Seekandfillet
Active Member
Well as I understand it, the island is completely out of the water. But basically we were fishing the large triangle shaped flat off the point where Blue Notch/Red Canyon meet the main channel.
GHB 2-28 to 3-1
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bigfish1
Active Member
Mainly the flats off the main channel. We tried the red canyon/blue Notch area with some striper success.
Brandon A.
Well-Known Member
Hello Larry I was wanting to try this method on my next trip down in a couple weeks. Could you share some more details on how you bottom bounce? for example rig set up and traveling speed and such? Thanks in advance!
I am not Larry but.....
Typically when using bottom bouncers (BB) assume that you will be trolling/drifting @ 1-1.5 mph. I jump that up to 2 mph when water temps are above 65. You want to try and keep your line angle at 45 degrees from the water surface. You don't want the BB to be dragging bottom but try to stay 1-1.5 ft above the bottom, you can drop your rod tip back and the BB should starting ticking the bottom. Your 3 ft. crawler harness will be running slightly deeper than the BB
The ideal bottom bouncer weight is determined by water depth, how much line you release and boat speed. When trolling at 1.0 mph in 10 ft of water 1 oz works fine, when in water that is 20 ft. deep at 1.0 mph 1.5-2.0 oz. bottom bouncer is needed. A general rule of thumb is 1/2 oz adds another 5 ft. in depth.
With Powells relatively clear water lighter BB weights and longer leader lengths are helpful. There are plenty of guys that use BB as miniature downriggers and drop a 3 oz BB down with a crawler harness and troll 2 mph and are fishing 20-30 ft deep.
Typically when using bottom bouncers (BB) assume that you will be trolling/drifting @ 1-1.5 mph. I jump that up to 2 mph when water temps are above 65. You want to try and keep your line angle at 45 degrees from the water surface. You don't want the BB to be dragging bottom but try to stay 1-1.5 ft above the bottom, you can drop your rod tip back and the BB should starting ticking the bottom. Your 3 ft. crawler harness will be running slightly deeper than the BB
The ideal bottom bouncer weight is determined by water depth, how much line you release and boat speed. When trolling at 1.0 mph in 10 ft of water 1 oz works fine, when in water that is 20 ft. deep at 1.0 mph 1.5-2.0 oz. bottom bouncer is needed. A general rule of thumb is 1/2 oz adds another 5 ft. in depth.
With Powells relatively clear water lighter BB weights and longer leader lengths are helpful. There are plenty of guys that use BB as miniature downriggers and drop a 3 oz BB down with a crawler harness and troll 2 mph and are fishing 20-30 ft deep.
Nailed it!
Seekandfillet
Active Member
Any of you guys ever use bottom bouncers for trout? Seems like a great way to target them late in the summer when they are down deep. Might have to try that this year.
Brandon A.
Well-Known Member
Greg thank you i can work with htis!
Yes, I use them for trout when I take the grandkids for summertime fishing.
Much easier for them to use and deploy their own rigs than using a downrigger.
Joe Wilson
Well-Known Member
Another way to judge your weight is with the boat stationary, drop straight down until you feel the bottom, start trolling and if your line angle to is greater than 45* = more weight needed, less than 45* = less weight needed (I always base mine off the rod, not the water as its easier to see).
1/2 oz per 5' is a really good rule of thumb under roughly 2 mph.
If you're not getting bit, adjusting your crawler harness length is a good variable to play with, I have some as short as 18" and some as long as 6'
jefferson970
Active Member
I haven’t tried this method yet. Could you use a sliding swivel on the main line to add weight rather than having different size bottom bouncers? If I had 1oz BB’s and 1oz of weight on a sliding swivel, I could fish at 20’ depth?
Joe Wilson
Well-Known Member
It depends on the type of bottom bouncer you use, the wire type is all I ever use, although I have seen people use casting sinkers or walking sinkers and rig them on a tag line rigged similarly to a dropshot. I can only offer advice on the wire type.
I have always fished them so that the wire occasionally ticks the bottom, stirring up debris, making noise etc. Based on this I would think you would have better luck with some squeeze on split shots and crimping them directly on the bottom bouncer wire below the cast on weight.
There is a company that makes (or at least used to) a bottom bouncer with inter-changeable weights, but I have had no luck finding them lately.
jefferson970
Active Member
I’m not a big fan of split shots. Here’s a sliding swivel if you haven’t seen them before. You can easily add/remove weights and use them like a downrigger. It slides down the main line and stops at another swivel ties to the end of the line. The swivel at the end would attach the BB. That way you could easily add/remove weight and use the same size BB.
Joe Wilson
Well-Known Member
I would worry about the additional weight/line fouling up with the bottom bouncer.
I think something like this would work better.
These are not the inter-changeable ones I referred to earlier, these are from Wing It fishing and I have no experience with them, I just continue to struggle with re-tying every time I switch weights, hahaha.
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Dorado
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
Those look like a good idea. I would also agree that having anything else in addition to the bottom bouncer would be a recipe for a cluster F… I have had problems with the action of the slow death hooks and smile blades twisting the line. I would add a swivel to the point where the line attaches to the bottom bouncer, to allow as much ability to spin freely as possible.
As a reluctant convert to using bottom bouncers, I would add that paying close attention to the graph, and the action of the bottom bouncer is super critical, especially at Lake Powell where the chances of getting snagged are very high. You need to be constantly adjusting the depth to keep the bouncer in the proper zone. They take a bit of practice to get to work properly. Another tip is to leave the rod in a Rod holder, and wait to set the hook until the fish is actively tugging on the line and making the rod bend. It is very easy to pull them away from a fish before they have completely committed to the bite.
jefferson970
Active Member
Thanks for the advice guys. I’ve always been reluctant to try the bottom bouncers too. I’ll give em a shot and see if I can’t pull up a few more walleye.
The other way I’ve been able to catch walleye is jigging a spoon over rocky piles. I’ve caught them as deep as 75’ and even a few nice sunfish surprisingly.
If you are holding rod I like to point rod more towards front of boat a little.
When I first get bit, I let tip of rod fall back towards back of boat just barely keeping slack out of line.
As soon as rod is pointing out back of boat I sweep rod towards front of boat in a firm smooth swing.
9/10 times you will be hooked up!
Chanting “eat it,eat it” raises my odds of hookup significantly!!
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