Our Outdoors: Summer Bounce
By Nick Simonson
With the rapid warm-up over the past week and the unofficial start to the summer season in the books, it’s tough not to think about longer days, humid evenings and the slow tick-tick-tick of the metal peg on a bottom bouncer dragging along the substrate of a favorite walleye lake. While normally I turn to trolling as a last resort for my fishing activities, the deployment of dozens of favorite spinners I’ve crafted behind a bottom bouncer is a nice compromise between dragging crankbaits and simply watching the rod tip wiggle and jigging for fish. It seems for this rapidly beginning summer after our particularly long winter I have a few extra dozens of them to work with, and that’s a good thing.
That’s because a bottom bouncer provides an idea of what’s going on below, and a reliable connection to the underwater world, while allowing for the added excitement of feeling the thump of a fish and telegraphing the first round of the fight. On that first take and the dip of the rod tip toward the fish – hopefully a walleye but sometimes a nice perch here and there as well – there’s always a sense of excitement that a school has been found and a return trip over the area will be worth it and add to the day’s catch in the livewell.
While it doesn’t always come with a transition in the lake bottom, more often than not when the steady drag of the lead-and-metal weight below turns into a skipping, ticking, bump in the gravel and rocks scattered below, a bite isn’t often far behind, and that’s when bottom bouncer trolling becomes fun. Having that added facet of being able to feel and confirm what’s posted up on the sonar screen, be it that harder bottom or the occasional rock which likely provides a holding point for fish, is a great draw for this form of angling. In turn, the added physical connection to the underwater world tacks on an element of control to the situation and completes the available sensory elements which help anglers make sense of their presentations and how, where and why fish react the way they do to them.
In the end, trolling spinners or other rigs for walleyes is a proven method to catch fish, particularly as they become more aggressive and waters warm in the summer. Additionally, it adds some action to the lazier angling effort of trolling, providing a hands-on element and the ability to feel and control a reaction to that first bite. Whether it’s a simple slow-death rig with its spinning chunk of nightcrawler or the whirring of a large Colorado blade ahead of a whole one on a three-hook harness, bottom bouncers put favorite summertime walleye offerings in front of fish where they are feeding during the heart of the warm water season. If you haven’t already, consider adding these to your repertoire this season, or try out a variety of different offerings, blade styles, bait options and the many different tweaks bottom bouncer fishing allows for. Whether trolled relatively fast amidst a schooled frenzy of fish or worked slowly along a rocky reef for scattered walleyes, bottom bouncers can be quite versatile.
Put all the pieces of the puzzle together as spring becomes summer, walleyes transition to their mid-season openwater patterns, and you compile various spinners and setups to try out behind the metal clip on these specialized weights. In time, you’ll likely find the arrangement, pattern, speeds, and special locations that make your summer fishing better behind the drag and tick of a well-deployed bottom bouncer…in our outdoors.
