The reason you can't feel the bottom in canyon water could be any number of problems with your setup. 1) rod not sensitive enough 2)slinky not tight enough to transmit the bounce 3) you may not be on the bottom 4)Bottom just can't be reached

Solutions for the possible problems
1)new rod
2)use non slinky lead so you get better bottom feel transmission or tighten up your slinky cord around the lead
3)MORE LEAD
4)Break out the floats because you will be fishing below the fish. Let them see your bait and they will come up for it.

To get your bait to stay longer in a fast section you have to make your contact time with the bottom increase. I have bent my lead in a c formation so it hangs up on purpose. This allows me to pull the lead straight when I want to continue the drift. Very effective when you know fish are in a specific section of water or You can also use more lead.

Tight Lines

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Marty
Steelheader.net marty@steelheader.net