Bottom Bouncer Troll
Using a bottom bouncer to troll for fish by slowly moving the bait near the bottom of the water column is a fishing technique that may appear simple when fishing from a dock. However, when moving into open water, the technique become complicated. When trolling with a bottom bouncer, the person want to keep the bait just above the bottom of the water where fish like walleye, pike, and bass holds.
However, there is challenges in keeping the bait from hitting rocks or weeds. Additionally, the depth of the water may change relative to the speed of the boats. An angler can use a depth chart to plan for these changes.
How to Use a Bottom Bouncer and Depth Chart
A depth chart is used to show how different weight will behave when trolling at different speeds while holding the fishing line at a 45-degree angle to the bottom of the water. Maintaining a 45-degree angle to the bottom of the water column indicates to the angler that the bottom bouncer is performing its task of move the bait. If the angle is too steep, the weight is too light for the speed of the boat.
If the angle is too flat relative to the water bottom, the boat is going too fast or the weight is too heavy. An angler want to find a rhythm in trolling such that the bait remains on the bottom without hitting the substrate. To determine the weight to use in a bottom bouncer setup, an angler can use the rule of one ounce of weight for every ten feet of depth in the water.
A depth chart will indicate at what depth a specific weight will travel at a specific speed. For example, a two-ounce weight at a speed of one mile per hour will travel to a depth of sixteen feet. However, at two miles per hour, the same two-ounce weight will only travel to a depth of nine feet.
Thus, an angler that does not understand how speed and depth interact may troll too far above or too far below the fish. Additionally, using a bottom bouncer in thirty or forty feet of water will require the use of a heavier weight so that the bait does not move too quick to the bottom. A bottom bouncer is an L-shaped piece of wire with a lead weight at one end and a swivel at the other end.
The open arm of the bottom bouncer allow the bait to remain slightly above the bottom of the water column. The bait should not drag through sand or gravel at the bottom of the water. When trolling near rocky bottoms, the angler should lengthen the length of the leader to allow the bait to clear the rocks.
In areas with soft mud bottoms, the angler should add weight to the bottom bouncer so that the bait does not sink too deep into the mud. While depth charts do not display information regarding the type of bottoms in the water, adjustments to one variable must be made to compensate for another variable. The angler can rig the bottom bouncer by connecting the main fishing line to the top swivel on the bottom bouncer.
A short fluorocarbon leader connects the bottom swivel to the fishing hook. Fluorocarbon leaders range from eighteen to thirty-six inches in length. Common bait for bottom bouncer trolling includes nightcrawlers since they tend to stay on the hook and emit scent while being trolled.
In colder waters, minnows may be used since they are more lively then nightcrawlers. Spinner harnesses can be attached to the hook to allow the bait to flash in stained water. Additionally, during the summer when fish become more selective in there feeding, leeches can be used as bait.
Speed is a variable that many angler may not think of when rigging a bottom bouncer setup. However, speed can impact the depth of the bait that is being trolled by several feet. An experienced angler will use speed as a means of fine-tuning the depth of the bait.
If fish stop biting while trolling with a bottom bouncer, an angler will adjust the speed before changing the weight of the bottom bouncer. Fish may require the bait to move faster or slower in the water. Additionally, another means of altering the depth of the bait is to use a lift-and-drop technique by raising the rod tip to alter the depth of the bait.
Raising the rod tip can trigger a strike from a fish. Fish movement in a body of water is based off the water temperature, not the calendar dates. In the spring when the water is warming to the melting snow in the winter, fish are in the shallow areas of a body of water.
Thus, lighter weights and slower trolling speeds are used to keep the bait in the strike zone for the fish. Around midsummer when water temperatures reach the highest levels, fish will have moved to deeper basins in a lake or river. Anglers should use three-ounce or four-ounce weight when fishing during this period.
During the fall when the water begins to cool, the fish will move into shallow areas with structure to them. However, in the late fall when temperatures drop again, the fish will move to the deep areas of the body of water. Thus, in the late fall, heavier weights will be required for the bottom bouncer and trolling speeds will be slower.
The depth chart does not change based on the different season of the year. The value of the depth chart is that it allows an angler to remove guesswork from the bottom bouncer trolling process. An angler can use the depth chart to determine the appropriate weight and speed for the bait such that the bait will reach the bottom of the water before the angler begins to fish.
Additionally, the 45-degree angle of the main fishing line to the bottom of the water when viewing from above allows the angler to determine if the weight, speed, and depth of the bait are correctly set up. If the angle of the fishing line to the bottom is not 45 degrees, the angler should make one small change to the setup to allow the fishing line to return to a 45-degree angle to the bottom of the water. It should of been noted that the chart is moddern.
Youll find that a lot of people dont use it enough. It is actualy very helpfull.