Yo,
I just got a downrigger on the boat and need some advice on what's my best option for line releases?
I'll be using a rod with either 80# or one with 60#.
And I'll be using 16oz B-O-Ms and Rapala Magnums.
Here I sit 4lorn and clueless...
Thanx in advance.
A large rubberband. Cheap and they work great. Make sure you use a Z-wing instead of those heavy weights. Less scope, easy to raise and much better on your deck.
A large rubberband. Cheap and they work great. Make sure you use a Z-wing instead of those heavy weights. Less scope, easy to raise and much better on your deck.
That sounds old-school, I'll try it.
And I looked into the Z-wing....intriguing.
Thanks to you and everybody else that's weighed in.
See yaz out there,
George
Yes on the rubberbands. Use a #32 which breaks at about 10 lbs. Tie a 5' piece of dacron to the downrigger weight (I use a 13 lb pancake for 4 knots or less, Z-wing for higher speeds). Wrap the rubber band 5x around the main line and tie the dacron through both ends of the rubberband using a double overhand. Simple and it only breaks out when something really whacks it.
I still use plug type release clips.. Scotty stopped making the ones I use I think, but the S1020 are similar. Leftover habits from my Salmon trolling days up north. Going to hate it when my last couple are gone. Kelp doesn't pop it, but even a bonito will.
Yes on the rubberbands. Use a #32 which breaks at about 10 lbs. Tie a 5' piece of dacron to the downrigger weight (I use a 13 lb pancake for 4 knots or less, Z-wing for higher speeds). Wrap the rubber band 5x around the main line and tie the dacron through both ends of the rubberband using a double overhand. Simple and it only breaks out when something really whacks it.
Great, thanks for all the detail. I've still been struggling to get it right.
I still use plug type release clips.. Scotty stopped making the ones I use I think, but the S1020 are similar. Leftover habits from my Salmon trolling days up north. Going to hate it when my last couple are gone. Kelp doesn't pop it, but even a bonito will.
Those are the ones I tried first, and couldn't get to work with the fatter lines. I got several with the used Scotty Depthking I bought on eBay. Some still in package. Maybe we can horsetrade?
PM me.
George
Those planers are a great idea just be advised you'll need to reinforce the gunnel/slow right down to retrieve them they place a helluva lotta strain on the rig.
I also run Goldstar downrigger ball snubbers.This helps keep your weights from banging up and down on the wire. I use downrigger retrieve lines to bring the balls in near the boat to hook my fishing line to the scotty clip. That way I can leave the downrigger arms out all the way. I catch alot of Salmon offshore this way. Using downriggers here in Washington is a popular way to troll for Salmon. Nothing special just Canon Uni-troll. I will try to post a pic in my Gallery of the setup
These kick major butt. They have a 'light' and 'heavy' setting. We use the light setting for salmon and the heavy setting for shark trolling (it holds 300# mono very good at high speeds too). Rubber bands introduce a lot of room for error.
Yes I would never use rubber bands on downriggers. They good for out riggers, but I don't know any one who use them here. I use the 18inch Scottys with 40lb test mono in the ocean for Salmon down as deep as 100ft
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