How much lead do you use

[Trophy Hunter639]

I was just wondering what style of sinker and how heavy does everyone use to hold bottom in rivers? I use a home poured 6.5- 8 oz sinker made from a 1'' drill bit in a 4x4 peice of wood.A friend and i are in the process of getting  a proper mold 

[bigredfishing]

In some spots, i use as little as a large split shot (1/4 oz) or as large as 3oz pyramid sinkers.

[Trophy Hunter639]

Hey Bigred do you float fish at all for cats? I really want to get into that a little more this year any suggestions on floats for BIG baits like 2" steaks off a 2-4lbs  sucker?

[Stink Bait]

I really like to use a slip floater. Where I fish on the Arkansas river it is impossible to fish bottom because of all the stuff in the bottom. One of my hottest spots on the river is a spot when hundreds of tires where dumped years ago. The cats love it. I like to fish about a foot off bottom with my slip floater in that area. In the impoundment behind my house 2 of us will go out and fish 2 poles each at different depths until we zero in on the depth the fish are biting. Then we will adjust all of our slip floaters to that depth and slay them. I have been using the big "Billy Bop Slip Floaters". You can get them at Walmart for a couple of bucks. I like to put a piece of reflective tape around the top of the floater so when I fish at night I can turn my headlamp's red LED on and the floater will shine back at me like a tail light.

[Trophy Hunter639]

Thanks Stink-bait I don't think we get those up here in my local wal-mart I will try and find some of those though

[Stink Bait]

Trophy hunter,

I tried using a slip floater last year for the first time in years. My Grandpa and me used to use them when I was a kid but I had forgotten how to rig one. I got the Billy Bob floater because it had everything I needed to rig (except the egg sinker) and it had a diagram that shows you how to rig it. I also like it because it is weighted at one end and you can really sling it out there. You can buy slip floaters and bobber stop kits separately for cheaper I believe at any bait shop. I wouldn't hesitate to use another brand because I think 1 is about as good as the other. I prefer the 6 to 8 inch torpedo style bobbers.

Oh yeah,

One trick I learned is to put a peice of split shot about 16 inches above your hook to keep your egg sinker from sliding all the way down to your hook. I don't know how much this helps but I don't like having the egg sinker right in view of my bait presentation.

[bigredfishing]

I have done well for cats with floats, drifting live chubs through deeper runs in the river near my house. I was using 3" - 4" wild chubs, using a 5" "big fish slider" slipfloat made by thill.  I was running the chubs about 1 - 2 feet off the bottom, anchoring the rig with a 1/4 oz slip shot.

I have also used the 5" slider with chunk bait, and it worked well for that also.

[Mackdaddy21]

Well the current in the Upper Colorado is really powerful and the river holes are quite deep, so even if I'm using light line such as 14 pound mono for cats I will use at least 1 and a half ounces of lead in the form of a bank sinker unless I'm fishing a really slow spot or backwater areas off the main river. Some holes are really slow moving but generally channel cats like at least a little bit of current but they need deep holes.
I like holes at least 20 feet deep, better yet in the 30 - 40' range.

Tyler