Rubber snubber or not?

[Gundog]

When you are fishing for kokes with down riggers do you use rubber snubbers? I have not fished too much for them but when I have we used lead core line and I could see the reason for the snubbers being as they have such a soft mouth and no stretch in the lead core. I am wondering if mono line will give enough stretch to do away with the snubber. I am afraid if I run snubbers with my riggers they may not want to trip off the release. What do you guys think?

Thanks for all the good info Jzell but I forgot this question.
Thanks Mike

[waggle]

normally we do, just to be safe.

[jzell]

Dog,

With the right rod(s) and 4-6lb mono they aren't necessary.

Just another thing on your line that takes from the fight.

The right rod is your snubber.

Do a search for Koke rod threads. Lamiglas makes a couple of excellent koke rods...Diawa Spinmatic...and on and on.

Not that ya need to spend more money just before the vacation week at "M".

All together now...."just say no to snubbers!"

john

ps....and who wants to, "just be safe"....your fishin for x days straight...your gonna get into um and you'll lose some too...have fun!

[Gundog]

I am going to be using the rods I already have they are heavier than that and my lines are 10-12#. I have smaller leaders I can run but I don't do much fishing for these fish so I can't justify new gear (rods & reels). I will buy some gear though. I have some lighter tackle but it is all spinning stuff.
Mike

[kokefred]

All I use for Kokes is spinning gear. My favorite Koke rod is one I built that is a seven foot ultra-lite with 6lb test line. The light spinning gear you mentioned should be fine. A snubber is good to use, but I prefer to just keep my drag set veeery light and never try to "horse" a Koke in. They have a very soft mouth and it is really easy to tear them out.

[moknots]

Have any flyrods? The lighter the better. And if you have any old fiberglass or bamboo 5 weight or less (2-4 is great, but almost nobody on the west coast ownes one of those old glass "midge" rods). If you do, leave the snubbers in the tackle shop, and top off your fly reel with 50 yards of cheap (stretchy) 6 or 8 pound mono and you'll be in business! Stretchy mono and a "noodle" for a rod make for a more fun and effective setup than those short little snubbers. In reality, I think your snubber would have to be 1-3 feet long and very thin to really do the trick. The garden variety snubbers 3" or 4" long don't really make a lot of sense to me. If you do go the snubber route, get some 1/4" thin wall black tubing and make your own, the longer the better. By the way, they are a little on the short side, but in a pinch, Okuma makes an ultra light trout rod that has a rediculously slow (flexing throughout the arc of the rod, vs. a "fast" action rod that flexes most in the 25% of the rod closest to the tip) that retails for about $15.00. I wouldn't bother using that rod for anything but trolling, but for that, it's a cheap and effective compromise.

[joemomma]

I agree with Moknots, I went to a 2 $34 spinmatics UL's and love them, I noticed I lose less fish with the snubbers still. As soon as the fish is off the release, back the drag way off so it can run, make's a huge difference, I use my thumb alot for the drag!

[Salmonslayer2]

I tie a two hook system and loose not to many. Be careful and not to get one hook in you and one in the fish when trying to unhook the fish. That was hell when I did that.
Larry

[troutman69]

Another factor to consider is how far back you are fishing from the down-rigger release. I like to fish long (about 50-100ft back). In this case, there is no need for a snubber (mono does the work for you). However, if I am fishing deep following contours, then I keep my leaders short (<10ft) behind the release and then I do use snubbers.

In your case, heavy rods/heavy line, I would use a snubber unless you have a butter smooth light drag on your reel. :twocents:

[FallRiverGuy]

Dog,

With the right rod(s) and 4-6lb mono they aren't necessary.

Just another thing on your line that takes from the fight.

The right rod is your snubber.



"just say no to snubbers!"

:yeahthat:

As soon as the fish is off the release, back the drag way off so it can run, make's a huge difference, I use my thumb alot for the drag!

:agree:

[Queeg]

I start without, then if I am having trouble keeping them on, I add the snubber ... and usually still have the same trouble !!

[RODACTION]

While trolling G/P last weekend i was using my 9ft 8-12lb line rated rods, reels are spooled with 25ld tuff line (braid). We were trolling willow blades and wedding rings with 2 oz of weight, we lost maybe 2 or 3 fish, while we landed 8, that was in our last 1 1/2 hours of fishing on Monday.

I had not even thought about snubbers, but i'm a koke beginer, i did think i was way over on the line that was on our reels. I will be finding some new set ups and i plan to go with 8 or 10lb mono.

So for my :twocents: with the right rod, and light mono, you can get by without snubbers.

[Jedcraft]

Yes and no. I use ultra light spinning gear when trolling dodgers off the downrigger and no snubber. But when trolling gang trolls(hate those things but effective at times) I use 8 1/2-9' long rated 8-12lb. steelhead rod and lead I use the snubbers. Confused yet?

[njhadfield]

I use a very small snubber and swear by it. Out of 30+ kokes that I have caught, probably lost 4.

[Half fast Toyn]

I guess I dont do it like "everyone else". I always run braided line on my downrigger rods so I have NO stretch. I always run 8'6 lami's medium action 8-12 lb rods because I like the way they feel. I always run plastic flashers and never metal to lighten the weight. As for the snubber, depends on my strike to hook up ratio. If Im losing fish, Then Ill add one. Adding a snubber has NEVER lessened the number of strikes I get, but it has increased the number of fish per strike I get to the boat. If you run mono, adding a snubber wont make a much of a difference. You are talkin 3-4 inches of stretch Vs 10-20% of main line stretch.

[Jedcraft]

Does the thin braid stay in your clip? When using braid(50-65lb) for salmon/mackinaw I have to wrap braid 6-10 turns around half a flat toothpick then insert in clip.