braided or stainless steel for downriggers.

dog501 · 02-06-2009, 02:34 PM

I put the Scotty braided line on my downriggers and like it so far. What do you like braided or stainless steel. and why.

fish-on-bend · 02-06-2009, 02:51 PM

This was on the main forum a couple weeks ago. My response is #3. Tried braid, didn't like it, won't go back. Its hummmmm baby for me.

http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=232589

moknots · 02-06-2009, 04:26 PM

After two season running braid side by side with steel, I prefer the braid. Been using 120 pound bought off the bulk spool at Sportsmans. Much cheaper than the 200 or 250# stuff packaged for downriggers, and no trouble yet. The thinner stuff allows me to use 10 and 12 pound balls instead of going to 15s for faster deeper trolling (Macks), and I can get away with 6 pounders for kokanee down to about 100'. Those 6 pounders are pretty sweet!

dirty bird · 02-06-2009, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fish-on-bend

This was on the main forum a couple weeks ago. My response is #3. Tried braid, didn't like it, won't go back. Its hummmmm baby for me.

http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=232589

Somebody else likes the hummmm. I judge my speed by the sound of my cable. Have never used braid. Hum?

SilverBullets · 02-06-2009, 07:16 PM

Just put new stainless steel on both downriggers. I use the black box to put a positive charge on the wire, so braid is not an option.

Mooch · 02-06-2009, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dirty bird

Somebody else likes the hummmm. I judge my speed by the sound of my cable. Have never used braid. Hum?

Another for the hum.

The hum means I'm fishing the right speed.

It drives my dad crazy though.

Splash · 02-07-2009, 02:28 AM

I don't know the words either.

moknots · 02-07-2009, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Splash

I don't know the words either.

Now that's funny! I can't hum anymore, but the words for correct speed go something like this "Gee Pee Ess"

. I loaded braid over the top of my steel cable, so I can always go back, and I have backup in case I hook a ledge or a log and loose the braid.

Waterfish · 02-07-2009, 07:46 PM

I use steel for the same reasons that Fish-on-Bend stated in the other thread.

Yesterday at the Sportsman's show I talked to the Scotty rep and asked him what was new. He said that Scotty is coming out with a new stainless steel cable that is the same strength as the old cable, but a smaller diameter, which would help reduce blowback.

Splash · 02-08-2009, 03:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moknots

I can't hum anymore, but the words for correct speed go something like this "Gee Pee Ess"

.

The problem is as the satelites move around the earth (I just discovered it's actually round... go figure) they blink in and out causing me to lose signal on occassion. In addition as they travel sometimes the speed indicator (SOG) makes me think it could be less than accurate.

Then again my electric motor could be capable of producing speeds in excess of 272mph.

It's a real show watching those little buggers break water trying to chase down that blur of a hootchie skirt.

Maybe that's what JZ has in da box. A secret lure with a super huge bill that puts so much drag in the water that it slows the boat down enough to let the slimy critters get a mouth on the offering. Yeah, that's gotta be it.

deeptrout · 02-13-2009, 04:19 PM

okay, heres my secret. I buy spectra kite line at a kite shop in lincoln city. I spent an evening tying knots and puting beads on the line every ten feet, now all I do is count the beads as they go out to get a depth if I am trying for a depth relative to the surface. better yet is to drop the ball all the way to the bottom (no gear) and then pull up a desired amount and tie a slipknot with some yarn in the loop for a marker. try doing that with stainless! I tried pancakes, but I find balls work fine even tho the flats are better at some things. I want to try the rebar trick, sounds like a winner for Odell. As far as trout and kokanee, the same balls I use for plunking chinook and sturgeon bait work fine and I ve got plenty so why add to the lead box if I don't have to, things heavy enough already!

Waterfish · 02-13-2009, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deeptrout

okay, heres my secret. I buy spectra kite line at a kite shop in lincoln city. I spent an evening tying knots and puting beads on the line every ten feet, now all I do is count the beads as they go out to get a depth if I am trying for a depth relative to the surface. better yet is to drop the ball all the way to the bottom (no gear) and then pull up a desired amount and tie a slipknot with some yarn in the loop for a marker. try doing that with stainless! I tried pancakes, but I find balls work fine even tho the flats are better at some things. I want to try the rebar trick, sounds like a winner for Odell. As far as trout and kokanee, the same balls I use for plunking chinook and sturgeon bait work fine and I ve got plenty so why add to the lead box if I don't have to, things heavy enough already!

I am confused, are you using downriggers or some other system?

deeptrout · 02-16-2009, 12:34 PM

downriggers, although a home made version. I am a toolmaker, and couldn't resist the idea of building my own, so I went to the sportsman show and the rep from canon let me practically take apart one of their better ones right there on the floor and I sketched up a working print and built a pair. I changed their design to make the hubs bigger for faster retreives, and easier to remove for clearing backlashes. Mine are also aluminum with a right and left hand model mirrored on each other. that was in 96, since then I have modified them to fit a different mounting system, and then again to fit another boat, I think I am up to downrigger 3.0 now. All along, they have been strung with 150 lb. kite line (spectra). I started with colored beads every ten feet and a sticker with the coresponding color/depth chart, but then I restrung them with new line and numbered beads (have fun trying to find numbered beads, mine are from a little girl charm bracelet kit). I can still count beads, but having numbers right on the line is pretty fool proof. I don't know if it is true in water, but the guy at the kite shop told me that in air as line diameter doubles, drag quadruples. I suspect the ratio is higher in water, so I am thinking of going to 100 lb or less this year, even tho spectra is already the thinnest possible fiber for its strength available.
I hope all this doesn't make me come off as a downrigger expert, I use them b ut not primarily, my favorite lakes are either lacking Kokanee or less than twenty feet deep, so my use has been limited. On the days when I have used them for kokanee, I have had fair success, but I know enough to know I need to do alot more fishing to get the kind of results possible with these rigs.
Last year, I put one of my sisters adopted special needs kids onto a hot koke at odell, with just a 3 foot shakespear special and a penn level wind between him and about a 16 incher. That made it all worth while and I can't imagine a better use of a downrigger.