Sinkers May Be Stinkers, But Lead Is Far From Dead

Snap Weights—More versatile than leadcore, snap weights are easy on-off fasteners that grip the line without damaging it, holding an attached weight at a specific location, typically 50 feet ahead of a lure for most open-water trolling. Run your lure out 50 feet, attach the sinker size of your choice, let out enough additional line to reach the target depth, and troll. When you get a strike, reel in till the sinker comes within reach, then reach up and pop it off the line, fighting in the fish the last 50 feet unencumbered by an in-line weight. Should you wish to change sinker size, simply clip on another snap with a lighter or heavier weight. Best for suspended fish, snap weights may pop off the line on bottom contact.

Off Shore Tackle Snap Weights dominated the snap weight market for years. The recent addition of Church Tackle’s Mister Walleye Super Clip Drop Weights add a nonslip-grip clip for use with skinny superlines. Original snap weights grip mono tightly, but may require a second wrap around the clip or a backup snap-swivel attached to the line to prevent the snap weight from popping off superline on strike impact.

Most kits come with pencil-shaped or standard trolling sinkers (no bead chain or swivel), though virtually any sinker will work with snap weights, including heavyweight 3- to 6-ounce bell or round sinkers. Tight-gripping Wille Zonies can handle heavier sinkers of a pound or more for deep or fast trolling, or in heavy current.

Hop, Skip and a Bounce—Wire-legged bottom bouncers skip and bounce over rocks, logs, or clean bottom, and excel in situations requiring coverage or snag-resistance. They’re also used for slow trolling, drifting, or for presentations of 3/4 to 21⁄2 mph—fast enough to spin a spinner blade or wobble a minnow-imitating crankbait. To rig up, tie your main line to the bend in the wire form, then attach the looped end of a leader snell—plain, spinner, floater, whatever—to the snap or snap swivel at the top of the wire arm. The leader stretches back 3 or 4 feet to your bait or lure. Anything longer than that tends to drag a bait on bottom, increasing the possibility of foul-hooking debris or snags.

While 1-, 11⁄2-, and 2-ounce models dominate most drifting or slow-trolling conditions, they’re available lighter or heavier, from about 1/2 ounce up to over 3 ounces. Lake trout anglers fish deep water with 6-ounce Gapen Bottom Walkers. Anglers trolling Great Lakes basins for walleyes often skip heavyweight bouncers across bottom, though anything heavier than 3 ounces tends to sink planer boards when multiple lines are trolled.

Bouncers also can be fished nearly motionless, with just enough line out to touch bottom, dangling bait in front of a fish’s face. Use ‘em with plain snells (no spinners or hardware) just like a livebait rig. It may not be possible to feed much line to a biting fish, but you can drop your rod tip back toward a biter while the bouncer simultaneously pivots toward the fish, for at least 6 to 10 inches of give before setting the hook.