As the walleyes will undoubtedly be heading to deeper water with the weather warming up at some point, I started thinking about heavy bottom bouncers again. I always wanted something heavier than the 4 ozers I drop off the side of the boat when running crawler harnesses. In deeper water, they tend to drop back farther and have at times gotten tangled in my board lines when dropping down the 2 oz Bass Pro keel weights before attaching the inline boards.
In order to combat this I have even made my own 7 oz bb’s, by adding three 1 oz rubber core sinkers on the shaft above the weight of a 4 oz bouncer. This was done by stripping out the rubber, and clamping them on the shaft with a pair of pliers. They worked and with good results, but I would have had to buy more 4 oz bb’s or convert the ones I had already to make something that just wasn’t quite what I really wanted.
So being the good lil’ computer fishing junkie I have become, I did what anyone else would do……I “Googled”. The neighbor and his brother are going to crack up because whenever we come up with an idea out or question on the boats we always say, “google it”.
Long story short, I found a website up in Dearborn that sells 8 oz unpainted fixed arm bottom bouncers. The name of the site makes perfect sense too, bottombouncers.com . I had to pick up a dozen last Friday to get me started. They also make a 6 oz version and every other size you can think of along with keel weights for trolling.
8 oz next to a 4 oz bb
Not only will they be what I wanted for fishing in deeper water out on Erie, or when I go to Au Gres in Saginaw Bay, they should be just right for dropping down in the Detroit River the spring bite next year. The name of the game is control, the greater control you have of your lures, the easier the fishing will be.
2 painted black
Sidenote: I got a call today from the owner Brian on Saturday, just making sure he had the info for the order right. That’s good customer service, and to top it off, he makes the big boys per order. If you are need of some good Michigan made lead, check the site out, he is laid off right now, and can get the orders made up and shipped out quick.