Bouncing Balls 4 butts

Qicky
What wt. / oz balls or torpedoes etc and speed. Are you bouncing when trolling and or drifting for butts? Mind you this to keep your line at relatively 90*
Thanks

J. Ice

Way too many variables in this one. Water depth, drift speed or troll speed, line diameter, drag from flasher/lure/bait etc.

I usually drift, but sometimes troll and anywhere from 10-100 feet depths. I have a selection of weight from 1 oz to 10 oz in even numbers (2,4,6,8,10) and adjust based upon conditions.

I think the shallowest I’ve caught a cal hali was maybe 5 feet deep at the most and my deepest was around 120 feet.

Like 3$J said, way too many variables. 

I typically carry 3-4-6-8oz weights to use depending on current, speed, depth, and wind.  Speeds depend on trolling or drifting.  Rods and line rigs use different weights too. 

Wow! Out side of wat to many variables, I was figuring weights in excess of 10oz. I've fished 8-10 at OP drifting in15-20'+-
Typically fishing 30lb braid, single 6" flasher tandem hook rig on 6-10" bait.
Fishing at 50'+ at 1-2mph slow paddle w/ 17oz my line is at maybe at 45*+  catching lings and rock fish but not confident on the bounce. I play with my scope but figure I need more weight.
Thoughts?
 2 4 1 pic. Sliding snelled nose hook with treble trailer.
These guys must have had been competing. They both lost!

10 oz torpedo works with a fair amount of current 20- 100 ft or so.
Slow troll.
Lighter weight for shallower calm conditions

 
Cool and thanks. Is my angle a symptom of going to fast, not enough weight, or scope / line out?

When trolling I usually go straight to a 12oz or 16oz. The bigger weights give u a better bounce. If I'm drifting I will use the smallest weight I can get away with, something between 2-8 Ozs

I troll using a 16oz ball. That keeps the line pretty vertical down to about 20’. Instead of dragging like a lighter weight the heavier ball sticks in the mud causing it to bounce upon release. The constant bouncing gives your bait or lure a little more action, and it can reduce the amount weeds that are picked up.

That being said I wouldn’t say it’s any more successful than other trolling methods, and I have been having good results with swimbaits. My last time out I trolled for half the time, and drifted swimbaits for the other half. Not a bite trolling,  1 keeper, and 2 takedowns with the swimbaits

2-3 oz for live bait drifting, ocassionally 5 or 8 depending on current, 8 for trolling, up to 30ft. but rarely do I fish in that depth for this tasty species...

2-3 oz for live bait drifting, ocassionally 5 or 8 depending on current, 8 for trolling, up to 30ft. but rarely do I fish in that depth for this tasty species...

Is that so??
We need to have a competition for shallowest depth Hali landed.

2-3 oz for live bait drifting, ocassionally 5 or 8 depending on current, 8 for trolling, up to 30ft. but rarely do I fish in that depth for this tasty species...

Is that so??
We need to have a competition for shallowest depth Hali landed.

Hmmm...I'll take you up on that, I'm scared of less than 6ft deep but i believe if you show me, maybe mid May?

2-3 oz for live bait drifting, ocassionally 5 or 8 depending on current, 8 for trolling, up to 30ft. but rarely do I fish in that depth for this tasty species...

Is that so??
We need to have a competition for shallowest depth Hali landed.

Hmmm...I'll take you up on that, I'm scared of less than 6ft deep but i believe if you show me, maybe mid May?

Well if I see you guys hanging out in 5 feet of water all day I’ll know why haha

I troll using a 16oz ball. That keeps the line pretty vertical down to about 20’. Instead of dragging like a lighter weight the heavier ball sticks in the mud causing it to bounce upon release. The constant bouncing gives your bait or lure a little more action, and it can reduce the amount weeds that are picked up.

That being said I wouldn’t say it’s any more successful than other trolling methods, and I have been having good results with swimbaits. My last time out I trolled for half the time, and drifted swimbaits for the other half. Not a bite trolling,  1 keeper, and 2 takedowns with the swimbaits

So what’s the technique w/ drifting with swimbaits? Maybe I’m not using heavy enough jig heads but it’s hard for me to feel the bottom so with any amount of current I’m not confident I know where my bait is swimming if you get my drift. I think I was using like a 2oz head with a 5” hammer. Something like that. Is that what you use?

2-3 oz for live bait drifting, ocassionally 5 or 8 depending on current, 8 for trolling, up to 30ft. but rarely do I fish in that depth for this tasty species...

Is that so??
We need to have a competition for shallowest depth Hali landed.

Hmmm...I'll take you up on that, I'm scared of less than 6ft deep but i believe if you show me, maybe mid May?

Well if I see you guys hanging out in 5 feet of water all day I’ll know why haha

So far, my shallowest legal Hali landed from kayak was in 8ft.
Two years ago, I hooked into two legal ones in less than 5ft throwing lures from shore.
So it’s possible. 

I troll using a 16oz ball. That keeps the line pretty vertical down to about 20’. Instead of dragging like a lighter weight the heavier ball sticks in the mud causing it to bounce upon release. The constant bouncing gives your bait or lure a little more action, and it can reduce the amount weeds that are picked up.

That being said I wouldn’t say it’s any more successful than other trolling methods, and I have been having good results with swimbaits. My last time out I trolled for half the time, and drifted swimbaits for the other half. Not a bite trolling,  1 keeper, and 2 takedowns with the swimbaits

So what’s the technique w/ drifting with swimbaits? Maybe I’m not using heavy enough jig heads but it’s hard for me to feel the bottom so with any amount of current I’m not confident I know where my bait is swimming if you get my drift. I think I was using like a 2oz head with a 5” hammer. Something like that. Is that what you use?

I use 3oz jig heads but have the same problem when going against the current which is why I spend an equal amount of time trolling. I did find some nice 6oz  jig heads and I will be giving them a try when we can get back on the water.

I use the John Skinner Fluke method (YouTube) that consists of the swim bait (5” Hammer) on the bottom and a drop shot (Berkley Gulp) a couple of feet up on a 5’ leader. I drop to the bottom an reel up a little and the just do a slow up and down. If my arm needs a break I just let it drift 1’-2’ off the bottom. One of the other benefits is that they catch keeper sized fish. I don’t think I caught any shakers on swimbaits last year. My average size was 24”-26” the largest was 30.5”. I have read that it is best to use dark colors in dirty water, and lighter colors in the cleaner water. I go out from Ferry Point most of the time but have had similar results at Paradise, Tomales, and ARW. I think some use spinning rods to cast them out and then bounce them in but I haven’t tried that method yet.