Bump’n Ain’t Easy

There’s a style of fishing out there rising in popularity… known as Bumping. And it just happens to be one of my favorite styles to fish as well.

Bumping, also referred to as Walking Baits or Back Bouncing is a tactic used in heavier current. It helps to mimic a more natural presentation of bait floating downriver at a slower pace, in turn giving the catfish a longer time to smell the bait coming.

In this style of fishing, you would point the nose of your boat upstream. While floating down with the current, you use your trolling motor to help cut the current speed in half (adjusting your speed as needed). During this, you are dropping your bait down out the back, slowly bouncing (your weight) up and down off the bottom, keeping your spool open at all times to help feed line..or “walk the bait.”

This tactic is definitely easier said than done. When I first started learning how to bump, I thought it was hard. I remember getting very frustrated at everything! I couldn’t find the bottom, and I always seemed to snag up, lose tackle, and miss bites. Not to mention, my arm would be killing me after the first hour! I just didn’t see what all the hype was about with Bumping.

A year or two went by, and I caught a fish here and there, but still didn’t really have any clue what I was doing. Fast forward a little further, and I finally figured it out. It was during a benefit tournament on the Mississippi River that I found my groove. I remember everything being just perfect. The current speed was perfect. The river bottom was smooth with hardly any obstructions. And there were lots of hungry fish! Here I was able to truly understand how bumping worked, how not to snag, and how to feel a bite. Everything was so perfect that we won the tournament and I came home with Big Fish honors too! Talk about a confidence boost!

Now of course I was hooked after that, but I still didn’t think it was the greatest thing yet. At least not until I bumped for trophy blues! Now talk about a rush!

Last year I got to bump the Missouri River for Blues, but this was not a perfect scenario. The water levels were high when we arrived. The river bed was rocky with lots of obstacles, and the fish were not hungry. I felt like I was back at square one trying to figure out how to work everything. But there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. After many struggles, I was fortunate enough to hook into a massive 72 lb blue! The strength and fight this fish had and how he smoked the bait, almost pulling me out of the boat is a memory I will never forget! And to have it happen again this year with a 55-pounder, words cannot describe!! To see a giant smoke a rod in the rod holder is always cool, but when you are at the other end of that rod when it happens is even cooler! Being pulled forward, the burning of your thumb on the reel, the back-breaking fight.. they are all worth it!!