often; and most importantly to me, it cost next to nothing - just your time.

The down side:  In order for this to work right you need a big bar.  I found that 10 - 12 inches worked well, which translates into 13 -16 ounces.  I used a medium action rod that worked well, but you could not use a noodle rod for this.  I takes some practice to be able to figure out if the taps on your tip are from the bar dingling on the bottom or actual strikes, but you get used to it.  Finally, you have to play the fish with an almost 1 lb weight hanging below, which actually I didn't even notice.

Anyhow, that's my report.  Maybe someone else can try it and add some ideas. Seems like a good tool to have in your bag of tricks.   By coincidence I met Mickfish on the beach.  He suggested snelling the bars rather than having to drill holes ion them.  Great idea.  Sorry about the poor image quality.

Excellent report and tip.

This style of sinker is used a lot by walleye fishermen when trolling streams.  I'm glad to see it translates to the ocean.

MolBasser

Great idea, what about using a sinker release on the piece of rebar? That would at least get the wieght off the line..

Thanks for the report... looks like a promising method.

How about attaching the weight by inserting it into a piece of latex tubing that is attached to the terminal end of the rig... kind of like a larger version of the river sinker setup.  Would allow you to change weights rapidly and pull a weight loose if it did get hopelessly snagged.

EK

Good one dave. you forgot one more benefit. exercise! 

not that any of us need it,   

J

Thanks for posting the results of your experiment.   I also like the latex tubing idea. Simple.  I was thinking about drilling holes (or I guess just tieing onto) in both ends, then tieing a tight line between the two, then tieing a loop around the tight line to go up to the pole.  I was thinking if the bar got stuck going "head"  first into a rock, the loop would slide to the "tail" end and possibly pull it out. But if I don't have to drill holes, I think I can afford to lose some rebar.
 
Funny you should mention walleye.  I bought some $2 Cabela's sale " Walleye Runner" rapala-type floating lures and trolled them on a dropper rig and got a halibut and some lings last yeqr. The halibut bent the hook and got off at the surface, I'll probably spend more for stronger replacement hooks than for the lures! Trolling's more fun than jigging for the easily bored or in places like SC where the bottom is not too snaggy and the fish aren't stacked up. 

Looks like the experiment was a success!  Cool idea, thanks for sharing.

I bet they would hit the rebar.  They attack lead diamond jigs even after all the paint has been banged off.

Pescadore,It was nice to meet you yesterday.Thanks for sharing your intel on your snagless rig and the Caspar area.I thought snelling the rebar with loops would be even more down and dirty.Given the mish-mash of assorted steel they use to make it.If you use dropper loops on your leader,it could all be looped together.Easy on easy off.
                                                                   Mark  [fishshim]

Dave:  Super cool experiment!

While the latex would get it down, it wouldn't "dingle"...the banging bars is part of what makes dingle bars supposedly work.  While I'm sure they would occasional hit the bars, any hooks on the barwuld make this a certain snag.

this is what i use out at fort Ross in hmb i also use 10 pound test so i can break it off in case it  hang up u can get these stake at home depot it,s has Pre drill holds
also this is what i use at dillon beach for the ling,s

Pescadore,It was nice to meet you yesterday.Thanks for sharing your intel on your snagless rig and the Caspar area.I thought snelling the rebar with loops would be even more down and dirty.Given the mish-mash of assorted steel they use to make it.If you use dropper loops on your leader,it could all be looped together.Easy on easy off.
                                                                   Mark  [fishshim]

Hey Mark, it was nice to meet you too.  Sorry, i got your moniker wrong.  For some reason I thought it was Mickfish.  Too much time in the sun yesterday.  Thanks for the ideas and give a call if you're in the area.

Thanks for the report... looks like a promising method.

How about attaching the weight by inserting it into a piece of latex tubing that is attached to the terminal end of the rig... kind of like a larger version of the river sinker setup.  Would allow you to change weights rapidly and pull a weight loose if it did get hopelessly snagged.

EK

I like this idea.  I think it would work.  Not sure if it would or wouldn't "dampen the dingle," as Sean suggested.  My idea was to put a small swivel snap on the terminal end, one that you knew would only handle about ten lbs of pressure.

I'm trying to make sense of scwafish remark. the latex would only
be fit over the top 1/2" of the bar, right? so should not dampen
the dingle.  but maybe the commercial dingle bar is really bars
plural and they bump against each other, not just the reef, in
which case a little latex might prevent them from bumping each
other, or maybe the little bit of latex would somehow dampen the
vibration even if it's at the end.  scwafish set me straight.

regarding the snap swivel, I'm not sure, but I think the quality
control on those snaps is not like line.  the breaking strength
might really vary. I use tiny duolocks and they never fail if new,
always the line.  Perhaps they are way underrated strength wise.  A
length of 10lb line is probably better for consistency, but abrasion could be an
issue. you could double the line at the bottom, I do that.

another attachment idea would be to epoxy or goop something to the
top that can take an eyelet of some sort. the bar might twist less then too.

For my own trolling experiments, I will probably stick with a
sinker release, dropper lead and floating plug setup for a bit, but
I would not mind a stack of rebar instead of lead for weight just
because it is a little friendlier to the reef maybe.  and maybe
cheaper although it's not like I get to go fishing enough that loss
of tackle is really an issue for me.

Is there a place you can just call up and say "send me 3 dozen 14oz
lengths of rebar please"?  probably not, but maybe google
or the yellow pages will say different.

lastly dave, how deep were you trolling, what size/type was your
mainline and did you notice your speed? I assume all that will affect
the weight you need to use.

J

It all sounds too good not to try.  i have some scrap rebar around the house left over from remodeling.  If I get out next weekend I will try some of these ideas and report back.