
Catch more catfish with the bumping technique
The quest for knowledge and improving fishing skills is an admirable trait in any endeavor, and that certainly applies to catfishing.
Benji Brown has been a lifelong catfisherman. While he is a dedicated tournament angler, with his wife and tournament partner Lindsey Brown, they love to catch catfish for fun too.
Catching more catfish is the short story of why Benji and Lindsey Brown learned the bumping tactic.
“Bumping is a tactic that’s prime for use in almost any water with sufficient current flow,” he said. “While not in widespread use in our area of the Carolinas, it’s the go-to tactic in other areas, especially the big fish waters with strong current flow,” he said.
The appeal of hooking into a Mississippi River monster blue catfish lured the Browns to Memphis, TN, for 5 days of fishing.
“We were prepping for a tournament and fished 3 days using tactics we employ here, but we didn’t catch a fish,” he said. “On tournament days, we fished the slack water and caught smaller fish. But the weigh-in produced a lot of huge catfish for other anglers. And the common thread for success was employing the bumping technique while fishing the main river where the current was fast.”
Game changer
Brown said that despite his extensive catfishing experience, this tactic took him a while to master.
“In the right situation, bumping can turn a tough day into a big cat bonanza,” Brown said.
Bumping success is about perfecting the right “feel” and is directly related to boat control and ensuring proper bait presentation.
Brown and his wife Lindsey form a formidable catfish tournament team, “Team PoleKat,” not just in the Carolinas, but also in many other states as they travel to catfish, including the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers. They’ve diligently practiced the technique and have become proficient.
“The bumping technique works anywhere enough current exists to move the boat,” he said. “In most rivers with current flow, and the upper end of many lakes where current flow exists, are prime areas. Bumping is productive from early spring through fall.”
Team PoleKat has found the Diversion Canal on the Santee Cooper lakes a prime place for Bumping, and that’s where they honed their skills.
“When the Diversion Canal has a strong current, the fishing is excellent,” he said. “Current attracts forage, which in turn attracts catfish. Plus, during the spring, the migration of river herring, roe shad, and other forage species through the Canal make this forage-packed area a prime target.”
Presentation is the key. At the core of the rig is a three-way swivel with the main line and sinker in a direct line. The third swivel is the leader line for the hook and bait.
Brown said the thought process is simple. The angler lowers the rig to the bottom on a tight line. The size of the weight on the terminal end varies with the amount of current and depth. It may require an ounce or two, but it may be 8 ounces or more, depending on current and depth.
“On the Diversion Canal, we begin with two to three ounces,” he said. “We point the nose of the boat into the current and use the trolling motor to slow the rate of the boat drift to less than the speed of the current, usually about half. This speed adjustment enables the rig to slowly ‘walk’ downstream.”
Brown said it helps to envision the fish-holding targets.
“Catfish prefer a bottom change, so a hole, depression or behind large rocks or woody structure that breaks the current flow are prime targets. Catfish use the features as ambush points. So our rig needs to simulate food washing downstream.
Constant contact
“It’s crucial to maintain contact with the bottom,” Brown said. “The sinker taps the bottom, not the bait, and I don’t want the sinker to ‘smack’ the bottom; just tap it, then lift it with the rod tip.”
Brown said to raise the rod tip only four or five inches at a steady rate off the bottom, then return it to the bottom to tap again. His thought process is to have it hop along, but never far from the bottom.
“If I raise the bait too high or hold it too long before lowering it, it’ll ride over a hole or other target,” he said. “I lower the bait on a tight line, let it tap, then repeat the process.”
As the drift continues, anglers must allow more line off the reel every bump or two.
“The bumping line gradually moves further away from the boat as it ‘walks’ down the current, but allowing extra line out is essential to maintain the proper feel of the sinker tapping the bottom,” he said. “It requires us to pay attention to what we’re doing. It’s not a process where you put a rod in a holder and watch it. It requires full-time angler participation. But the rewards are worth this effort.”
“Lindsey and I often have the baitcasting reel disengaged and use our thumb to hold the line, releasing small amounts as needed,” he said. “With every bump or two, we’ll release a little line to maintain the feel required to hook fish. Eventually, the line gets far downstream from the boat, and it’s difficult to maintain the proper feel. We’ll reel in and restart the process.”
Brown said he and Lindsey try to be on different bump patterns so when one needs to reel in and restart, the other can keep fishing. That way, they don’t miss fishing a stretch of water.
Feel for it
Getting fish to bite is what it’s all about, and Brown said it will be an unmistakable thump you’ll feel via the rod tip. It often happens when you expect to feel the tap but don’t.
“That usually means the rig has dropped into a hole or depression, prime places for a bite,” he said.
“It only takes a moment to engage the reel, and I’m ready for the hookset,” he said. “Bites are usually reactive and aggressive, and hookups often only require us to hold onto the rod and let the circle hook do its job.”
While walking the lure down the current, they’ll occasionally hook up within a few seconds of one another.
“When that occurs, we may have hit a hotspot where several catfish are stacked up,” he said. “I’ll engage spot lock on the trolling motor, and when we boat those fish, we can rebait and allow the bait to walk back down to that specific target. It is common to catch multiple fish from a target. When the action slows, we’ll return the motor to drift speed and resume the drift. We enjoy these opportunities of feeling like we’re catching fish in a barrel.”
The proper rig is crucial, and the Browns have found the ideal combination for their fishing.
They employ 65-pound test braid as the main line spooled on baitcasting reels. The leader for the hook is with 80-pound test monofilament tied to a 9/0 Charlie Brown circle hook. They use lighter line, 30-pound test monofilament, on the sinker drop leaders. It’s the most likely to snag, and allows them to save the hook and main line sections.
Use local baits
The length of each leader can vary daily, Brown said.
“The main leader and sinker drop lengths vary based on fish locations relating to the bottom,” he said. “Some days the fish are holding off the bottom. And other days they’re tight to the lake bottom. We’ll adjust leader lengths on the sinker drop to determine if we need the bait close to the bottom or just a little higher.”
They have settled on the Rippin’ Lips Stalker Bumping rod as their rod of choice. Brown said the 7-foot-3-inch rod is designed explicitly for bumping, providing the best feel for this tactic.
Baits for bumping are like other catfishing tactics, and Lindsey Brown’s choice is relative to where they’re fishing.
“We prefer baits natural to the water we’re fishing. So if we’re on a trip to the Tennessee River we’ll prefer skipjack,” she said. “In North or South Carolina, we prefer white perch and gizzard shad. At Santee Cooper, when the roe shad and herring are running, those are excellent spring baits. When we begin fishing, we’ll each use different baits to check for bite preferences daily, then adjust accordingly.”
If you haven’t added the bumping tactic to your catfishing profile, it’s an excellent tool to have for fishing water with current flow.
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