Bottom bouncing techniques?

Pursuit --- The techniques we use for Bottom Bouncing or as we call it “dragging gravel”.

The Do’s

As others have indicated with the cost of today’s gear, lead, cable and terminal tackle - location location location. I like a flatish bottom of gravel, sand or mud; free of obstructions that I have looked over previously with the sounder and am very familiar with.

Set a slow to moderate trolling speed over the bottom. Generally when dragging gravel we like to go into the current as you are a little less likely to get into trouble, (hung up), with your ball on the bottom as things will happen a little slower and you can often use the current and a fast turn to allow the current to push your boat backwards to take the forward pulling pressure off the trapped ball which sometimes helps release the ball. You also want your rigger drag set correctly so it will play out slowly on hook up and not instantly break the cable. That slow speed may also make it easier for halibut to hook up.

Drop the ball till it hits the bottom and drop it slower when you are close to the bottom. Once you hit bottom, bring it up a couple of feet and wait a short time for the blow back to raise you ball further up off the bottom. Then drop it again to you hit the bottom and bring it up a couple of feet. If you are using a flasher you will want it about 4 feet off the bottom so your flasher does not slam into the bottom as it turns in a rather large circle. With a dodger you can stay closer to the bottom as they sway back and forth rather than spin in a big circle. I sometimes like using a whole herring by itself.

Our boat is set up particularly well for bottom bouncing when we are not fishing at great depth in the summer. The transducer is way out the back on one side of the pod and the riggers are farther forward on the boat than most people have them mounted. In addition we use a 20lb ball and as stated we are going slow, so unless the current is ripping there is not much blow back and the 20 lb ball will stay under the boat/transducer where it leaves a trail on the sounder. This means you know exactly how close to the bottom the ball is and you can adjust your depth when you are getting close without having to wait till the rigger starts jumping to tell you to raise the ball. This seems to work better than trying to match the counter depth to the sounder depth. Don’t always stay right on the bottom, try different distances off the bottom. For large summer Chinook I like 4 to 20 feet off the bottom. For winter feeders that are on needle fish rather than herring, you can try close to the bottom but move up and down if you are not getting hits and for Halibut just off the bottom.

If the conditions are good for it and big springs are around we have sometimes stacked a second rod 20 feet up which has paid off for us at times.

If the ball is right on the bottom it will sometimes triggers a strike if you pull the ball up about 5 or ten feet once in a while for a short time and then drop it back down. My theory is that for salmon you don’t always want it touching the bottom because it may be easier for salmon to see up if they are on the bottom and not actively feeding. My theory is salmon don’t/can’t look down as much as they look up.

A couple of things not to do:

Do use a metal terminal tackle clip that holds the ball that is the type that takes a lot of finger pressure to push in and release the ball. Do not use the quick on, quick release type terminal clips like the plastic Scotty type, especially if they are worn out and the little plastic bit that is supposed to keep the ball on is bent in a little/lost its spring, so that it is slightly open. I stopped using the plastic type when fishing on the bottom because sometimes the ball will slide right off when dragging gravel - have had it happen.

When dropping the ball and especially if you are not going real deep, don’t let the ball hit the bottom really fast/hard because on rare occasion this can cause the cable to go slack and have a little backlash which can cause the cable to jump off the rigger drum and jam itself into the rigger shaft area which is a real PITA as you cannot bring up the ball and you usually will have to take the rigger apart. If this ever happens to you, turn the boat into deeper water, lift the ball a little with gloves to take the pressure off the drum and then put a smooth clamp (you don’t want to damage/cut the cable) on the cable to hold the ball. With the cable not putting pressure on the drum you can take the rigger apart, free the cable, get it back on the rigger drum and pull up the ball.

A friend of mine made an emergency clamp out of two small pieces of flat soft wood and bolts with wing nuts for this purpose which holds by pressure against one of several things on the rigger boom. I think vice grips and a couple of small smooth flat pieces of wood rounded on the edges could also work but would be harder to use without dropping something in the drink.

PS re: your concern that stirring up the bottom will spook fish, my theory is that it may actually attract fish – salmon/halibut as it may simulate fish stirring up the bottom feeding.


Wow, great information Rockfish thank you for taking the time to write it out in such detail!
Going to try it out near Fairfax Point when my boat is back in the water in a couple of weeks. Sounds like hang-ups are a reality and the key is to be prepared and have two people on the boat.

So much to learn and time is running out :) Thank you!
 
Thanks for all the comments guys really appreciate the sharing of expertise. Gonna save me cannon balls for sure and may even catch me some fish :)
 
I like to run my clip off the ball and set depth at bottom or 1-2' above. I let the flasher rotation take care of the bottom contact and stir things up. Most of my winter flashers are scraped up pretty good. Watch rigger arm like a hawk as soon as it moves but rod doesn't; hit up button to get ball out of danger, knock on wood but haven't lost a ball this way in years...
 
Drop till you stop, wind down the reels and the blowback should lift you off a couple feet. In my experience, if you're diligent on the charts and sounder, you're fine. Troll on a contour line of sonar charts or take a good look and make sure it doesn't vary by more than a few feet(maybe 10). Don't run the flasher right on the ball, but rather a few feet above. that way it's got it's natural spin, and isn't bouncing too. Try to do it on sand/mud/gravel/shale if you're worried about getting snagged. Also, you will eventually get snagged, I lose about 2-3 balls per 300 trolling hours(1 season), that's just the cost of doing business, $200 per season? okay. Make sure to run snubbers and tuna cords
 
I like to run my clip off the ball and set depth at bottom or 1-2' above. I let the flasher rotation take care of the bottom contact and stir things up. Most of my winter flashers are scraped up pretty good. Watch rigger arm like a hawk as soon as it moves but rod doesn't; hit up button to get ball out of danger, knock on wood but haven't lost a ball this way in years...
I like to run my clip off the ball and set depth at bottom or 1-2' above. I let the flasher rotation take care of the bottom contact and stir things up. Most of my winter flashers are scraped up pretty good. Watch rigger arm like a hawk as soon as it moves but rod doesn't; hit up button to get ball out of danger, knock on wood but haven't lost a ball this way in years...

Exactly how I do it. And use glow flashers, hootchies, spoons, whatever, as long as it glows. Winter Springs are pretty grabby if you put it in the zone.
 
Wow, great information Rockfish thank you for taking the time to write it out in such detail!
Going to try it out near Fairfax Point when my boat is back in the water in a couple of weeks. Sounds like hang-ups are a reality and the key is to be prepared and have two people on the boat.

So much to learn and time is running out :) Thank you!
watch out anywhere around Sidney, so many commercial crab pots/active and abandoned!
 
Running braided line on your rod/reel helps to indicate when you're touching bottom as well. A lot more sensitivity compared to watching the riggers starting to bounce. Plus, if you're fishing deep, the braid makes getting the line out of the clip and setting the hook a hell of a lot more effective.
 
Use a Tuna cord or Gangon leader of 6-8', from d/rigger line to C/ball.
Clip your line 2-4' above C/ball. I recommend only using 1 side to 'tickle' the bottom.
Very important to BE AT the control of the d/rigger with your finger on the line!
Keep an eye on your C/P and depth for contour changes. Garmin has a very good unit that looks forward.
I rub reefs, rocky bottoms all the time out of Esperanza (because that is all the is).
Didn't lose any C/balls doing that last season. Caught a lot of Hali and Ling because it was often too rough to anchor.
Trolled all of the bottom fish in this photo. gl
 

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I use 5 feet of 300 lb mono crimped as my shock leader before the ball. Cover the crimps with vinyl tubing so they don't chew up your pulley. The crimp connection serves as the rigger auto stop. I know lots of guys use gangion cord, but I prefer mono. It has a large stretch factor, so it is like having another bungee cord on your line as a shock absorber. Mono in that test is super tough and even when bottom bouncing rocky/gravelly areas it holds up really well. I have to replace it way less frequently than guys using gangion cord. I've lost very few balls since going to a mono shock leader on the ball. I still use the Scotty bungee for extra safety factor and shock absorbsion. @the fog ducker uses the same system only he uses 200 lb mono (I believe). He can verify that this is an awesome system.
 
I use 5 feet of 300 lb mono crimped as my shock leader before the ball. Cover the crimps with vinyl tubing so they don't chew up your pulley. The crimp connection serves as the rigger auto stop. I know lots of guys use gangion cord, but I prefer mono. It has a large stretch factor, so it is like having another bungee cord on your line as a shock absorber. Mono in that test is super tough and even when bottom bouncing rocky/gravelly areas it holds up really well. I have to replace it way less frequently than guys using gangion cord. I've lost very few balls since going to a mono shock leader on the ball. I still use the Scotty bungee for extra safety factor and shock absorbsion. @the fog ducker uses the same system only he uses 200 lb mono (I believe). He can verify that this is an awesome system.

I have started using 300 lb. mono as well as a shock leader at the end of my braid rigger line. I already had a 100 yd. spool left from making some safety loops on some rod/reel combos and doing a few halibut leaders and lots of crimps, thought I'd give it a try. I now prefer it to the gangion cord I used to use. My release clips stay where I put them and by grabbing it I can lift my weights out of the water easily.

...Rob
 
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