Bottom bouncing and spinner rigs

[nicemustang]

I have to admit that with all the walleye fishing I do, we rarely bottom bounce with a spinner rig. I think we don't because we don't have a lot of luck while doing so. Way rather pull a lindy or jig stationary. So far we've survived. But wanted to know if anyone can share some tips to why we don't have success.

Generally I go by the book basics. 1 oz bottom bouncer for every 10 feet of water. Pull at 45 degree angle at .8 - 1.2 mph. Use a 4-6 foot leader with quick change spinner holder. Use a colorado or indiana blade in a size 3-5 depending on clarity. I have a bunch of colors in each size and usually try silver, gold, charteusse, holographic. Usually pull a leech but sometimes a crawler, sseldom a minnow. I usually have 6-8 small - medium sized beads in various colors but i generally stick to red, orange, yellow and sometimes green. Single snelled hook in a 6 or 8 size, or double hook if using a crawler.

So I guess I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong to not have success. What do you guys do. Anyone want to share a pic of there beads/spinner rig? I don't know if I'm using too big beads, too small, too many, to big spinner, going to fast or to slow or what. HELP PLEASE!

Thanks.

[jesse34567]

try speeding up a little or slowing down, it really depends if the walleye are in the mood to be chasing something.

also where a bouts do you usually use this tactic example dropoffs near weeds ETC.

[skidderman]

Have had great luck using them. A couple of things to look at. Dead slow, you may be going to fast. Forget about angles, just make sure it is ticking the bottom. At your speed I doubt if it's getting to the bottom. If you are going very slow you dont need to leave much line out. Color seems to matter a lot and can change by the time of year. Have had good luck with green patterns as well as a blade with red on the outside and yellow or white in the center. Use two blades on each rig. Worms seem to work best and stay on longer. Cut them in two because if you put a full worm on chances are they will steal it. Leeches work well too but I find I lose them more than my wallet likes. Last make sure you are following structure like a dropoff from 5 to 15 feet, a point, sunken island or a rock bed. I don't like the rock beds because I lose rigs. I'm sure there are a lot smarter people than I am that can add more ideas but I have had a few occasions where at 60 or 70 fish we get bored with it so can't be doing too bad. Last thing is I buy braided stainless line at the Fishing hole and make my own rigs. With the steal wire I don't worry about slough sharks and they last a very long time.
Good luck!!!!!!!

[nicemustang]

Well i've tried all different depths, types of bottoms, etc. But usually focused on classic walleye spots. Hard bottom drop offs between 8-20 feet.

[nicemustang]

.8-1.2 mph too fast for trolling spinners?

[jesse34567]

Well i've tried all different depths, types of bottoms, etc. But usually focused on classic walleye spots. Hard bottom drop offs between 8-20 feet.

also focus on the edge of weedbeds

[coaldale fisherman]

I used bottom bouncers and troll only to find walleye. If I can;t find them at the usual spots then I go hunting (bouncing)
Once I catch a couple a figure out where they are then vertical jigging is the way to go.
I find that they are usually schooled up a bit. I could be wrong though.

[nicemustang]

I used bottom bouncers and troll only to find walleye. If I can;t find them at the usual spots then I go hunting (bouncing)
Once I catch a couple a figure out where they are then vertical jigging is the way to go.
I find that they are usually schooled up a bit. I could be wrong though.

Exactly correct. Which is why I want to know better. If I try some spots I've had luck in the past or looks good on the map/sonar, if they aren't there...then what? Well I'll usually put on a lindy over structure using a slow death type rig with leech. But it takes forever to get anywhere. And at this time of year it's still too early (IMO) to pull cranks in reservoirs.

[walleyechaser]

0.9 mph should be plenty when bottom bouncing for walleye

[DirkDiggler]

Hey Mustang, it sound like you are doing everything correct and everyone is going to have their own go to rigging and bait setup. This year so far I have had really good luck using salted minnows or even small Gulp Minnows. Your rigging sounds simmilar to mine I have found so far this year that any type of pattern using red has done well (red/yellow 5 diamond, green blade with red accents) all of which had a silver underside on the spinner. I do use a single snelled obviously barbless hook and then add a type of stinger hook and hook the smelt just up from the tail. Also a friend showed me a trick so that you do not lose as many smelt do to bite off's. After you have hooked you minnow, stick your hook through a small clipping of a rubber band this will stop your bait from sliding back off of the barbless hook. I have found that at times we have caugh upwards of 80% of the Walleye as well as Pike on the stinger hook. Troll just fast enough that you have good action on your spinner blade as well as what ever bait you are using, find taht good Walleye structure and then hit it hard. I have been catching Walleye in as little as 6' of water this year and just a couple days ago in as much as 14'. I do enjoy jigging but I do like covering more lake with bottom bouncing.

[nicemustang]

What about leader length?

So do you guys use a snelled hook (with or without another hook or stinger), then 4-5 beads, then spinner then another bead?

[DirkDiggler]

4' of streemer line with a couple of beads then a spinner then another few beads or two(repeat again if you want two blades) then a single snelled hook with or with out a stinger hook also tied on.

[rattler]

Hey Stang!

I use bouncing a lot. Some things to try are not to go in a straight line while trolling. This way when you turn the inside rod slows down and the outside rod speeds up. pay attention to which rod is getting the bite and adjust your presentation accordingly. another thing is don't be afraid to pump your rod while bouncing giving the bait eradic (sp) movements. really make sure that your bouncer is close to the bottom, within inches. I just drop my rod back slightly to feel the bouncer touch the bottom. I use sliding weights on a quick change clevis not the traditional "L" shaped bouncer weights.This year S. Alberta has been a dog's breakfast for fishing walleye for me. Hopefully the rest of the summer it will get better!

Cheers!

Geoff

[nicemustang]

Agree, can't get much worse. Central AB has been be great though!

[209x50]

I've pulled spinners for years and I have a resume that proves I might have an idea on this. First shorten your leader to 2' sometimes shorter if the bottom is weedy. Second 1 to 1.5 mph is about right. Work sharp breaks pay attention to the bottom feel, rocks are hot right now. I use minnows on the spinners from ice out to ice up. Hammered gold blades in sunny clear water, firetiger in in dark and dirty. All chart beads or alternate with orange beads. Any bouncer works as long as it weighs 2 oz.

[pikester]

The only way I have had luck with bottom bouncers is to speed up. I usually fish 15-18 ft with a 3oz bouncer which allows you to run @ 1.5-1.7 mph. Off this I run a 3ft fluoro leader & a hatchet blade spinner. This doesn't work all the time obviously, especially during a cold front etc. but works often enough to keep me going back to it! This is an admittedly aggresive presentation but when the water is warm (late July to first part of Sept.) or in the fall when the fish are starting to binge it works more often than doesn't. Also a key to success is turn & twist erratically, like Rattler suggests. I didn't realise how important this was until fishing with my uncle-in-law in Saskatchewan who is a walleye expert; he's got it to a fine art.

[nicemustang]

Thanks you guys, all great tips. This is a reason why the forum is so good. I was in the right ball park but have many things to fix and try. I'll have to head to a walleye hotspot this weekend to try some techniques out where I KNOW there is fish. Then I'll try a bunch of stuff and see what works!

Appreciate all the help guys. Still wouldn't mind seeing a pic or two in my PM box to visually see what you're beads looks like.

[bardfromedson]

if blades are not working try throwing on a spin and glo. you can pull them a little slower than blades if the fish are biting slow but they have more flash than a plain ol lindy set up. they seem to work good for me. dropped one in at tobin last month in water that was black as black. as soon as it hit bottom and started to spin i nailed a nice 12 pound eye. as far as the best speed just watch your blade beside the boat. if its not spinning very good its too slow. if your getting line twists its too fast or you have a bad swivel./set up. i have had blades out along side cranks at over 2 miles an hour. you need to use more of a willow style blade and a well balenced set up(propper line wt, bead and hook size and good swivels). sometimes the faster the better. if slower is the trick give the spin and glo a try.
x2 on hammered blades. gold silver and copper are my go to blades whenever i start. they throw more flash than any other blade which is key when the fish are hungry. if your not having luck with blades make a trip up to slave. if you can't catch 100 a day pulling spinners your doing something wrong.

[floppychicken]

As far as Bouncing or even pulling Cranks, So far I've had MORE success going FAST than going 'slow'. I just came back from 40 mile and same thing there.... Slow produced SFA and going fast had the Walleye hitting WAY better,although a contradiction in terms considering HOW BAD the fishing was..:mad0100:

Anyway, I tried the 3oz B.B. and it worked a helluva' lot better at 2mph+ than did 'slow retrieve's'. Also, ripping cranks quickly through brackish water (off shallow points) in 5'-8' FOW seemed the 'BEST' way to actually hook-up those Walleye.... They were SUPER AGGESSIVE which makes me believe that INDEED the 'SLOW PRESENTATION' was just,... 'too slow'.

I think more often it is a case of those Walters getting 'too good' of a look at the offering and deciding against it. Sometimes 'QUICKER' is just better because they have to make the decision before it 'gets away'.. so to speak. I also find this is true of PIKE. Sometimes I've trolled as fast as 5 or 6 KPH to get finicky Gators to hit.

I like the 3-way swivel a bit better now, using 2' - 6lb mono drops for the weights and 10-12lb Pro for the leads (3' - 5') and same for the main line. Power Pro for 'Main line' is great too. Either way, I lose the sinker/weight before I lose the rig and that keeps costs down considerably. It seems to me that the '3-way' swivel method is better for 'feel' as well.

Cheers,

[Cal]

Not sure what your problem is Mustang. I use bottom bouncers and spinners extencively and find its pretty hard to do it wrong. About the only mistake I've found is going too slow so that the spinner is dragging on the bottom, if I'm going realy slow I'll use a plain hook or floating jig head instead of a spinner. The only reason I use a bottom bouncer over a barrel sinker in these cases is cause I can just clip them onto a snap swivle so I can switch to jigs or cranks quickly.

My spinner recipe is as follows: Clevis and spinner (clevis is vital if your not using one) havnt realy found a spinner color that doesnt work but brass and chartruse are my favorites, enough beads that there is a little more space between your hook and clevis than your blade is long. I find the bead color to be almost negligable but I use yellow and orange mostly, #4-#2 baitholder hooks or two #6 baitholders for a worm harness. I bait them with whatever I have handy but usualy night crawlers or "gulp" baits as fish seem to have a harder time stealing them than frozen minows. When the water is very dirty I find the chartruse gulp curly tail grubs can realy shine.

[nicemustang]

Ok guys, thx again. I think I'm using too long of leader and to small of weight. I do get tangles sometimes so maybe it's too fast. It's something I want to master this summer. Hopefully I can get out and give it a shot this weekend. I guess I may need a heavier stiffer rod too, all my fast action tip rods might not be the right choice either.

What do you guys use for rods?

[DirkDiggler]

Medium action works fine.

[Cal]

med action spinning or baitcast.