Z-Wing / Diver in place of a Canon Ball

Reef Diver · 03-04-2004, 12:00 PM

Has anyone used one of the Z-Wings or Divers in place of a Cannon BAll on a downrigger. I did a search and found a few topics but didn't really see an opinion about actually using them.
I am interested in using them for 100 foot range for Chinook and possibly higher speed Tuna fishing at 30-70 feet.
Any opinions?
Keta?

RD

03-04-2004, 12:44 PM

Give one of THESE a try, they cost almost 1/2 as much as a Z-wing and Old Salty helps Jennie pay the bills.

[ 03-04-2004, 01:47 PM: Message edited by: Keta ]

Old Salty · 03-04-2004, 01:04 PM

:smile: Hi Reef Diver,

Interested in trying a High Speed Downrigger
Planer for Tuna? We carry Diving Planers
from a 1oz. Rod Planer, and go ALL the way
up to a Deep Diving 32 oz. Dowrigger Planer.
They're lighter than the cannonball weights
and can be fished Direct, or with a Release.
I'll put up a magazine article for you later
on in the day. Our Divers are made of 18-8
Stainless Steel, not to mention proudly
Made in the good ol' U.S.A.

I'LL WRITE BACK SOON, and post a magazine
article.

Thanks,& Good Fishin'
Old Salty
http://www.oldsaltytackle.com

Fishmstr · 03-04-2004, 05:45 PM

I've had a Z-wing for 3 years now and love it. It is incredibly light and dives well. It is so nice to have only about a 2 pound weight on your boom instead of a 10!!! I trolled down to about 80 feet last year with no problem. They do seem to get a bit of an angle at deeper depths, but I think it is worth it.
best fishes,
steve

backlash442 · 03-04-2004, 06:48 PM

I have one. Never tried it salmon fishing. Did try it for tuna a couple of times. It put tremendous strain on the boom when trying to go 6-7knts. Don't think we even got up that fast. Been sitting in the garage since then. I think if you are going to go slow (less than 4knts) then it would be worth using. Come to think of it it may have even broke the bolt in the rod holder due to the torquing of the downrigger.

skein · 03-04-2004, 08:47 PM

Yeah, we found the same thing as Backlash442 when we came up to tuna speed. Way too much pressure for the downriggers to handle. Might have worked at chinook speeds but we didn't try.

Skein

03-04-2004, 08:52 PM

Skein and backlash,
Are your Z-Wings a 250 or a 500?

[ 03-04-2004, 09:53 PM: Message edited by: Keta ]

skein · 03-04-2004, 09:04 PM

Keta,

It was on Popeye's boat and I'm pretty sure it was the 500's. He had also had his downriggers (Scotty's) gone through with new brakes, and it was still all they could do to hold or retrieve the 'wings. That was at about 8-9 knots.

Skein

03-04-2004, 09:15 PM

If I remember right Popeye got the high speed 500's from CharkBait. How long are his downrigger arms?

[ 03-04-2004, 10:16 PM: Message edited by: Keta ]

Old Salty · 03-04-2004, 09:26 PM

:smile: To All,
Our 8&12 oz. Old Salty Planers are made
for High Speed trolling. Especially the 8oz.
Planer. They're lighter than the cannonball
weights and do not wander up underwater during
high speed applications. They put some
pressure on the Downrigger Boom, but
fact is they hold up with no problems.
Commercial Fishermen use them during king
mackeral, grouper, & tuna fishing up & down
the east coast. I have a magazine article here
but it is black & white. I'll try to scan it
first thing in the morning.
Old Salty
http://www.oldsaltytackle.com
Old Salty Planers - Proudly Made in U.S.A.

03-04-2004, 09:30 PM

I plan on picking up a pair of the large high speed Old Salty downrigger planers to try. They have weight and aren't as wide so I feel they won't overload my downriggers as bad as a Z-Wing.

[ 03-04-2004, 10:32 PM: Message edited by: Keta ]

Popeye · 03-05-2004, 05:10 AM

I bought a pair of Old Salties just before we embarked on the Swordfish trip, but didn't really have the time to learn and use them. I definately will be trying them tho. I do have the Z-500's, and they have worked great at 3-4 knots for salmon. If my suspicions are right tho, I'm thinkin' the Old Salties will be all that I'll need. May have to try some of the different sizes tho.

backlash442 · 03-05-2004, 10:52 AM

Well I went into the garage looking for it but can't find it. I think it's the 500 because it's pretty big. I remember when I ordered it was the one that could troll at the higher speeds. Yeah right. The boom was perpendicular to the boat when it went into the water but ended up being parallel. We were going to troll for Big Eye using very large squid. Great idea or so we thought. Tried using a downrigger for tuna one other time with the standard ball. Trolled for about 45 min. then gave up. Started trolling feathers and got bit before we could even move 50 yards! Go figure. I know that some guys are very successful using them. Especially for bft or when the albies are deep and not coming up.

Reef Diver · 03-05-2004, 01:26 PM

Thanks guys for all the info.
I'll be working with Old Salty to figure out what divers I'll need for Chinook and Tuna fishing.
It'll help Jennie pay the bills at the same time.

Tuna on the brain! :smile:
Thanks
RD

edsr · 03-05-2004, 03:50 PM

Old Salty - I'm sure there are a lot of tunaholics that would be interested in the high-speed planer models.
edsr

fishwhenican · 03-05-2004, 05:38 PM

Reef Diver, I've got a pair of Z-wing 500s if you want to give them a try. 6 knots was too fast and kept slipping the brakes on my downriggers. 4 knots worked good, but I really haven't tried them at 1-2 kts. I thought of just hooking them up to some 300 lb tuna cord and just sending down clips with the line attached via rubberband. The Old Salty's sound like they may work better at high speed.

Old Salty · 03-06-2004, 06:31 AM

Hi guys,

I have a couple of magazine articles
1 from saltwater sportsman Jan. 2004 edition
& 1 from Florida Fishing News that have articles
on high speed trolling our Old Salty Planers for tuna, grouper, and lg. gamesters.

I just can't figure out how to get them up on the discussion board. HELP. How do I get them up on
the board. I'd like to share these with you. Lots
of great info. on Planer trolling.
David
Old Salty
http://www.oldsaltytackle.com

Reef Diver · 03-06-2004, 11:35 PM

Fishwhenican,
I'll take you up on the Z-Wing and give it a try.
We need to get together and talk diving anyway.

Salty, I'm not sure how to post but I sure would be interested in reading them. I'll work with you on trying to figure what size divers needed for Tuna.
RD

corkyking · 03-07-2004, 11:36 PM

I'm sorry - I must be an idiot for two reasons one I didn't know about this device until I ran across it on the Charkbait site and two the one I bought came with a length of poly line attached so it didn't occur to me to tie it to the downrigger.

I bought it for high speed trolling so I just clip my trolling gear to the poly line and tie it off to a cleat and then I can go just about as fast as I want to.