Ok, I’m a rookie sturgeon guy. I’m thinking a bell actually might be a good idea for lite biting sturgeon. The one I have is basic – and scratched my graphinte rod. For those that use them, whats the best bell? Yes, I watch the tips like a hawk – but – I cant stare at the rods for hours at a time without taking a break. If you don’t like bells, why?
We got 5 the other night. 4 shovels and 1 lake. I’ll take it – for now.
“Kiseer Fishing Bells” on Amazon. You can get 50 for $10
I used to use bells until I bought bait clicker reels. I use to always set the hook and the bell would fly off. Most the time the fish would grab and go not just 1 tap so there was no time to grab the bell off
Rookie question here, are bells only effective in no wind, no wave conditions?
And if so what’s the alternative?
Will hopefully be getting the boat out.
I buy cheap Bells at Walmart.
Just the bell, nothing attached to it.
Ones I prefer are probably closer to 3/4″ diameter. 50/$2
Use small zip tie.
Zip tie the bell to the rod, I like to be 3 or 4 eyelets from the tip. Bell should be attached firmly to the rod. Clip tag end of tie. Put bell on bottom of rod to never interfere with line. Zip tie through eyelet legs.
With rod in rod holder, you should be able to lightly tap the butt and sound the bell. Wind waves and boat rocking should NoT sound the bell.
There ya go. Been through many revisions and I’m happy happy happy with my bell setup. No false alarms and if something bumps the bait it’ll sound.
Bell sounds, before removing from rod holder tighten the line up. If rod tip continues to bend, keep slow cranking until rod loads, then remove rod from holder and fight that fish.
The above has been proven time and time again!!!
Most people who use bells do it wrong and they sound false alarms… wind, waves, rocking…
My two cents, take it or leave it.
The ones 3 rivers posted will sound false alarms and will also fall off during a fight. May also interfere with line. Avoid.
On a busy night does it sound like Santa’s coming to town?
Fighting a fish with bells on is super annoying. I clip on the plastic one listen for bell, reel down to hook fish, remove bell. Cast back out (without bell) and reattach. The occasional bell might get thrown off from time to time. The nice thing with the clip is that you can choke up on rod to make it less sensitive if you like or as the wind or boat traffic changes move it up or down.
I used them a lot for a few years, but I never use them anymore, instead I just blanket the boat in UV light with bright colored rods and keep an eye on them.
Why do you want to put bells on sturgeon… wait, I must of missed something.
If your using circle hooks, with the bail closed and a tight drag, (I flatten the barb for easy extraction) I don’t believe a person needs bells. Generally speaking the fish will hook its self and you’ll know shortly if you have a bite. OR if the fish spits it out, the angler wouldn’t have been able to react fast enough anyway.
I have used a light on the rod tip but only for the rod that is more to my back. A wiggling light attracts my attention enough.
But some like bells so jingle on. 
In my experience only in current does a sturgeon set themselves and I’d offer 60% as ratio of set vs requires set.
When very little current is involvedin probably closer to 80% require you to set.
So, bells in my boat are 100% required if fishing sturgeon.
Bells firmly attached are also less noisy on the fight but they do jingle for sure. Dip in water during fight to reduce.
I’d only agree with Brian when discussing micro sturgeon under 20#, they do often go a little spastic in comparison to bigger friends
I agree with 3 rivers. I use those same bells and they work well.
I’d only agree with Brian when discussing micro sturgeon under 20#, they do often go a little spastic in comparison to bigger friends
Yes normally I fish in current unless the water is too high, then I switch to the St Croix.
LOL! Micro Sturgeon! I guess that’s what can be expected off of Micro baits.
I’ve been using bells for sturgeon, as this is my first year targeting them during open water. So far I’ve been able to leave them on the rod full time and lob my casts to make sure that they don’t fly off. The noise doesn’t bother me, in fact I enjoy the jingle. The only problem I have right now is that the Shepherd has figured out that jingling bells means I’m going to reel up (for a fish, to check bait, etc.) and that means I will cast again (his favorite part). So now anytime a rod jingles, he immediately gets in the way of me trying to grab it out of the holder. I don’t even need a light on at night on the shore, if he hears the jingle he stands by the correct rod. Sometimes he goes up to them and hits them with his snout to make them jingle and then stares at me hoping that I’ll reel it in.
So far only the small fish have pulled out on the clicker. My most recent larger fish only had a single “tap” of the bell to indicate that it was even there. Without the bell, I would have missed it completely as I was looking the other way.
I plan to try 3Rivers method with the UV light, but I am going to leave the bells on.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:</div>
I’d only agree with Brian when discussing micro sturgeon under 20#, they do often go a little spastic in comparison to bigger friendsYes normally I fish in current unless the water is too high, then I switch to the St Croix.
LOL! Micro Sturgeon! I guess that’s what can be expected off of Micro baits.
Yeah wasn’t trying to be rude or demeaning in any way just presenting that the older bigger fish don’t seem to do what the smaller ones do. Similar to hunting deer vs Mature deer
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