Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
I think that some folks are inclined to consider bottom fishing as a very simplistic form of fishing that requires no more skill than being able to put a piece of bait on a hook, send it down and wait for a bite. But such thinking would be akin to saying that marlin fishing involves nothing more than being able to drag rigged baits and lures behind a boat. In both cases, anyone who does it often will probably agree that there are indeed times when it might seem that easy, but most of the time there’s so much more to it than that.
Successful bottom fishing starts with getting the boat properly positioned over a productive location, and you can thank the captain and crew for that. But once they’re on location it’s all up to the anglers to do what needs to be done to get a fish to take their bait while avoiding the many of the following common mistakes so often made by novice bottom fishermen.
Don’t neglect your bait!
Fishing with good bait is important, but so often anglers go way too long without changing old bait, or don’t replace bait that has been nibbled down by crabs or small fish. It’s also not uncommon to see anglers bring up a two-hook bottom rig that’s missing a bait and send it back down with one hook still bare. Baits also have to be checked frequently to make sure that they haven’t been stolen off the hook. Anytime someone feels a few nibbles, and then “nothing”, they should give it maybe one minute and then check their bait to make sure that there is still something left on the hook. Fish don’t usually bite on bare hooks; so don’t be lazy about checking your bait.
Don’t cast!
If you’re anchored up over a wreck or reef, the last thing you want to do is drag your hooks across the structure and risk getting snagged. Casting across the structure only increases the chances of getting hung up. Wreck fishing for sea bass and tautog almost always requires that anglers drop straight down and bring their line back straight up. Casting from a drifting boat makes no sense at all, because to properly feel a bite you want your rig to be as straight down below you as possible, not way out in front of you. When fishing around other anglers, the chances of tangling up with someone greatly increases when an angler decides they need to cast.
Use the proper amount of weight.
To properly get a rig to the bottom and to be able to feel the bites and subtle nibbles of fish on their bait, anglers should strive to maintain a straight line from rod tip to sinker. To accomplish this, enough weight must be used so that the line can be tightened and kept straight against the current allowing the angler to feel their sinker bounce on the bottom anytime they lift and drop their rod tip. The weight of the sinker is determined by; the depth of the water, the strength of the current and the thickness of the fishing line. Braided line requires less weight than monofilament because it’s thinner. From an anchored boat, anglers should add weight anytime they note that the line leaves their rod tip at an angle rather than going straight down. Too much weight is better than not enough, but it can get costly when anglers find they’re losing a lot of lead due to snags.
You can’t catch fish unless your line is on the bottom!
Particularly with children, a common problem is that they’ll get a bite and immediately crank their line all the way to the surface thinking they might have a fish. Unfortunately, what they’ve done is pulled the bait away from whatever it was that was showing interest in their bait and also wasted fishing time by bringing it up and then sending it back down. When someone gets what they think is a good bite they should set the hook, keep their rod high and give their reel a couple of cranks, but then stop, or at least slow down the retrieve long enough so that they can verify that they have hooked a fish before cranking all the way to the surface. If a fish is not felt tugging at the other end, the rod tip should be quickly lowered and the bait allowed to settle back to the bottom to hopefully get a bite from the same or another fish. The flip side of that is getting a few bites, but not checking to see if the bait has been stolen, and end up fishing with no bait. Anglers just need to refrain from cranking immediately after the first bite.
Don’t rest the rod on the gunwale!
Successful bottom fishing requires that anglers stay in tune with what’s happening at the end of their line, which means being able to feel and if necessary, respond to, every bump, twitch, nibble and bite. With the rod resting on the side of the boat, these messages from below are going to be transmitted to the boat and not the anglers. The rod should touch nothing but the angler, and if he or she really wants to stay on top of their game they can keep a finger on the line coming off their reel just for a little “extra feel”.
Don’t keep letting out line!
While fishing from an anchored boat, once the weight hits the sea floor, 3 to 4-feet of extra line can be let out if you want your baits to sag closer to the bottom - but that’s all. Letting out more line than that only allows the current to put a huge bow in the line that will eventually prevent the angler from feeling any bites and probably tangle with others fishing close by. From a drifting boat letting out more and more line after hitting bottom only increases the odds of snagging bottom and will eventually have the fisherman out of line. Drift fishermen must also be ready to let out or bring in some line anytime they go over a change in depth. If the line coming off the rod tip is more horizontal than vertical - there’s way too much line out.
Captain Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and captain of the charter boat “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.