downrigger setup

K

Kushtaka

New member
I like to fish the bottom, but I grew up trolling the surface for bass, and I'm getting more into trolling with downriggers.

My boat came with downriggers and I've used them a handful of times, but I am having some trouble figuring out my setup. The previous owner didn't really use the downriggers, they are canon sport trolls, and are pretty short.

My trouble is, the downrigger line is way too close to my kicker motor, which I like to use. Someone replaced the cable with ~400lb test monofilament, maybe because they were worried about the same thing I am: the lines getting fouled in the motor. When I use my main it's better, but still closer than I'd like.

My downriggers are mounted up in front of the lazarettes, and so the obvious thing to do is move them aft (or is it? I can see that making things worse too!) and get the ends out farther. I see downriggers mounted aft of the lazarettes on newer boats, but I don't think my 1993 has the same space back there.

Advice would be helpful.
 
Kushtaka,

I can't really help you with the setup of your current downriggers but I've been using the Scotty electric 1106 downriggers with an extendable boom to 60". I believe that would get your wire away from the motors. However, I rarely extend the boom the full length. I have our DR mounted in the same spot with no problems whatsoever. What weight DR balls do you use? That might have an effect on the drift on the wire in heavy currents. Also, most fisherman have been changing the DR wires to braid, at least 150 lb test. Hope this helps.
 
Kushtaka;
I also use the Scotty Electric downrigger's mounted in the same location as yours. I do use stainless wire and adjust the down rigger weight from 7 to 10 to 12 pounds. 7 pounds for lake fishing and 12 pounds for ocean fishing in a heavy rip current, most of the time I just use the 10 pound ball which seems to keep the wire in a somewhat vertical position at 1~1 1/2 mph trolling speed.
I have never used mono before, but it seems to me that you would have the possibility of stretch and breakage due to the constant UV.
Anyway right or wrong that's what I do and I even catch a fish once in a while.
Dave
Raven Dancer.
 
You might be able to get longer booms for your down riggers. I know you can for Scottie's. Also you can get and mount a stainless steel prop guard on your kicker. Never seen anyone use monofilament on down riggers. I ran braided line on mine one really liked it. No stretch and NO RUST!
 
We also use Scotty downriggers. Ours are the 1101 with a fixed 30" boom mounted in front of the lazaret. Never have a problem with the steel wire interfering with the kicker motor. I don't know about Cannon, but Scotty does not recommend monofilament because it will stretch and contract on the plastic reel and crack it. They will void your warranty if you use mono. Some people like the new braided lines, but many fisherman including most commercial salmon fisherman believe that the wire attracts fish with the noise it makes in the water and the electrical field that is emitted from the boat through the steel wire. If you google that you will find lots of different opinions. We use 8lb weights when fishing 100' or shallower and go to 10lb when deeper than that. I prefer the lighter weights so they will trail behind the boat and not interfere with the fish finder readings.
 
I've got two manual downriggers on my boat, both with fairly short arms, maybe one at 18" and the other 24" (Maximum!) I use larger pancake weights. 20lb I believe. (They look like pancakes!) Very little "blowback". I have bent the fins on those weights in such a way that they help trail the downrigger just a bit outboard of the boat on each side. My downriggers are mounted a few inches in front of the lazarettes so that they stick straight out perpendicular from the boat. I have a small kicker mounted on the starboard side, and unless I'm turning tight, never worry about the downrigger wire ending up in the prop. (I do have the regular ss cable on my downriggers.) Colby
 
Since we are on down riggers, I have a question. I have a Cannon manual that I use only on lakes for Kokanee. I have a problem getting the line release set properly. We troll at 1.5 mph and have trouble with the release letting the line go without a fish on or other times not releasing with a fish on. I have adjusted the line fore and aft on the pad on the release without success. I would be glad to get any suggestions.
Jack
 
jack keifer":3hf4w5q0 said:
Since we are on down riggers, I have a question. I have a Cannon manual that I use only on lakes for Kokanee. I have a problem getting the line release set properly. We troll at 1.5 mph and have trouble with the release letting the line go without a fish on or other times not releasing with a fish on. I have adjusted the line fore and aft on the pad on the release without success. I would be glad to get any suggestions.
Jack
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Jack, there are a number of ways to solve that problem. First, there are a wide variety of releases one can buy and any of them will work with any downrigger. So while I don't know which releases you have, I do know that it's likely that a different release will work better. Second, one can use a different line/leader to better work with the release you have. For instance, I use Scotty releases with braid as my main line. The Scotty releases I have don't hold the diameter braid that I use very well. I run 40# mono as a leader and releases work well with that. Another option is to wrap the line with something where it goes into the release. Another option is to make a loop in the line, give it a couple of twists and clamp the doubles line into the release. Lots of options but my first choice would be to try a different brand of release.
 
well a couple of mis understood items in the advice above.
wire vs braid. I went to braid on my scottys years ago when scotty told every one it would void their warrenty. Now scotty will sell a down rigger to you with braid on it. The up side to wire is you could get a benefit of attracting fish with the electric field around your boat or wire IF ( big IF) its in the right range. most times its not and your boat is hot. To check -while trolling run a volt meter from your cable ( while its in the water) to you battery. If you are reading over .5 volts you are running away fish and you really want to to be lower .2 . The benefit of braid is you cant put out a bad voltage. Nothing is better then bad. Its also easier to handle and does not kink or rust. I cant run it on my cannon digitroll 4 but you can run it on most other cannons and all the manual downriggers.

pancake weights are not less drag. I know it looks like it and you would assume that they are but a guy that wrote a book about trolling ( sorry cant remember his name right now) did test and the math and come to find out that round dowwnrigger balls are the least drag or all the ones made. He tested them all, round , pancake, fish shaped, pipe riggs- round is the lest drag. If you use pancake- which you can bend a little to spread you baits a few more feet, use only pancakes. Using one round and one pancake downrigger weight is a day in hell you do not want to live- I know.

If you are fishing salt water for salmon I would use at lest 12 lbs weights .i use 15 and friends use 20lbs. deeper you fish the more weight you need. 12 is good to about 80 ft. 15 is good to 150 or so. but if you have electric downriggers why not use 15 to 20 lbs. i melt and pour my own weights and dont have a 20 lbs mold yet so I use the 15lbs weights.

I will do a post or video about the different types or releases and how to use them inthe near future.
 
Regarding ball vs. pancake. All I know is that my Ball weights had more blowback than the Pancake weights, both being of the same weight. Interesting comments on the voltage. I have never checked the voltage drop on mine, although I'm not sure there would be any, considering a fiberglass hull and using manual downriggers. As with most everything, there can be a lot of perfection to downrigging. I'll be the first to admit, I just attach the downriggers to their bases, attach the weights and line and drop it down to where I think the fish might be. Probably why I don't catch many, but when I do....

13335629_10154309775689884_454136970348759454_n.jpg

(30" King Salmon I caught just outside of the Port Washington WI harbor in 90' of water about 50' down this past Sunday! Yahooo! lol)
 
Yeah Tom, I definitely think my boat runs hot. About 5 years ago, I think I went through at least one salmon season without hooking or boating ANY salmon. I switched to braid and no more salmon catching drought. So in my case, it was a wise decision to switch. YMMV.

Nice feesh Colby! :thup

Peter
 
Greetings from Juneau Kushti!

I run two manual Penn 600 with 18" booms, 12lb pancake weights and braided line. The down-riggers are about mid cockpit and I use rod holders right in front of my lazerettes (previous owners desing not mine). My pancake weights are bent so they flare out when moving in the water. Also I think braid gives less drag in the water both on the down-rigger and on the reel. My Kicker is on the port right on my transom rather than on a bracket, which I think helps. I have a Macs Pro-saver on it too. http://propsavers.com/troll-prop-saver/

I only have tangle problems when my main is in the water and for some reason I start moving backward (tide on wind....)
 
Guess I'd like to hear more about the Braid for downrigger cable. I'm sure my cheaper "used" manual downriggers could run it, and I probably should replace the cable that is currently on them. What brand and weight are folks using? I just always assumed they had to run the s/s cable. I wouldn't even mind having a little more line on them. Right now I think they are only spooled with maybe 120 feet of wire. (But so far I've never let out more than 100 feet. And the amount they are spooled with is why I never go out much deeper than 120-150 ft of water.) As for the fishing line, I think I'm currently running 20 lb Trilene, or something comparable. I'm happy with that, so only looking to see what brad folks are recommending to use as downrigger cables. Colby
 
Scotty does make their own braided line and it is approved on their downriggers, but to clarify, "Monofilament" is not recommended and will void your Scotty warranty.
I have never measured the voltage on our boat, but I must assume it is OK, as we hook lots of fish. I have a spool of braided line and next time I have to change it out I want to try the braided on one side and wire on the other just to see what difference it might make. Like I said, If you google this subject you will find a lot of different opinions. I can certainly see some benefits of the braided line, but the thought of hooking less fish scares me :wink:
 
colbysmith":3vzj6sxf said:
Guess I'd like to hear more about the Braid for downrigger cable. I'm sure my cheaper "used" manual downriggers could run it, and I probably should replace the cable that is currently on them. What brand and weight are folks using? I just always assumed they had to run the s/s cable. I wouldn't even mind having a little more line on them. Right now I think they are only spooled with maybe 120 feet of wire. (But so far I've never let out more than 100 feet. And the amount they are spooled with is why I never go out much deeper than 120-150 ft of water.) As for the fishing line, I think I'm currently running 20 lb Trilene, or something comparable. I'm happy with that, so only looking to see what brad folks are recommending to use as downrigger cables. Colby
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I've heard of people spooling anywhere from 150# to 250# braid on their DR'S. Many people use PowerPoint braid. I believe I have 300' of braid on mine. If you've ever had a crimp fail on you followed by watching your $35 DR ball fall into the deep, you only need to see that once before you vow to find a better way. With braid, no worries tying those on. You will not lose a ball due to a bad connection. Just another benefit of braid. I'll never go back to ss.
 
Thanks for that info Peter. TO be honest, I only go Salmon Fishing a few times a year, but I've never changed the cable on my downriggers, and since I got them used I have no idea how old it is. I did go look at that Braid Scotty's sells on Amazon and looks like about $40 for 400 ft of 200#, which would be enough to spool both my downriggers. I should probably price the PowerPro 200# locally to see if it's cheaper, as I assume it's basically the same line more or less. How about the comments I just read on other forums about cutting into the spool or pulley? Colby
 
Wow, thanks for the input everyone!

So I need to ditch my mono and slap on some braid or some stainless, but check the voltage on the stainless cable.

I have fish-shaped weights, and they will go off to one side a bit. I believe they are 10 lbs, so maybe a bit light. Heavier weights that move out more dramatically may help.

I have thought about protecting my prop with something. I'll check out the recommendation from tbag (hi!).

I use my downriggers to halibut fish in currents as well, and probably more than anything It's a lot more fun to fish for buts without any weight on the line. They behave very very differently, and I've even had them run and jump on me. I'm only just getting into trying to troll with them, and am kind of ready to hang it up and grab my gillnet, but I'm going to keep trying!

Take it easy!
 
colbysmith":231rj34i said:
Thanks for that info Peter. TO be honest, I only go Salmon Fishing a few times a year, but I've never changed the cable on my downriggers, and since I got them used I have no idea how old it is. I did go look at that Braid Scotty's sells on Amazon and looks like about $40 for 400 ft of 200#, which would be enough to spool both my downriggers. I should probably price the PowerPro 200# locally to see if it's cheaper, as I assume it's basically the same line more or less. How about the comments I just read on other forums about cutting into the spool or pulley? Colby
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Colby, I’ve heard of that happening on reel spools as well but I've never had any problems with braid cutting into my DR spool but ymmv.

Kush, I'm glad all the suggestions were helpful. I like the idea of catching a hali off the downrigger. :thup
 
Many use a round prop guard on the kicker that surrounds the circumference of the prop. With that, even if the downrigger cable gets by the kicker, it will not be wound up in the prop.
 
get the cannons with the adjustable boom. Or buy a chunk of tube and make it however long you want to clear your motor. I have the cannons with the adjustable boom for just that reason. The other ones are great for small boats where you don't have to clear anything, but that isn't the case with our boats.
 
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