Bottom-bouncing for walleye: Your complete guide to this classic technique

PART 2: THE MANY BAIT AND LURE OPTIONS

For the business end of a bottom bouncer, the most versatile and commonly used bait is a spinner rig (also sometimes called a worm harness), consisting of a few beads, a rotating blade and one or more hooks. The beauty of these rigs is how they can be adapted to many situations by varying the length of line used, the number of hooks, the size, quantity and colour of beads and the colour, style and size of blades. As an added bonus, spinner rigs are well suited for using live bait, frozen minnows and artificials.

HOOKS

When fishing with leeches or minnows, a rig with one octopus-style hook is the norm (I often tie on a second hook close to the first one as a stinger). When fishing with nightcrawlers or soft-plastic imitations, the harnesses usually have two or three octopus hooks, spaced about three or four inches apart, to accommodate the length of the bait. Some anglers also replace the back octopus hook with a tiny treblehook to increase hook-ups.

LENGTH

Short spinner rigs ranging from 30 to 36 inches work on aggressive fish, because as the bottom bouncer moves along, it stirs up sediment and makes noise. Since the fish are actively feeding, they’ll key in on this disturbance and strike. If the walleye are inactive, I switch to longer rigs, measuring from 40 inches in length all the way up to six feet. The idea here is to have the bait appear after the bottom-disturbing bouncer has already passed by the fish.

ADAPTATIONS

When I first hit the water, my typical search rig is three-feet-long, with a #4 Colorado spinner blade and seven beads. If the fish are active, I’ll shorten up my rig to capitalize on their pugnacious attitudes. If I’m marking fish, but not getting hits, I’ll try longer rigs and make changes to the presentation. In many instances, simply changing the colour of the blade is enough. Another option is to change the colour, size or number of beads on the rig. One of my favourite tricks is to place a bead of a contrasting colour—usually black or glow-white—right next to the hook as a target for striking fish.

When fishing with a group, have everyone start out with a different set-up to help determine what’s working. Once you figure out the hot colour or blade, everyone can change over to that pattern. If the bite slows down, you can start experimenting again.

SPINNER OPTIONS

For years, spinner blades were limited to the classic Colorado, Indiana and willowleaf shapes. Lately though, some new styles have appeared, each with its own unique vibration and flash. Hatchet-shaped blades, for example, have a very erratic vibration. Even newer are lightweight propeller-style blades, such as Smile Blades from Mack’s Lure or Northland Fishing Tackle’s Butterfly Blades. The beauty of propellers is that they rotate at lower speeds, so you can troll them slower. They’re perfect in colder water or after a cold front when the fish are neutral or inactive. They’re also killer when pulled at higher speeds.

Late last year, PK Lures debuted two new blade styles that move like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The Dakota Disc is a small round disk with a hole in the centre that moves sporadically from side to side, and up and down. PK Lures also introduced the Wobbler Blade, which is a rigid, egg-shaped floating blade that makes a few rotations then pauses before rotating in the opposite direction.

SLOW-DEATH RIG

Another important option for bottom-bouncing is the slow-death rig, developed by a South Dakota fishing guide looking for a presentation that could be fished very slowly behind a bottom bouncer. He hit on the idea of trolling a nightcrawler on a #2 Tru-Turn Aberdeen hook (above), which tracks in a circular wobble that walleye just can’t resist. Today, several tackle makers produce specific slow-death hooks, and Berkley even makes a Gulp! Killer Crawler to use instead of live crawlers.

When using a live crawler, be sure to only use a short segment with just a small bit extending behind the hook. That ensures the fish also bites the hook, not just the worm. As with other rigs for bottom bouncing, there are numerous slow-death options, from just a hook with a bead, to multiple beads and even the addition of spinner blades.

BEYOND SPINNER RIGS

While spinner rigs remain the most popular bottom-bouncing presentations, there are some additional techniques I sometimes use. One is pulling a Lindy rig behind a bottom bouncer, which is a great way to fish rocky areas where conventional Lindy rig weights get snagged. For the best results with Lindy rigs, use a pencil-style bottom bouncer or cut off the top arm off a 7-style bouncer and use just the weighted part. Leave your baitcaster in free spool (or keep the bail open on a spinning reel), and hold the line between your thumb and index finger. When a walleye grabs the hook, feed out some line for a few seconds, then reel in the slack lie and set the hook when you feel the weight of the fish.

A floating jig on a two- to three-foot fluorocarbon leader also works great when pulled behind a bottom bouncer. The jig’s buoyancy makes it dance and bob in a tantalizing, fish-attracting motion, but to make it even more effective, use the biggest and freshest live bait you can get your hands on.

You can also use a bottom bouncer to fish floating crankbaits at a consistent depth near bottom. The longer the leader, the higher the crankbait will run. My best success has come using fluorocarbon leaders ranging from three to four feet in length, but as with all of these bottom-bouncer rigs, feel free to experiment on your own.