First Class Delivery
by Ron Presley
There is no doubt about it, learning to bump a bait down the river will increase your catfishing success.
Bumping baits has been around for a long time and it is an extremely successful way to deliver the bait. The technique has evolved from only a few anglers using the technique to many anglers pursuing the technique today. The reason is obvious—bumping works!
The technique works because it helps anglers cover a lot of water and it delivers the bait to where the fish are. It’s fun because the angler holds the pole during the process and feels every bite.
Bumping or controlled drift fishing, as it is sometimes called, requires an angler to point the bow of the boat into the current and drift backward while feeding a baited hook downstream behind the boat. The process requires the angler to slow the drift to approximately one-half the current speed.
The pioneers of bottom bumping slowed the boat by dragging window weights, logging chains, or other creative solutions. Since modern, dependable trolling motors came on the market the ability to apply the bumping technique improved greatly. Now the slower drift can be accomplished much easier with a remote control trolling motor.
Rigging and Technique
B’n’M pro-staff anglers and tournament partners Michael Haney and Rodney Crimm are among the anglers that use the bumping technique when appropriate.
“Some people set and bump,” explained Haney. “We’ve always stood on the back of the boat. I think that’s the way it all developed originally. It is physically exhausting by the end of a full day of bumping, but you’re holding that pole when you get the bite. That makes me feel like I’m really fishing.”
When Haney and Crimm determine that bumping is the best technique for the day’s fishing they look for some slower current. Their B’n’M Bumping Rods are fitted with three-way rigs.
The main line is tied to a three-way crane swivel with a 20-pound leader line tied to the bottom eye with a loop on the end to add the sinker. The hook line is 80-pound mono with a chain swivel tied inline about halfway to the hook. They use cannonball sinkers appropriate to the current. The loop on the end of the leader allows them to easily change the size of the sinker as needed.
The B’n’M Bumping Rod tip is sensitive to allow an angler to lift the sinker and feel the bottom as they bounce along. The bumping poles also have a strong backbone with plenty of power to bring the fish to the boat. Finally, it is designed to be lightweight because you will be holding it all day as you fish.
“We spool the reels with 65- to 80-pound braided line,” informed Crimm. “We like a reel with a faster retrieve so that when we decide to bring our baits back in we can do it quickly and get back to bumping again.”
Noting that anglers bumping the Mississippi River may find 5, 6, or 7 mph current, Haney and Crimm look for current around 3 mph and then use the trolling motor to slow the boat down to about half that.
“Some current is necessary to make the bait drift back,” said Crimm. “If we find 3 mph current we cut the drift to about 1 ½ mph and drift down a current seam as we stand on the back of the boat and feed the bait downstream.”
Current seams are important because fish tend to use them to their advantage. They move into the heavier current to feed and then move back into slack water to rest and not have to fight the heavy current.
“We like to find a drop-off to begin,” continued Crimm. “We start above the drop-off in shallow water that falls slowly into a deeper hole.”
Haney and Crimm bump down the drop expecting the fish to be staged somewhere along the drop. The fish may be at the top of the drop, halfway down the drop, or even all the way down at the bottom of the hole. That’s why bumping works. It covers all the possible depths where the fish might be.
“The fish are looking for food washing in the current,” added Haney. “If we happen to find some wood structure buried down there that’s a bonus. The fish will lay behind the wood out of the current. We want to walk our baits close to the structure so the scent trail washes through it and brings the fish out.”
Rolling sand bottoms also provide a current break. The fish will lay between the rolls waiting for the food to come by so they can eat. A good scent trail will alert them to the bait that you are bumping their way.
“Sometimes you have mud bottom and sometimes you have sand,” explained Haney. “The fish may be on the bottom or sometimes they will be suspended. According to conditions, the terminal tackle may have to be changed on the spot. When it is hot, for example, the fish go deep and often bury up in the mud. In that case, you want the rig to keep the bait close to the bottom. This requires a shorter leader on the weight drop.”
“But say you find fish suspended over a sand bottom,” added Crimm. “Then you need to lengthen the leader on the weight drop to present the bait higher in the water column. And always put that chain swivel in the hook line to dampen the twist from the current.”
Boat Control
The “good bumpers” will feel everything along the bottom of the stretch of water they are fishing. Every rock, log, and contour will be evident to them. If the bottom comes up they reel in some line. If the bottom drops into a hole they let the line out to stay in contact with the bottom. But regardless of how good you get at applying the technique, you won’t be successful without good boat control.
“Take the Mississippi River for example,” instructed Crimm. “You have a current that swirls at times. You have a current that is moving faster and a current that is moving slower. A lot of times that fast current will push you over into slack water where you can’t really bump. You just have to use the motor and pull back out into that water that gets you moving again.”
Learning boat control is mostly trial and error and requires anglers to “read the river.” With the fish attracted to the current seams, they are a sensible path to follow.
Final Thoughts
Any catfishing technique requires anglers to be observant. Pay attention to what’s going on during the day and be prepared to change speed, depth, or other variables. A faster current requires a heavier sinker, a slow bite might require a smaller bait, or you might just need to slow the presentation down. Successful anglers watch for the signs and adjust according to what the fish are telling them on any given day.
“Sometimes you don’t mark fish because they are so tight to the bottom,” advised Haney. “You don’t see them on the sonar. But if you bump along and catch a fish that’s all muddy on his belly, you know that they’re tight on the bottom. Make your adjustment accordingly.”
“If you are new at bumping start out with a heavier weight than you need,” added Crimm. “Think of it as practice as you learn how to feel the bottom. As soon as you feel the bottom get it up and let it back down. If you let it sit and get past it you’re never going to catch back up.”
Haney and Crimm have discovered that they can reach a point where they don’t let out any more line. If they get 150 feet or more of line out, sometimes they just continue to drift and bump without releasing more line.
“With a lot of line out I found that you can sit there with the reel engaged and just bump your weight as the boat drifts along,” informed Haney. “So you’re not letting line out but the boat is drifting and you are still covering water.”
In one final piece of advice, Haney described how to fight a trophy catfish in a swift current.
“If we hook a good fish in current, Rodney is going to kill the trolling motor,” Haney said. “We start drifting at the natural current speed and we will get to the fish quicker. The idea is to get vertical over the fish where it will be easier to fight and net.”
