When live bait rigging, I normally use bottom bouncers and crawlers. Not cuz it’s the best approach, but I just like it. I grew up fishing bouncers and crawlers on Lake Sakakawea in N.D. and when I moved to MN figured I’d try it here. So far it works – though, yes, it is often feast or famine.
In terms of the snell/leader length…about 3 to 4 feet. But don’t be afraid to try shorter – like 2 feet. With a shorter leader/snell I can troll shallower without snagging as much.
Not really much to the bouncer set up to be honest. You can can buy prerigged spinners, though I tie my own now. I typically use a 3/4 to 1 oz bouncer and generally fish depths from 4 to 12 feet. I have a 7 foot rod (it’s a St. Croix medium, but almost any medium heavy rod will do. Yesterday I was catching them on my son’s 7 foot medium action Ugly Stik). I use braid as the main line (14lb Fireline). Some guy swear by certain leader type lines. I now use Seagur 15 pound flourocarbon Invisxx. But it doesn’t make much difference on the River I don’t think.
Also, I typically troll slower than most do. Sometimes that works. Sometimes it doesn’t. Experiment with different speeds and see what works.
Nice thing I”ve found with bouncer set up is when the fish are really light biters you can let them “play” with it for a bit and then do a slow sweep hook set so to speak. Similar to lindy rig set up.
Bouncer bite, for me, usually shuts off in August it seems like. Though I caught my PB eye (28″) in August a couple years ago on a bouncer when everyone else was roaring around me yanking cranks. So who knows.
As to the can line, I’ll let BK field that one. I’ve fished bouncers along the can line but it can be tricky when it’s busy etc. as it’s often a high-traffic area. But certainly a good spot to try when they’re biting.
