More on downriggers

[Joe Schwab]

Looking forward to the upcoming ocean salmon fishery. Using downriggers and heavy divers requires some changes from the normal methods of trolling with lead.
Downriggers are proven effective fish killers but can cause grief if not set up properly.
1. Use heavy weights 10 or more pounds.
2. Secure the weight to the cable with a
rubber snubber. This prevents lost
weights due to cable breaks.
3. Experiment with set back from the
quick release. Long is not always better.
4. Train one of you crew to operate the
downriggers. It frees you up to keep the
boat straight and net the fish.
5. Use your fishfinder to track the
weights. Scratching bottom is very
effective way to trigger chinook into
biting. Be sure to have cable tension
set to allow for snagged gear.
6. Do not use graphite rods for downrigger
rods. They will snap under the tension.
7. Any other suggestions or tricks?

Using heavy divers;

Last year at Buoy 10 we were losing a high number of hookups. I got to thinking about the heavy divers and the strain on the graphite rods I was using. The fish would hit, hook up and then release. I decided to try fiberglas Ugly sticks.
Problem solved! The rod would take the hit, bend and then bend some more, not snapping back as the graphite rods did. Fish stayed on, anglers happy, fish box filled, it worked for me.
Do any of you have other ideas that worked for you?

[Troller]

I have ? for you being new to downriggers. I am in the process now of wiring my new ones up. You confused me a little when you said use a rubber snubber when attaching a wieght to your cable to prevent loosing it when cable breaks. Maybe I am just reading this wrong. Or are you saying use the snubber so that you loose your weight only and the snubber breaks not the cable.

[Pitch Pocket]

Same question Capt. If the cable breaks isn't the weight deep sixed?

[Joe Schwab]

Sorry I was a little vague on the snubber issue.
Use the snubber between the cable and the weight.
In rough seas or sudden cable stops it takes up the shock of the weight and prevents the cable from snapping. Cable has very little stretch.
A good snubber is one of those solid black rubber tie downs. They are strong and inexpensive. 12 inches is plenty. If you are going electric, snubbers really help. I had electric Scottys and found that in choppy seas with the ball coming up, if the boat rocked up as the ball stopped it put a real strain on the cable. Also helped to stop the weight while it is still slightly under the surface. Hope this helps.

[Pitch Pocket]

I get it now. Thanks

[boater]

the outdoor emporium in seattle sells rubber snubbers for downriggers, i think they are about 9 bucks each.

[jcarufo]

Just a couple of suggestions: once you have your downriggers set up, check the inherent voltage, cable to (-) on battery. Should read somewhere between .6 and .7 volts for best salmon results. If not, more zincs or better grounding of your electronics is needed. Isolate the ball from the cable with a Scotty ball hook on the end of the cable. (The snubber sounds like a great idea too) Get a stainless longline clip, attach approx 2 ft of mono weed wacker line with ballbearing swivel to an Offshore brand medium release clip (the best IMHO). You can clip the longline clip to the line at any level; you can stack multiple lines on one downrigger; it's easy to attach the line to the release clip in a pitching boat. Lastly, we've fished Canada (and Buoy 10) for the last ten+ years with downriggers and never had a problem with grafite rods. You must take all the slack out of the line and load the rod just short of popping the line off the release clip. We fish Sockeye, Silvers, and 'Springs' (Chinook) with never a problem. Hope some of this helps. Once you get it down, it's a very effective and enjoyable way to fish.

jean