Looking for some helpful advice

[My_Key]

My experience fishing for eyes on open water is slip floats or jigging.

This season I want to start drifting or trolling spinner rigs. I'm wondering what advantages/disadvantages different types of rigs(floating vs non-floating) have and bottom bouncers vs a typical weight.

Any information is greatly appreciated.

[AuggieDawg11]

I use both drifting and trolling because they both have there time and place. I personally like trolling because I like to cover as much area as fast as possible. Some times thefish are super finicky and requires a slower presentation via drifting. As far as weights go, pay attention to the depth that the fish are at. If the are tight to the bottom, use a bottom bouncer. If they are up, use a three way and adjust the line attached to the weight to hit the strike zone.

[CRAZYEYES]

I do a lot of rigging and I will agree with the above post that you can definately cover more ground but for me the biggest reason that I like rigging is that I can present a live bait in a more natural way. I think rigging outproduces jigs a lot of the year especially in deep water and summer when the walleye bite switches too leeches on a lot of lakes. Sometimes I use spinners and sometimes I dont depending on the fish mood and bait and a big mistake that I see is people using spinners that are too big or just sticking with the same colorado blade,try a few different combinations and colors. I like slip bobbering when its calm but ifyoure on a specific break and its windy its too hard to keep the right depth from the bottom. There are some people that swear by their bottom bouncers but I personally prefer egg or walking sinkers or lindy no snags and ym leader size varies a little from 4 to almost 7 ft. The biggest key though is boat control. Find the right speed and control your drifting.

[saunasisu]

I generally will use bottom bouncers on a river or deeper water/ trying to work more vertical for better depth control(usually 1 ounce wght. per 10 FOW). If I'm working in 10 FOW or less I'll use an 1/8 to 1/4 ounce walking or Lindy no snag sinkers and will try and get my line out away from the boat. Don't get stuck using one type of rig or bait. Experiment, we are all creatures of habit. The definition of insanity, is doing the same thing day after day expecting different results.

I love trolling and working my lindy and spinner rigs.

[BFJ]

The biggest advantage to rigging is your bait is in contact with the bottom all the time! Colors speeds, length of snell allow for mulitple presentations! It's not un common to fish 7-12' snells at times! I'll bobber occasionally but spend the bulk of my time rigging!

[PerchJerker]

The spinner bite typically starts up a few weeks after opener, when the water is warmer and the fish are more aggressive. One of the advantages to spinner rigs is you go faster than you typically do rigging, so you can cover more water and try to trigger some more aggressive fish. Because of this you typically go with heavier weights with spinners, whether you go with a bottom bouncer or a sliding sinker or a 3-way rig. Whichever you go with, you typically don't want to drag on the bottom --- it's usually better to be up off the bottom. Longer snells tend to drag on the bottom, so a float can help keep your bait up at the level of the fish or just above them. One of the great things about spinner rigs and live bait rigs is the combinations of colors and presentations is virtually unlimited, so don't be afraid to experiment.