Bottom Bouncer Rods

[Sportland_Bait]

What are your favorite rods for pulling bottom bouncers? What action do you prefer, med. medium/heavy? I am thinking about something to pull 3/4oz up to 2 oz. and spinners. What do you guys like? Thanks.

Jason Erlandson

[Northlander]

O got some of the Gary Pasrons/Kieth K. bottom bouncer rods from bass pro shops and like them a lot for bouncers under 2-2.5oz. I find the 3 oz are a bit to heavy for the rod but you can still do it. The reel that came with the combo is ok at best. I like a reel with left hand retieve and a flippin switch and they had them in the combo so I got them. Overall I would give the combos a 7.5. Reels alone a 5 and rods alone a 9. They updated the reels now so I think that combo should be very nice now.

The trolling combos are well worth the money.

When Im trolling big bouncers in the 3oz plus range I have some telescoping board rods from gander that were cheap and work well. A bit long at times but on Lake Superior or bigger waters they are great. Team them up with some Diawa Sealine linecounter reels and they do double duty. Board rods as well as part time bouncer rods.

I played with the St. Croix Tourney series telescoping board rods

and I was very impressed with them and Ganders have them on sale now.

Play around with some rods and see what ya like. Bring a paper clip, 4-6' piece of 10-12# mono and a bottom bouncer of a weight you use a lot to the store. Tie paper clip on 1 end of line and bouncer on the other. Then grab rods and clip the paper clip onto the tip of the rods. See how they flex etc. and this will help choose a rod you like.

Let us know what you wind up with.

[PerchJerker]

For 3/4 to 2 ounce bouncers and spinners, I use 7 foot med power St. Croix rods. I prefer the extra sensitivity you get with graphite. And I prefer a stiffer graphite rod over a softer glass or graphite/glass combination trolling rod. And I prefer lighter rods, and a 7 foot graphite is plenty to hang on to for a long day of pulling bouncers.

I have a decent collection of specialized trolling rods but I only use them for planer boards or leadcore, for bouncers I stick with my 7 foot graphite rods.

I agree with using a baitcaster with a flippin' switch, it makes life much easier when pulling bouncers or 3-way rigs.

[DinkADunk]

I like a very fast action rod for bottom bouncers. I've been using some Salmon Hot Shot rod blanks for bottom bouncing I built a couple of medium-light, extra fast, Rainshadow blanks (medium-light for salmon is more like medium for a walleye) that I cut down to 7' and use some Abu C3's (w/thumb bar) for the reel. A very nice combination for up to 2 - 2 1/2 oz bottom bouncers. For heavier I'll using my trolling rods (Shimano Talora Med or a telescoping Batson blank)