genius or disaster

[Robert Jackson]

after years of catching kokanee though the ice, last year i started trolling for them. i now have a serious addiction and cant wait for the ice to melt arround here. last year i ran 2 down riggers with a single rod on each of them. there was usually 3 adults and my 2 yr old in the boat . this winter i bought a bigger boat (kept the other also) so i could take both of my daughters, wife, wifes friends, their family, and whoever else she thinks needs to go so i am not neglecting anyone while i spend my time the water.

should i set this boat up with 2 down riggers with a stacker on each so i can run 2 rods on one down rigger or go with more down riggers(stick with one rod per down rigger) or should i just stick with 2 rods ? i can see some serious disasters waiting to happen with more than 2 lines in the water, but dont know because i have never tried it. please guide me with your experiences

[twisted lines]

Something I am going to try this year is the Shuttle Hawk, I have read that it can work very well with the proper adjustments, and lead core line is another way to separate your lines and add another rod to the mix. More then two down riggers! Not on my boats.....

[ElkTalker]

I ran three downriggers most of the season last year. This pic is not a great pic of the downriggers but it does show two off the same corner,one straight out the back and the other off the side. I also ran one off the other side. The middle downrigger I ran 10’ shallower and a few feet shorter then the outside downrigger.

We had very little problems with tangles between the downriggers but the middle downrigger seldom was the hot spot. When it was the hot spot I would raie all three and the outside rods would start up. Only when it was really crazy fishing did the middle downrigger show its worth.

Another problem shows up with fishing three rods; we had triples a lot, having enough nets to help land all the fish is sometimes tricky.

Good luck ET


My son is holding up two fingers to show that we only need two more fish to finish off a 25 fish limit.

[Doc_Rhen]

I have been on a few 4 rigger boats but it has been many years. with shorter setbacks, that should not really be a problem. At the same time we ran 6 lines all weekend with only a couple line fouls using only one rigger. We had four running sinkers and lake trolls and two off the rigger with the upper rigger line on a shuttlehawk. I guess that I would probably start with two and add the other two if they seemed necessary later.