Bottom Bouncer Discussion

[Ryan32]

Thanks for the great reports! I'm so glad I found this forum.

I was fishing at my wife's family's cabin SE of Waldron Island late last week (Aug. 12-14) and did pretty well vertically jigging on reefs--crawlers and leeches worked well. Biggest fish was a 25-inch walleye.

We struggled once the wind really whipped up on Saturday afternoon, though...

I have a question to those who've reported doing well on spinners over reefs: Are you fishing them behind a bottom bouncer, a walking sinker or Snap Weight/in-line weight??

I ask because pulling spinners behind bottom bouncers is my go-to presentation on my Minnesota walleye lakes. But then again, on those waters I'm mostly fishing them across sand or gravel--not the craggy, nasty, tackle-grabbing rock that tops most Sabaskong Bay reefs.

As a result, most of the time I attempt to fish this way in Sabaskong, I spend all my time snagged on bottom, losing gear like crazy and not catching many fish in the process.

Do you do it differently???

Thanks

Ryan

[mlures]

We almost exclusively use Bottom Bouncers. Probably lose 4-5 a year.
1-1/2 oz. Bouncers, 24" 20# snells with a #3 or #4 Colorado spinner, hammered Gold or Copper. Speed around 1/2 to 1 mph. Line should be about 45 degrees down. You can feel the bouncer going over rocks. We fish mostly to the East and fish shorelines and reefs. My wife doesn't like getting snagged which is the main reason we use bouncers. Hope this helps.
Dick Moore "Baitmaker"

[mlures]

I should have mentioned. We use bait casting tackle. 6' medium action rods, flipping reels and 20# Spider Wire line. The real secret to not getting hung up is not to let too much line out.
Dick

[Shorelunch]

Dick is right on the money. It's tough to beat pulling spinners on the Canadian side on LOTW. We usually troll spinners with the pencil style bouncer weights ("L" shaped are fine, too). We have success with leeches, crawlers and minnows. We do use jigs and minnows in the spring and fall, and in the summer if they're stacked on a certain spot. Trolling cranks also works on top of the reefs, too and after dinner time near shorelines.

We're on the north end of Hanson Bay and look onto Waldron. The wind sure came up this weekend - that's for sure.

[Paul F]

I have to agree with mlures not letting too much line out is the key. I use the banana style weights and don't have any problems. I think I will pick up some bottom bouncers, especially for the newbies on the boat. My speed is just the same as mlures, and I use medium heavy poles. Too fast of speed and you have to let too much line out to get to the bottom next thing you know you are hung up in a heart beat, hope this helps.

[Ryan32]

Thanks for the spinner info, everyone. Sounds like I'm probably using a tad too much weight and a bit too long of letbacks.

When I pull bottom bouncers here in MN, I'm generally over deeper water than on Sabaskong and dragging them across sand. As a result, I'm used to being able to use much heavier bouncers....

Something else just dawned on me....you guys are probably holding the rods in your hand and guiding the rig up and over rocks by feel, right?

Again, on my usual MN lakes, I'm used to keeping rods in rod holders until a fish hit....the fish tend to hook themselves that way and you wind up with a better hooking percentage than holding it in your hand.

But then again, I've always been able to get by with that because of the different bottom type....

Oh well. Thanks.

Ryan

[Dandy Don]

This is my first post on this site, but I've been coming up to LOTW since 1962 (I was VERY young) and we first stayed at Mylie's when Mylie was still running it and flying around in his yellow Cub on floats...then a few years later moved to another resort; there was a gap for college and getting establshed but the trip has been back on since 1983. Mylies has sure improved over the years...we drive over every trip.

Enough introduction. Because we go the first week of June, most years the 'eyes have not moved to the reefs and we're on shorelines. There's something about being in the middle of the lake versus seeing the shore that bugs me...

Years ago we switched to bottom bouncers when trolling and, since I use Fireline primarily for the feel and strength, it is rare event to lose one...I'm talking one ever other year. Tried, very briefly, the banana weights. I just look at the old in-line sinkers and shake my head, seems we spent more time in reverse than trolling.

Hammered gold is the go-to but everyone tries a "secret color" just to trigger some more purchases.

A number of years ago we started doing more jigging, and anytime we have hit the reefs, I figured we have to jig them given the structure. So I'm curious: when you troll them with spinners, how do you do it? Do you find a depth and work it, or go up and over?

[Shorelunch]

I think you can successfully troll spinners in the Spring and Summer, on sand and rip-rap along with reefs. I prefer jigs in the Fall.

We generally use 6' 6" medium heavy baitcasting rods with baitcasting reels (ideally with the "flippin" switch so you can release line by just pressing and releasing a thumb button on the reel). We use Power Pro or similar line and tie to a snap swivel for easy lure changes. Above the swivel, I use a quick change snap for the pencil bottom bouncing weights, and then a bead between the snap and swivel. I generally use a 1 1/2 oz weight for 12- 25 feet, unless they're deeper than 30 feet, then 2 oz. On the sand in May/June, I go with 1 oz. Rule of thumb is that you don't want your line past a 45 degree angle.

Nothing wrong with the "L" shaped bouncers, I just prefer the pencil style because, theoretically, the fish doesn't feel resistance and there's not a piece of metal between me and the fish.

The plus for trolling spinners on reefs is locating fish faster. Unless I find the eyes schooled up, you can locate the fish and their depth much faster trolling. We generally go deep to shallow to deep over the structure going at different angles of approach (SW to NE, then E to W, etc). Once we find their depth and/or location on the structure, we change our pass to reflect their pattern.

Another plus for trolling on reefs is generally getting snagged less. I generally keep my weight a foot to 6 inches off bottom. Usually when I put my rod tip to the water I feel bottom and then keep it a foot or so off the water.