Page 50 - ODUNovAndDec2018

”Jack Wells entrusted Kent Driscoll, John Harrison and I

to come up with the ultimate power trolling rod. We
spent an entire fishing season working with prototypes,
over and over, back and forth until we got a pole that’s
light enough to handle, yet strong enough to hold the
weight and “air mail” a 3-pound crappie on the other
end. To protect the handle we put an aluminum collar
or V-Grove on the end and also to allow an easy fit into
the rod holder for the same rod placement every time.

Thanks to Jack for listening and allowing our input to
design such a great pole.”

Les is adamant about his setup. He feels it very
important to fishermen trying to learn the Power
Trolling technique. According to Les, “Power trolling is

my favorite technique once the spring spawn is over. I
fish the rest of the year with the same setup, the only
thing I do in the colder months is slow down to around
.7 and tip my fin spins with a minnow versus a curly
tail.”

“I have used several different line setups but this
summer I tried a new setup and fell in love with the

results, a similar line setup to long-lining. I put my
weight (1oz, 2oz, 3oz) up front (top of my leader), move
down (2 ft) and put my first overhand knot or 3-way
swivel, then a (3 ft) leader and lure at the bottom. With the heavier weight in the middle, we seem to
get what we call “drive buy” strikes, a quick hit and turn it loose.”

Smith says, “I began

to wonder if they
were feeling the
resistance of the
heavyweight and
simply turning it loose
before we could get a
hook set. Which led
to trying this new

setup with moving
the weight to the top
to experiment with
the resistance factor. I
was pleasantly
surprised with
the results