Bottom bouncing rigs for walleye

Bottom bouncers have become a staple of the walleye fishing industry.

There are so many ways to fish bottom bouncers, making it one of the most versatile tactics for walleyes and other species. The 3 simple reasons I use bottom bouncers for walleyes are:. I mean, all you have to do really is hook up a bait rig to the bottom bouncer and go. But is it really that simple??? Not really. I will explain.

Bottom bouncing rigs for walleye

In both North and South Dakota, bottom bouncer rigs have been catching walleye on the Missouri River reservoirs for an awfully long time. The popularity of bottom bouncers however has expanded far and wide. Come mid-summer, bottom bouncers are probably my go-to presentation to catch walleyes day in and day out on many different fisheries. The reason bottom bouncers are so effective is the simple versatility. You can speed up to cover the water at over two miles per hour with a bottom bouncer. You can also slow down at a mile per hour or less. You can fish in deep water or shallow. You can run plain snells and live bait. You can run half-crawler Slow Death style hooks that have become so popular over the last decade. You can run spinner harnesses with blades. All these options enable the angler to fish slow or fast, with subtle or vibration with flash. You can fish shallow or deep. Through this entire spectrum, bottom bouncers are forgiving in that you can slide out into deeper water or move up shallow and keep your presentation near the bottom if need be. You can also simply put the rod in the rod holder and the rod simply loads up with a fish.

Many years ago when some friends and I were fishing on the Saskatchewan River, we followed the advice of the guy who rented us our boat: troll spinner rigs behind bottom bouncers. Reading Bottom-bouncing for walleye: Your complete guide to this classic technique.

Many years ago when some friends and I were fishing on the Saskatchewan River, we followed the advice of the guy who rented us our boat: troll spinner rigs behind bottom bouncers. We had planned to anchor and vertically jig or float the river while dragging jigs, but decided to give this unfamiliar to us presentation a try instead. Pulling bouncers let us cover more water, enjoy the river scenery and catch a lot of fish. After that weekend adventure, I was completely sold on bouncer rigs, and I now regularly use them throughout the open-water season, and on all kinds of water. First is the technical aspect of fishing these rigs, which are somewhat awkward and prone to tangling. The second part is understanding the many spinner options you can troll behind bouncers.

A bottom bouncer rig for walleye is one of the most effective tools for catching walleye with trolling, and it can also be very effective when used from shore. Due to these key advantages, you can use bottom bouncers for walleye to cover a lot of ground while presenting your bait at exactly the right depth to entice walleye to bite. And this makes it one of the deadliest rigs to put large numbers of walleye in your boat during the open water season. A bottom bouncer is an L-shaped wire that has an oval weight in the middle of its long arm, and a snap swivel at the end of the short arm. You tie your main line to the notch in the corner of the L-shaped wire, and then attach your leader to the snap swivel. A bottom bouncing rig for walleye helps to keep your bait close to the bottom while trolling, while minimizing the chances of getting snagged on rocks or other cover due to the wire sticking downwards from the rig.

Bottom bouncing rigs for walleye

Fishing a bottom bouncer correctly means coordinating boat speed, lake depth and setting the rig accordingly. Photo by Ron Sinfelt. One of the most important abilities any walleye angler can possess is the ability to present all available presentations to walleyes as conditions dictate. In May and early June, live bait presentations start to play a larger role in angler success. Utilizing crawler harnesses with bottom bouncers is certainly in the top five of all productive presentations of any experienced walleye angler. However, many who have never run them might not know all that bottom bouncers have to offer. There is more to these rigs than meet the eye. The weight is positioned approximately a third of the way down on the wire extending an additional two-thirds of the wire downward below the weight.

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That rod position also helps absorb the shock of fighting fish, putting more fish in the boat. I do lean more towards using slow death rigs with bottom bouncers more than any other bottom bouncer presentation. In the past, in those conditions, I assumed walleyes had moved deeper. The next step with vibration is the prop options described above and of course, classic spinner harness rigs are a solid option when more vibration and flash are needed. If I see suspended fish on sonar, I quickly shorten the setbacks to bring bouncers up to the fish and they produce results there, too. Of course, there are exceptions. All In-Fisherman subscribers now have digital access to their magazine content. Pulling bouncers let us cover more water, enjoy the river scenery and catch a lot of fish. For running bottom bouncers in rod holders or when guiding, Scheels has an exclusive low-profile line counter reel that is incredible for keeping bottom bouncing simple and easy. You can fish shallow or deep.

There are so many ways to fish bottom bouncers, making it one of the most versatile tactics for walleyes and other species. The 3 simple reasons I use bottom bouncers for walleyes are:.

The commotion attracts walleyes and catch-rates increase. See all results. Scheels currently has a perfect bottom bouncer rod in their Walleye Series that is a seven-foot casting rod in a medium heavy action. Tony Roach. If you want to learn more about fishing slow death, check out the video below. Of course, there are exceptions. You can buy from a HUGE assortment of spinner rigs available online , or you can make your own. A float is brighter than beads and it increases bulk and visibility. They work great when the walleyes are scattered through secondary breaklines, humps, deep weed edges, etc. So there you have it, a complete of fishing bottom bouncers. Bottom bouncing is a very simple concept. You can also slow down at a mile per hour or less. When walleyes are holding tight to bottom and are inactive, a bottom bouncer ticking along the bottom seems to wake them up and elicit strikes. One of my favorite tricks for improving the size of walleye I catch with harnesses is using soft plastic or Gulp! It consists of a blade that creates a flash in front of your bait.