Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
Sooner or later every fisherman is going to have a need to drop a bait down deep to the bottom of whatever puddle they’re fishing in that day. But whether flounder fishing, shark fishing, chunking for tuna, wreck fishing or sending a line to a tilefish living in a muddy hole in 50-fathoms of water - just getting the bait and terminal tackle from the surface to the sea floor, or anywhere in-between, can be challenging enough. Delivering it tangle-free and on target so that there is actually a chance of catching a fish can be downright frustrating!
Every bottom fisherman should know that using the right amount of weight is just as important as having the proper bait on the hook, because if the sinker isn’t doing an adequate job of getting the rig to the fish, it doesn’t matter what someone has on their hook – it’s not going to “get bit!” Anglers should always strive to use just enough weight to get their rig to the bottom, or to their desired depth. The problem with too much weight is that it can hamper the anglers ability to feel a delicate bite, it can spook some fish more than a small weight would, it can be too much for some light rods to handle and it’s an extra expense every time someone loses their terminal tackle to a snag. But since too little weight won’t allow anglers to get their bait to the fish at all, if anglers are forced to choose between too light or too heavy a weight, it would be better to go a little heavy because at least they’ll know that their bait is getting down to where it needs to be.
Rarely as simple as tying on a sinker and throwing the reel in free-spool, getting a line to the bottom is all about counteracting the effects of the current. Imagine fishing in a small pond where there is zero current; whatever goes in the water is always going to sink pretty much straight down because there’s no force to push it anywhere else. Therefore, sinkers in a small pond only serve the purpose of getting a bait down faster or assisting anglers when they need to cast a light bait. But in virtually every other watery environment, a current will be present and the sinker is there primarily to counteract the force of the water on the bait, terminal tackle and most importantly – the line.
Keeping all that in mind, one should understand that when trying to “hold bottom,” if adding weight is not an option or maybe not practical for the type of fishing they’re doing, anglers might consider tactics such as streamlining their rig, using smaller bait or changing to a thin, braided line that won’t be affected so much by the flow of water.
Knowing when to add or sometimes subtract weight is critical to effective bottom fishing. A common error anglers often make when sending their line down from a drifting boat is to keep letting line out, and out and out until the line coming off their rod tip is almost horizontal. Just like when fishing from an anchored boat, while fishing from a drifting boat the line should always be going more “down” than “out”, and if it’s not then more weight needs to be added, otherwise the angler is not going to be in contact with the bottom and is certainly not going to feel, or probably get, any bites.
One way or the other, it’s critically important for bottom fishermen to find out if their sinker is holding the bottom by periodically raising and lowering their rod tip. If all is well, they should feel the sinker come off the sea floor and then “ker-plunk” back down on it. If they don’t feel the sinker hitting the bottom, they can try letting out a little more line to see if the sinker will find its way to where it needs to be, then it should be checked again in just a few minutes to see if the current again lifted it up. At that point, if the sinker still isn’t staying in constant contact with the bottom, it’s time to add weight and get on with catching some fish.
Most “bottom rigs” are designed to deliver a bait (or baits) down quickly, without anything getting tangled during the descent. But it can get tricky when anglers find themselves faced with the dilemma of trying to get something other than a standard bottom rig down to the bottom. The long leaders, big baits and heavy lines often used by offshore fishermen don’t always want to act right when they’re sent down in deep water with a big weight.
The biggest problem with trying to drop down a big bait on a long leader is getting it to the bottom without it fouling on the way down. Because the weight will fall first and essentially drag the bait, leader and line down with it, the leader and bait will often want to wrap and twist around the fishing line during the descent. The angler often won’t know that they’re fishing with a tangled up mess at the end of the line until they bring it back up, or unless by chance, they manage to get a bite and when the line comes tight around the leader it breaks.
One way to get a big bait and leader down without it tangling up is to first send the bait back 20-40 feet behind the boat and then attach the weight directly to the fishing line with either a rubber band or some sort of clip. Then, by free-spooling the weight down at a moderate speed, the terminal tackle should stay far enough back from the vertical part of the fishing line that it won’t foul on it. A weight can be easily added to a line by first looping a rubber band to it and then looping the rubber band over the line. I should note, however, that we’ve recently found that a more convenient way to attach a sinker to a line is to first tie a short piece of line to it and attach the other end of the line to a “Balloon Fisher King” balloon clip. After that, the weight can be easily clipped on and off the line as needed.
Another way to get a bait down is to use a sliding egg sinker directly on the fishing line. Once again, the bait should first be let out 20-40 feet from the boat and then the egg sinker is rubber-banded in position with a small, thin rubber band before being lowered down to the desired depth. When a fish bites and the line is pulled tight, the rubber band should break and allow the egg sinker to slide down the line stopping at the swivel. This method is commonly used by anglers while chunking for tuna, but it will work for sharks or other types of fish as well. If extra weight is needed, anglers will find that it’s easy enough to simply add additional egg sinkers to the line.
If every fish would bite up on the surface anglers wouldn’t need to mess with sinkers and all the problems associated with using them. But since “going-deep” is often the only way to catch certain fish, anglers would do well to always have a good supply of sinkers on hand and few special tricks up their sleeves for putting them to effective use.
Captain Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and captain of the charter boat “Fish Finder”.
