Yeah it was 10-11 feet. It's gonna take a few outings to get use to having to fish with my float that deep. Casting and control. Thing was, I was not in the position to get a good cast or drift. But next time I know. Lol
Wasnt there .... so,
Aside from the chance of getting a lot of snags,
Bottom Bouncing works extremely well in Deep Water. (
No float)
Take in mind, this perspective comes from a NON- CENTRE PIN (Float Drifter).
I dont know the Saug that well. But it does have some great "Sandy bottom" runs.
Perfect for Bottom bouncing.
Food for thought.
PS: Believe or not, I have seen quite a few "Pinners" go to bottom bouncing when needed.
The Whirlpool & Niagara offer the challenge of VERY DEEP drifting as well.
Bouncing Bottom
The northern tributaries of Lake Superior are cold flows, rich with rock. Gravel and sandy spawning areas can be found mixed in with the rocks. These areas are perfect for the beginning stages of steelhead reproduction. In both the big and small rivers these cold, fast, clear conditions are ideal for a bottom bouncing angler. During early spring when water conditions are high and murky I especially like to bounce. I can get the bait down into the strike zone much easier rather than with a float. There are several options to use when bottom bouncing but the most common setup and my first choice is a three-way swivel with a short two to six inch dropper line to a pencil sinker. A two to three foot leader is then tied to the remaining eye on the swivel. When I do plan on bouncing bottom, I always bring 15-20 pencil sinker with me in 1 – 1 ½ oz weight and a set of side cutters. The side cutters are used to trim my pencil weights to the exact size needed for a perfect bounce. A perfect bounce isn’t continuously slamming bottom but it is a rather gentle tap every couple seconds. Your bait is just kind of ticking along bottom, drifting downstream with all the other food. Be prepared to tie a ton of knots. Better yet, start at home before you even go by pre-tying 8-10 inch pieces of monofilament to your pencil sinkers the night before. This will save you one knot each time you break off your sinker lead and trust me that one less knot is nice especially on cold days. The right length for bouncing is in the 8-10 foot range with a soft, sensitive tip and some much needed backbone for turning fish. Reels should have a super smooth drag with a high line capacity for the long, fast runs a steelhead will take. Another asset a quality steelhead reels possess is a high gear ratio. The high gear ratio will help you catch up to a hot fish that changes direction several times at high speed. A Shimano Stradic Fi in the 2500 or 3000 size is a great choice for bouncing and pairs up nice on almost any rod. Bouncing bottom is definitely an art form. It takes a ton of practice but once you get the “feel†down steelhead don’t stand a chance. Superior steelhead are suckers for bounced roe, flies, worms and several artificial baits.
How About A Little Bottom Bouncing?
By Trevor Kugler
Whenever you wet a line in a river in an attempt to catch any fish, whether it's a trout, a small mouth, a walleye, or whatever kind of fish you're attempting to catch, the bottom is your friend. This fact is often overlooked by anglers, and it shouldn't be. My mentor used to say, "If you're not getting snagged, you're not fishing in the right place." I have found this point to be true in almost all river fishing situations. When I say river fishing situations, I'm referring to wading in a river attempting to fool a fish into biting your offering. I'm not referring to sitting in a boat trolling, although that fact was probably self explanatory.
When you are wading in a river doing what I described above, the goal is to have your bait bounce off of the bottom as it flows naturally downstream. And too accomplish this; the angler must adjust the amount of weight that is used. Too much weight and the offering will get snagged on the bottom. Too little weight and the offering will simply float over the bottom as it flows downstream, and look anything but natural. In the second case the angler never gets snagged, but catches very few fish as well. This is the reason that my mentor would say, "If you're not getting snagged, you're not fishing in the right place."
This is exactly why I say the bottom is your friend. Although in reality, the bottom is not only your friend, but also your worst enemy. Because when you go through those stretches when you've gotten snagged and had to break off and retie six times in a row, the bottom seems like anything but your friend.
The important thing to remember is that like most things in life, nothing remedies getting snagged like practice. The more 'bottom bouncing' you do the better you will get at it. And the better you get at it, you will not only get snagged less, but you will also catch more fish. Once you figure out the little nuances of 'bottom bouncing' you wont believe how effective the technique really is.
Bouncing the bait off of the bottom in a river or stream fishing situation is as good a technique as I've ever seen. If you really sit and think about it, it's as natural a presentation as there is. I've been using this technique for years and it flat out works!
