Luhr Jensen "King" Manual Downrigger

[gljjr]

[Da Nag]

I've not enough experience to suggest which release is best, and my guess is there is no such thing - probably depends heavily on how and where one is fishing, and for what.

RE the Scottys - on my recent trip to Sitka, that's what we used for 5 anglers over 3 days, and it's the only release I saw being used on several charters. They worked flawlessly for our entire group, the entire trip - the only thing they didn't release for, were small rockfish. I don't recall any false releases, but the charter captain was a stickler for drag and line tension on the downrigger. Add to that, they are so simple to use...three of the anglers on our trip had never fished with downriggers, and had the process figured out in minutes. It's also quite convenient to be able to pull the clip away from the downrigger line when hooking up.

One thing to be aware of, Pat - the Scottys have two primary tension settings, and it's not entirely obvious. There's a tension clip on the back of the release, and if you pull it out, the release effort is about double. I've never found a need for it to be in this position. Still, regardless of where the tension clip is set, you need to pay attention to how deep you set your line in the clip, as that also affects release effort. Which is not a big deal...the yellow head on the release has a black line on it, which you can use as a reference point.

Now...just so Tom doesn't feel like some newbie is taking him to task on his Scotty assessment, my fishin' bud in PA has a non-Scotty release he is quite fond of, that I've used as well - Black's, pictured below:



With this one, you adjust the tension with the thumbscrew, causing the metal loop to pop out of it's catch with more or less effort. To use it, you need a three-way swivel on your line; one loop to your line, one to your leader, and one slides over the metal loop on the downrigger release.

The release works very well, and once you have the tension set properly for the conditions, is very consistent. It's a little tougher to get your line onto than a Scotty, but if your downrigger has swiveling bases so you can swing the boom to the boat, that's not a huge deal.

[416rigby]

sorry guys I am not questioning your fishing abilities, just your choose poor fishing gear. I hate scottys

Forgive him, Lord, he doesn't really mean it!

Scottys work flawlessly for us.

Rick

[rogerbum]

Pat,

The net I have is a large frabill net - probably similar to the one Gary is willing to loan you only a bit bigger. When you're not on the boat and not netting a large fish, the nets do look "way too big". My wife laughed at me the first time I bought such a large net but after fishing with me at Sekiu in Sept and seeing the 14-18lb coho and the even larger kings, she realized we had the right size. One nice thing about a large net is that it makes netting even small fish easier. Just more space in which to get them. The 16 is a little small for storing a large net but that's OK - get a big one, get a Frabill and if possible get a knotless net (less harmful to the fish if they have to be released after netting).

[rogerbum]

[starcrafttom]

Roger you are on. Lets go fish and see who has the most releases and fish. your boat or mine ??

Bill, I have seen those releases and a guy in my PSA club uses it them. I have thought about them when looking for a replacement for my water soaked scotties. What I could not understand about them is how do you reach the line when its in-line with cable? and if he has a three way swival on his line how does he reel up far enought to land the fish. I would like to see how its hooked up.

And for all fisher folks I will be pouring new 12 lbs balls very soon, I have the mold and the will and susan is gone in the day time so dont no one tell he what Iam up to in the garage

[gljjr]

Actually Pat,

The net I was going to loan you is my "smaller" net as it is just sitting in the garage while I use the Frabil. The Frabil is a knotless net and the hooks don't stick to it ( YEAH! ). The other net is the one I used for the 4 years previous to having the Frabil and it works fine. It is just a little small when you get a 20 lb Chinook!

Tom, I also have 2 or 3 of the Pro-Releases in my box that will likely sit there until I decide to fish for Kokanee on a lake somewhere with real light tackle. I think that is where the Pro-Release will shine as I can put a real light tension on them and still have them release on the smaller fish. And I think they likely work better with Mono than they do with Braid.

[starcrafttom]

The one thng that you have to do with pro-releases is make sure that not only do you have the tension knob set right but also have the right pin hole set right. You can change the slot the pin rest in. There are two settings ,one for small fish and one for big fish. if you have the big fish slot set then pinks will not pull hard enough to set off the release even with the kod set to light. So its a two step process to settting the tension and many folks over look the last one. You only have to do it once that day but it hase to be done.

[Jazzmanic]

Hey Tom, I posted this on the Pink Salmon thread too but just remember...
I put in my dibs for Pat's Pro-Release FIRST!!!

You never know when you might need 'em and since they're not making anymore of them, it would be nice to have as many as possible.

Peter

[starcrafttom]

I picked up four more at the new sportsman warehouse inburlington the other day. they only have the ones that clip in line with the cable , but I just remover the funky cable connector and made up my own long leads. They where only $8 each and thats pretty cheap.

[Cutty Sark]

I only use scotty release's, they are the easiest ones to use. The pro release is good in theory but poor in use, for me at least. I fished one for a while, I decided to quit using it after I snapped a rod when it wouldn't come off the clip, while I was trying to fight a good blackmouth around 8-10 lbs. The fish hit and I grabbed the rod and reeled down and went to set the hook as it was a big hit. Heard my rod crack and had to fight the fish with a broken rod. I still landed the fish, but didn't have a spare rod and I was all the way down at point defiance. Scotty's IMO are much better and that is the reason most guys use them.

Sark

[lloyds]

Sark: Same thing happened to me last sunday out of Newport. First time I have had a problem with the Pro-Release. I too landed the fish but it ended the trip. Not sure if I will give up on the releases just yet though. Might have to pay closer attention though. My lucky release has been flawless for the last three years.

[starcrafttom]

Like I said you have to let the fish release the cilp. If It does not release I just hit the up button and that extra drag on the clip will release it , if not you can manual release when the clip get to the top. not the best result , but it has only happened to me twice and I landed the fish every time. A lot better then the scotty not holding the line every other time I try to set the rod. In the end its just personal taste. I think that the pros out weight the cons with the pro release. They dont with the scottys. every time I have to re set the scotty is two minutes Iam not fishing.

[Cutty Sark]

That's because they don't work well with the 5 lb test braid you use . My buddy John fishes braid and he ties about 30 feet of mono to the braid so you can clip into that and it also acts as a shock absorber which helps if you catch big fish. I fish straight mono for salmon, and I also like to fight the fish rather than have my downrigger do the work for me. Tom- don't make me pull an intervention on you. Friends don't let friends fish with pro release's .

Sark