How much line to let out before clipping to the downrigger?

[EOSturgeonFisher]

I'm taking a weeks vacation next week to Preist Lake, ID. I've fished up there before, but usually using leaded line. We recently added a downrigger to the boat, and I was curios as to how much line or how far behind the lead is usually sufficent? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Anybody have any special lure that work well for the macks?
thanks

[chukardave1]

It has been a few years since we fished Priest Lake. I went out with an elderly gentleman and he used a flasher (Hot Spot) and either a yellow or orange hootchie ~18" back. He used two hooks and tipped the front hook with a piece of *********. He probably let out 50-75' before clipping into the downrigger. He had us into pretty consistent action. Watch your fishfinder for fish and adjust the depth as needed. Good Luck, it is a beautiful lake.

[rooksdad]

I don't know about that lake but in my lake fishing I put flashers on my cannon ball and the put my clip about a foot abve that and have my lure anywhere from 5 to 15 feet back depending on what the fish want that day. Most of the time I keep it close to the attractor though.

[EOSturgeonFisher]

Well went to the lake for a week. Fishing a few hours each day, and never caught anything on the downrigger pole. Did have to pleasure of netting a 42" 29 pounder though caught by my wifes uncle, also a Ifish member. Will try to post a pic of it sometime. All the fish we caught were trolling using leaded line and pull small flatfish right on the bottom.
Thanks for advice though guys. Hopefully someday I will get that downrigger to produce for me.

[joemomma]

Lots of post and theories on this! My :twocents: is fishing shallow, I go at least 50' back, to get away from boat and motor. If going deep shorten up if ya want to to stay on a school better! I pretty much clip on around 30' to 50' back, just remember your gear will drop around 7' @ 1.2 mph approx! I f your back around 50'

[chukardave1]

JM,

it is funny you mention the gear dropping about 7' when trolling at 1.2. I was out this week and was trolling for Kokes and watching my depth finder. I was constantly adjusting the depth based on where I was seeing fish on the screen. i was also speeding up and down, zig zagging, in and out of gear, all the tricks to elicit a strike. Only got 2 but I got to thinking about where my dodger and lure really were, in relation to my ball. I was probably between 75-100 feet back before clipping in to the downrigger. I may have been more than 7' below the ball that far back. Have you noticed any correlation between marking fish on the screen and what depth you get hits at? I probably should think about this a little more when marking fish and trying to present the lure at the proper depth.

[Dough Boy]

I let out approx. 30'. No problem getting strikes.

[ElkTalker]

I just fished Merwin at 40' deep with a 14' set back. We had no problem catching fish. ET

[adobe wall]

I let out a lot of line, but it's just superstition. Even at 30 feet down there were plenty of fish coming up to the fish cam which was directly below the boat, lure was 4 feet back.

I also wonder about where the gear is actually fishing when it's way back there.

regards, aw

[SilverBullets]

I have read that a dodger and lure 70'-100' back will drop approx. 5' depending on your speed. If I fish at a depth of 40' or more I only run my set-up 5'-15' in back of boat. Like to stay within the black box range of 20' around the wire. When useing ball trolls, I run the dodger 2' in back of trolls and 4' up. Have to figure in the 4' up from the ball when lowering to a specific depth to get the set up just above the fish. The shorter your set back, the more accurate the depth of your lure will be. There have been times when lowering and raising the ball a few feet every so often will trigger a strike. A shorter set back is the way to go if making tight turns through schools, no lines get crossed.

[joemomma]

JM,

it is funny you mention the gear dropping about 7' when trolling at 1.2. I was out this week and was trolling for Kokes and watching my depth finder. I was constantly adjusting the depth based on where I was seeing fish on the screen. i was also speeding up and down, zig zagging, in and out of gear, all the tricks to elicit a strike. Only got 2 but I got to thinking about where my dodger and lure really were, in relation to my ball. I was probably between 75-100 feet back before clipping in to the downrigger. I may have been more than 7' below the ball that far back. Have you noticed any correlation between marking fish on the screen and what depth you get hits at? I probably should think about this a little more when marking fish and trying to present the lure at the proper depth.

I do run my stuff around 7 to 9' shallower than the fish marked, they say them fish can't look down but they can look up! I have noticed a positve difference since I moved above them just a little! But I don't like chasing fish, with the down rigger either! If the majority of schools are at 50', then I will fish 41 to 43' if I'm 50' back till I can't stand it anymore! The fish will be a little more tame at the boat with the extra line out too!