Using a bottom bouncer in a canoe is easier with a tandem team, than solo and can be done but it does take some practice and the concerns voiced are all valid.
Solo, there really difficult but not impossible. A few things I've learned the hard way.
You need to have the canoe moving at as fast a speed as you can before you deploy your bouncer. I get up to "ramming" speed, then carefully let the bait/lure end run out and them let the bouncer drop in to the water.
If your not moving, the bouncer will drop down and pull snell almost straight down and more than likely snarl into your main-line. Bad thing there, is you might not even realize it until your reel in.

I found the way I described works pretty well. I also like a "controlled" line release. If you had a bow paddler you can open bail and meter line between your fingers to keep from getting snarls in line as you pay it out.
Solo, you can't do that becasue you only have a few seconds before your forward progress stops.
I found that if is just let the spool freewheel the weight/drag of rig will pull the line out without snarls/loops.
This allows me to resume paddling. When I see the rod tip flicking back and forth, I know I'm "ticking" the bottom. I check frequently as I travel and adjust line out or in so I see that ticking.

It's not easy, but you adapt. In-Line weights are easier all the way around, but were talking about bottom bouncers. Plenty of choices, ALL will do the job, some better than others and many are dependent on what the guy using them is willing to do or not do.

Here's a link with some good illustrations of the almost endless possibilities you can put together.

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