Bottom bouncing 101

[Walleyedmike]

Great article lmt out! I have been pretty lucky in meeting up with some really good Missouri walleye fishermen through another forum that is defunct now. They helped me a ton and let me hop in their boats to see how it is done. I don't do anything very different from lmt out. One thing he didn't mention when doing that dragging the bouncer on the bottom thing is you need to hold your rod in your hand when doing that. It prevents snags and helps feel the bite. Walleye like to follow your bait. I've found a lot of times they will grab that bait and continue swimming along with it in their mouth. With the rod in your hand, you can feel it load up a bit. I let the rod tip fall back a few feet and then set the hook.

Like Tanderson, I tie most of my own rigs. I use slow death rigs more than anything. I use 12-15 lb fluorocarbon line. I use Quantom Accurist reels as the flippin' switch makes it easier to let line out with one hand on the rod/reel. Not sure what else is out there with a flippin switch? I bought a couple of Scheels 8'8" pro angler rods a couple of years ago and really like those rods for bouncing. We broke the tip off of one and got a full refund for a trade in, They didn't have those in stock, so I paid the difference in an upgrade, I think it's a proguide rod? Not sure as it is in my boat in Missouri. That rod is an awesome trolling rod. It feels five pounds lighter than the Pro angler rod, which is awesome holding a bouncing rod in your hand all day. 

WM

[MrGiggles]

Step one, just take the aggravating things and throw em in the trash, save yourself the trouble. Only thing I've ever caught on them is drum, a million bluegill, channel cat, and immovable submerged objects. 

In truth I haven't spent the time to really get proficient with them. If I am going to troll, I will pull crankbaits and really cover some water. 

I much prefer using a jig and crawler, or more recently using soft plastics with Livescope. The ned has also grown on me and put a few walleye in the boat. I had some success with jigging raps last winter too.

I am a little bit of a minimalist and prefer not to use live bait when possible. Crawlers are as far as I'll go. I've left them cooking in the boat more than once.

[DADAKOTA]

I am a bouncer as well and use SDRs that I tie myself using 10# flouro.  I should probably upgrade my electronics but have done well with what I have.  I usually only get to Stockton for 4-5 days per year so I definitely need more time on the water down there.  Points, humps, and channel breaks are my usual target areas.  Although I have found the walleye stacked in some spots that meet none of the above criteria.  Haven't figured out why they are there, just that they are.

[Smithvillesteve]

Great info here boys! I have just started using the bottom bouncer technique and have caught a few. Still learning. 2 questions Lmtout:

1) you claim you use half a worm. So do i. I cut off the 2nd hook on the setups i buy. Do you use 2 hooks with half a worm on each?

2) I bought a used boat about 2 months ago. I went to Stockton last week and used my Minnkota Terrova 24 volt trolling motor into a light wind. I went down to one light on the tester pretty quick, 2 hours. Had to go to 4.5 to 6.5 on foot pedal to maintain 1.0 to 1.2 mph. What kind of batteries do you use and do they last all day? Can you recommend the qualities i need in a Interstate lead core battery? Amp rating? Reserve Capacity? My monies are limited so I cant afford the expensive batteries. 

thanks for the info boys. Great to see you at the OA tournament RPS. 

[lmt-outfitters]

4 hours ago, Smithvillesteve said:

Great info here boys! I have just started using the bottom bouncer technique and have caught a few. Still learning. 2 questions Lmtout:

1) you claim you use half a worm. So do i. I cut off the 2nd hook on the setups i buy. Do you use 2 hooks with half a worm on each?

2) I bought a used boat about 2 months ago. I went to Stockton last week and used my Minnkota Terrova 24 volt trolling motor into a light wind. I went down to one light on the tester pretty quick, 2 hours. Had to go to 4.5 to 6.5 on foot pedal to maintain 1.0 to 1.2 mph. What kind of batteries do you use and do they last all day? Can you recommend the qualities i need in a Interstate lead core battery? Amp rating? Reserve Capacity? My monies are limited so I cant afford the expensive batteries. 

thanks for the info boys. Great to see you at the OA tournament RPS. 

Noooooo. Don't cut off the second hook. Put the first hook through the nose of the crawler. The second hook goes through the crawler where ever it hits on the crawler. Then pinch the crawler off behind the second hook. Most of your fish will come on the second hook.  Especially now when most of the fish r just coming up and grabbing it like Walleye Mike explained. I will put a pic on here when I get a chance. Right now I just am using interstate trolling batteries 29 series.  I have a 36 volt trolling motor and it last all day. I would actually bet it would last 2 days in a row  without charging. But I charge every time I use. 

[Tim M]

I fish mainly for Walleye too Havent been to Stockton in a while

What size or weight bouncers are you using??

I use 2 1/2 oz to 3 oz bouncers but mostly fish Table Rock and have found some spots that have walleyes

we use Trolling bags to keep our boat speed down below 2mph

[Tim M]

Just now, Tim M said:

I fish mainly for Walleye too Havent been to Stockton in a while

What size or weight bouncers are you using??

I use 2 1/2 oz to 3 oz bouncers but mostly fish Table Rock and have found some spots that have walleyes

we use Trolling bags to keep our boat speed down below 2mph

 

[Tim M]

I use an 8ft okuma trolling rod with  Diawa line counter reel so I know exactly how much line I have out and know I'm hitting  bottom and keep track of my depthes when I get hits .

I also try to figure out what color blades are hitting and will change them accordingly

 

[Walleyedmike]

7 hours ago, Smithvillesteve said:

Can you recommend the qualities i need in a Interstate lead core battery? Amp rating? Reserve Capacity? My monies are limited so I cant afford the expensive batteries. 

My previous boat was a 24 volt trolling system. I used the Interstate batteries like lmt out and replaced those with the Sam's Club AGM batteries. The Sam's batteries were best, but I only ran those one season before selling the rig. I see they are about $160.00 on their website! Not a battery expert, but have been told higher reserve capacity is more important than cold cranking amps for trolling motor. I also tried to troll with the wind at my back as much as I could with the 24 volt trolling motor. 

 

2 hours ago, Tim M said:

I use an 8ft okuma trolling rod with  Diawa line counter reel so I know exactly how much line I have out and know I'm hitting  bottom

 

2 hours ago, Tim M said:

What size or weight bouncers are you using??

I have Power Pro Depth Hunter metered line on most of my reels for the same reason, while still being able to utilize the smaller reels and flippin' switch for letting line out. Not as precise as a line counter, but has been god enough for me!

Rule of thumb from the guys that taught me is 1 oz of bouncer per 10 feet of water. 

WM

[Tim M]

My son has used lead core line as well trolling crank baits  he has caught walleye that way and have actually caught a few small flathead Catfish both in Stockton and as well at Table Rock

 My sons biggest Walleye so far has been 27 inches mine was 25 at Table Rock we have never caught many big ones at Stockton

At Table Rock keepers have to be at least 18 inches

We now fish identical rod reel and line setups so we can find a pattern to finding them

I'm sure there are bigger Walleye at Table Rock