Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
Most anglers will probably agree that hooking-up on a surface popper is one of the most exciting ways to catch a fish. There’s something we all really like about working a lure across the top of the water and having something come up and attack it from underneath. The sight, the sound, the explosion and seeing the fish stick it’s head out of the water to eat what you have on the end of your line is really something special that’s pretty tough to get tired of experiencing.
But regardless of how we would “like” to catch a fish, anglers know that there will always be times when, in order to get a bite, they’ll need to get their baits or lures “a little” or sometimes “a lot” below the surface, and while fishing deep might sometimes be as simple as adding an ounce or two of lead to the line, there will also be situations when “getting-down” will require a measure of out-of-the-box thinking and some unique rigging to get to the right depth.
Anyone who spends much time fishing from a bridge, pier, or anchored boat knows that the speed of the current is the number-one factor that will determine how easy or difficult it is to get a bait down. If there’s no current, even an unweighted bait will sink straight down to the bottom. Add movement to the water and pressure on the bait and the line will move the bait in more of a horizontal rather then vertical direction. If the flow of water is strong enough it can become extremely difficult to get a bait to do anything but ride back with the current and suspend itself high in the water column.
Using heavier lures or adding weight to the line in the form of sinkers or splitshot will often overcome the forces of the current, but sometimes, due to the nature of the bait, lure or the type of fishing being done, such an easy fix won’t cut it and anglers will need to get a little creative to make things work. As I mentioned in this column a couple weeks ago when I was discussing “currents,” one way to get down in a strong flow of water is to cast into it. If you’re able to make a long cast up-current and retrieve your line at a speed that about matches the flow, for at least a short while your offering will sink as if there were no current at all. The drawbacks are that the angler will only have a short window to get a bite before their bait or lure reaches them and they have to recast, not to mention the fact that, since fish typically face into the current, a down current retrieve will have the offering flying into the face of the fish you’re trying to catch. As many predators aren’t accustomed to being aggressively approached by their prey, a down-current retrieve might tend to spook more fish than it hooks.
Bottom fishermen around the globe have fallen in love with braided line not just because of it’s sensitivity but also because the ultra thin diameter will greatly help to resist the lifting forces of the current. Thin braided line allows anglers to use less weight and fish at depths they could not even consider using monofilament or Dacron line. Anglers can also gain a little bit of advantage by tapering or scaling down the size of the bait they’re using and then rigging it on the hook in such a way that it slips more easily through the water.
One of the difficulties of getting a bait to the bottom, particularly in deep water, is having it arrive there without getting all tangled or twisted up during the decent. The problem is especially evident when anglers are trying to get their bait down to a wreck or reef from a drifting boat. With a long way to go and a short time to get it there, anglers will typically want to free-spool down as quickly as they can. Unfortunately, during a quick drop, baits will often want to spin and create a tangled up mess by the time they finally hit the bottom. Anglers making such long, fast drops will find best results when the hooks they are using are set off the line on relatively short and stiff leaders or dropper loops that will prevent the bait from contacting the line on the way down. As I already mentioned, baits should be cut and hooked in such a way that they are not prone to spinning.
This problem also occurs when anglers are trying to send large offerings such as shark baits down to the bottom. With the sinker either on the line or the leader above the bait, during the drop the heavy lead will be the first part of the terminal tackle to fall, with the rest of the rig trailing along for the ride. If the bait is spinning on a quick decent, it can twist up around the fishing line and create a mess that the angler won’t realize is there until they either check their line to find out why they aren’t catching anything, or actually get a bite and end up breaking it off as soon as it all comes tight. The best way to avoid such problems is to keep at least 20 to 30-feet of separation between the bait and the sinker and then send the rig down at a relatively slow speed.
Another way to get a fairly big bait and leader down without tangles is to use a “trolley rig” which involves attaching a sinker to a line and casting it down current to wherever you want your bait to sit. A leader that has a snap swivel on one end and the baited hook at the other is then snapped to the fishing line and allowed to slide down the line to the sinker. This rig allows anglers to get a big bait and long leader (that they would not easily be able to cast) out and away from the boat or pier without it getting tangled up.
The many ways to troll deep include using a downrigger, planer, trolling sinkers, diving plugs or heavy lead jigs. All of these methods can be used successfully but none of them will work with all fish in all places. Some of this specialized tackle is not as easy to use as one might think and anglers should be prepared to endure a bit of a learning curve before they can expect to become proficient at catching fish with it.
Although most anglers will rank surface fishing as the most enjoyable way to get a fish on the line, whether their quarry is tuna offshore, sea bass on a reef or rockfish in the bay, sometimes you just got to do what you got to do to get your bait in the face of a fish, and very often that means breaking out the lead and going deep!
Capt. Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and captain of the charter boat, “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.
