"bottom bouncing" question

Is there a way to get the type of bottom displayed on navionics?
Yes. 2 versions as per below. Nautical or Sonar. Do this:

Layers. Select Nautical chart. Select No Overlay. See the depth and M for mud?

F81A2187-6808-4369-BD4C-9935DF30EE52.jpeg

Layers. Select Sonar chart. Select No Overlay. See the depth and M for mud?

A4452B63-94A1-4066-857A-D4E0872582DC.jpeg


Here is your Horswell Channel area, it now shows Rock, Sand and Mud.

724A654A-E6A8-4462-A84D-A5AB3FDDF2A2.png
 
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Get the biggest lead balls you can handle as the less blowback / scope, the less likely the bottom will hold on if you hit a potential snag.

If you are going straight down from surface to to hit bottom probably need to hit it twice because the blowback hasn't fully developed yet. If you get close and let it troll for a minute then only need to hit bottom once to know where it is.

If you keep the speed the same should get used to how much extra line out you need to hit. For me it's about 20ft at 100ft. Don't need to hit bottom very often anymore

I only started this year and was running scared and fishless for the first two trips. Watched some videos and went for thumping bottom. Once I actually hit bottom, keeper size action was consistent, most of the time and on every trip.

No lost gear due to the bottom so far.
 
Yes. 2 versions as per below. Nautical or Sonar. Do this:

Layers. Select Nautical chart. Select No Overlay. See the depth and M for mud?

View attachment 89541

Layers. Select Sonar chart. Select No Overlay. See the depth and M for mud?

View attachment 89542


Here is your Horswell Channel area, it now shows Rock, Sand and Mud.

View attachment 89545
Do remember that Navionics charts are not super accurate. There are lots of high spots not marked and conversely flats that show with pinnacles that are not there. Watching sounder depth is key when fishing bottom if it’s a hard bottom
 
Do remember that Navionics charts are not super accurate. There are lots of high spots not marked and conversely flats that show with pinnacles that are not there. Watching sounder depth is key when fishing bottom if it’s a hard bottom
Good to know, I do use a modern Garmin device, but almost went with a large iPad with usb plug on the boat at first. Bottom bouncing isn't a regular thing, plus if you hit mud or sand, not a big deal.
 
I pick a depth to fish..1st pass maybe 120ft and stay on it. Put 1 rigger down until it hit bottom and v=bring it up a couple ft. Re-do this 30 seconds later as line blow back and boat speed will lift it a bit off the bottom. I have my rod clipped in about 8 ft up from the ball so my gear is now 10ft off the bottom. If I find fish I stay on the 120...if not do the same on a different depth. My 2nd rigger is 10-20 ft up from the bottom one. If fishing a 3rd rigger it is usually 60 to 90 ft moving it around looking for fish feeding well off the bottom. When I fish around a snaggy reef I only aggressively fish close to them with a rigger just off the bottom while going into the current...never with it.
 
Got out Saturday to give this a try around Entrance Island. Fished mainly around the 200' line. I was seeing fish and bait at a almost all depths so I kept one rod down close to bottom and the other I adjusted to where I was seeing more of the bait/fish. Bottom rod outfished the top 3:1 and came home with a 70cm and a 73cm on the lower.

I hadn't really thought about it, but I suppose after a while you memorize the usual depths you fish at and what DR# is associated with those depths. I'm still at the "fishing by braille" stage of my learning curve 😅
 
Got out Saturday to give this a try around Entrance Island. Fished mainly around the 200' line. I was seeing fish and bait at a almost all depths so I kept one rod down close to bottom and the other I adjusted to where I was seeing more of the bait/fish. Bottom rod outfished the top 3:1 and came home with a 70cm and a 73cm on the lower.

I hadn't really thought about it, but I suppose after a while you memorize the usual depths you fish at and what DR# is associated with those depths. I'm still at the "fishing by braille" stage of my learning curve 😅
That's the stage you should stay at when bottom bouncing!! LOL yes you can kind of memorize rigger settings for certain areas but that won't really be accurate because your speed and the current are never the same. I always go through the whole drill-- a bad surprise is usually very expensive!!
 
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