Bottom bouncer vs. bell sinker

[REW]

On a recent Canadian fishing trip, I ran into a situation, that I had never encountered before.

I was using a pencil style bottom weight, with a wire out the bottom of the weight. It worked great to have the bait where I wanted it to be.

My friend was using a bell sinker for the same reason. He was out fishing me by a wide margin.

I first changed my terminal spinners and beads to the same color that he was using. I noticed a slight improvement.

I was trying to see if there was anything different about our rigs, when I realized that we were using different sinkers. So, I switched from the pencil sinker - bottom bouncer style sinker to a bell sinker.

Immediate change in results. I then begin to out fish my friend.
I chatted with him for a minute and he had asked how long it was going to be before I changed my sinker. The area of Canada where we fish largely has a rock bottom. As a result, when using a bell sinker, the sinker is always knocking on the rocks as we go over them. Not so the pencil sinker which just scrapes the wire end on the rocks.

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So, if you happen to be fishing a rocky bottom with bottom bouncers and find that someone is out fishing you with a bell or Lindy style sinker - change your sinker first and see what happens.

REW

[Catch'nRelease]

Interesting. You seem to attribute the better performance of the bell sinker on a rocky bottom to the fact that it was "knocking on the rocks". Does that mean you believe the eyes were attracted to the sound the bell sinker was making? Otherwise I don't know why there would be much of a difference if you were able to keep the bait where you wanted it to be while using the bottom bouncer. Any other theories? Could the bell sinker possibly have caused the bait to have a little different action that the fish preferred at that particular time? Or maybe there was a slight difference in the depth of the bait between the two?

P.S. I'm curious what would have been your experience if you had tried using the new Northland stainless steel stick bouncer. I just bought a couple and will be trying them out next weekend.

[danforth]

I have seen this more than once where the sinker knocking the rocks or bottom will cause fish to come and investigate, where I live we fish as close as 15-20 ft. behind the boat in 3-5 ft of water due to the boat churning up the water thus making a food trail ect.

[REW]

Catch,
I am virtually positive that the difference was the knocking of the sinkers on the rocks.

I am quite sure that the bait action was the same and that the depth was the same.

So, the only difference was the wire sliding on the rocks, or the sinker
banging on the rocks.

If, on the other hand, you were working a soft mud bottom, I would guess that you would be much better off with the bottom bouncer, because it wouldn't be getting stuck in the mud as easily as the bottom bouncer.

REW

[adempsey]

What about resistance? A Lindy set-up using a slip sinker would offer little resistance when the bait is taken. In a bouncer set-up the line is fixed to the bouncer, so when the bait is taken there is resistance.

I don't disagree with the noise making though. It's widely accepted to attract fish.

I picked up some of those stainless steel Slick Stick pencil weights to try this year. The best of both worlds =).

[eriksat1]

The main reason I went to bottom bouncers was because of snags, if I am getting even wire bottom bouncers snagged once in a while in the rocks a bell sinker would be snagged up in no time.

[octanehi5]

If it is sound get a noise making worm harness,or rattleing bait. the bell will get hung up more often

[Winnie]

Originally Posted by adempsey

What about resistance? A Lindy set-up using a slip sinker would offer little resistance when the bait is taken. In a bouncer set-up the line is fixed to the bouncer, so when the bait is taken there is resistance.

I don't disagree with the noise making though. It's widely accepted to attract fish.

I picked up some of those stainless steel Slick Stick pencil weights to try this year. The best of both worlds =).

I don't think it would make a difference catching fish, but this weekend I was pulling Slow Death rigs on two rods. One had a 1 oz pencil bb, the other about a three-way rig with a 2' dropper and a 1 oz bell sinker. The bottom was pretty soft, so there wasn't much clanking into rocks, but the bell sinker had noticeably less drag than the bb.

I wonder how a disk shaped sinker would work. I would think the shape would make is less likely to snag in rocks than a bell shaped sinker. I think the thin profile would also offer less resistance than a bell. As a result, you might be able to get by with less weight in some cases. Has anyone used these kind of weights for 3-way rigging?

[Litchfieldwalleye]

I make 3-way sinkers out of 1/2 oz. 'ultra steel' bullet weights. They can be stacked to any weight needed (I use them from 1 oz. up to 3oz.). I use any 15# multi-strand wire (coated or uncoated), crimp the bottom below a bead (hard to see in photo, but a bead is above the crimp), and the top is looped, where a barrel swivel serves as the terminal attachment point. Cheap to make. They clack on rocks nicely, and resist snagging well, as they are flexible.

[dan cardinal]

REW...makes sense to me to use what is working. Obviously a bell sinker may get hung a few more times, but if it is making a significant difference in the catch ratio...then getting hung occasionally goes with it. Does these results mean a bell sinker is going to out perform a BB all the time? Absolutely not! There are bottom features and speeds that are always going to lend to a BB. My guess is, in your particular situation, you probably were utilizing a slower, more controlled drift or troll which lended to the bell sinker being the best choice.
I would agree...the bell sinker was creating more disturbance that was causing the walleye to come investigate. The same sometimes applies to jig head weight. While the preference most of the time is to use the lightest weight jig you can get away with, there are times when using a heavier jig where you would normally prefer a light jig can trigger more strikes.