[jagare]

I am curious how much weight most people are using for Kokanee with manual downriggers?

 

[Crabby2004]

I am curious how much weight most people are using for Kokanee with manual downriggers?

I run Cannon Manual downriggers and find that 8 Pound Pancake weights work great. I own a 17' Alumaweld boat with a 8 horsepower Honda trolling motor. I basically run at the lowest idle speed and do just fine. I run my lines any where from 20' to 110' depending on the time of year and dept of schools. The blow back from the downrigger weight is minimum at that speed.. Hope this helps. I fish Green Peter quite often.

 

[The_Black_Pearl]

Both an 8 or 10 lb ball has worked for me. I use the 10 because it's black and I think that is better (no proof of that). For Kokes, I am running around 1.2 miles per hour most the time and may get up to 1.7 at times. The furthest I go down is 60 feet.

 

[Beaver State Rich]

I run a 6lb canonn ball one side a 8 on the other. Under100' I find no difference. The 6 lb replaced an 8 lb I lost. FYI the uncoated lead is almost 1/2 $$ of the coated weights. Get a can of plastic dip spray at H depot to coat with black rubber.

 

[SilverBullets]

8lb... even with ball trolls attached the blow back is minimal and the weights show on the ff screen.

 

[ChinookSlayer]

I run 6 lbs, and have gone as deep as 90' with them. I like them because they are easier to reel up. I troll kind of slow, maybe 1 to 1.2 mph.

if I use my main motor, then my speed jumps up to maybe 1.8 mph, and at that speed, it seems the 6 isn't quite enough to keep the line going down pretty straight.

 

[Flyingfool]

Trolling at 1.2 I have found 1 pound per 10 feet of water works good.

40 feet = 4 lbs
60 feet = 6 lbs

Works for me.

FF

 

[jagare]

Thanks for the input. I have been running 6 and 8 # . I just poured two 5 # weights lead free, from bearing babbitt. They turned out to be right at 5 pounds from an eight pound torpedo / fin mould. I thought they might be easier and faster to retrieve. I have cannon manuals and they work you out with eight pounds at 60 ft when the bite is on.

 

[kokaneekid]

I prefer 10lb elongated weights. With 10lbs and if the weight is elongated it will do a couple things for you.

1. Minimal blow back even when trolling up to 1.9mph
2. You can fish structure and even drag the weight if needed on the bottom or off shelves.
3. You won't snag your weight on the bottom of the lake.

I also prefer to run a ball troll off the weight which comes in really handy when the Kokanee drop below 40 feet.

Fish On kokaneekid

 

[PepsiGuy78]

I use 6-pound coated weights on Scotty 1085 manual downriggers trolling between 1.0-1.6 mph up on Lake Merwin with no "blow back". My 91-year young dad likes the lighter weight, he claims it is easier to crank up than 10-lb balls that I sometime used in the past.

 

[rainorsnow1]

Trolling at 1.2 I have found 1 pound per 10 feet of water works good.

40 feet = 4 lbs
60 feet = 6 lbs

Works for me.

FF

:yeah that: how I've always thought of it. I run two 6lb coated balls and at around 80' they start to get blow back pretty bad at 1.7 mph.
I do like the idea of the bar weights.

 

[dragonfly]

I used to run 10 lb balls but since switched to my lead filled SS bar weights I found I only needed 8 lbs and have less blowback than a 10 lb ball. I mac fish and actually drag them and have never lost one, I put a bullet nose on them and they pull through rocks and stumps without hanging up. so shape is also important along with weight. another advantage is at an 1 1/2'' they fit in the pole holders when moving to a new spot.

 

[Private-Aye-Fish]

I put a bullet nose on them and they pull through rocks and stumps without hanging up. so shape is also important along with weight. another advantage is at an 1 1/2'' they fit in the pole holders when moving to a new spot.

Dragonfly, did you make those yourself? :doh:

 

[dragonfly]

PI. yes I did because no one out there has anything like it plus being all stainless on the outside gives it the bling factor. dfly

 

[Flyingfool]

Trolling at 1.2 I have found 1 pound per 10 feet of water works good.

40 feet = 4 lbs
60 feet = 6 lbs

Works for me.

FF

I use this as a rule of thumb because I can tell my speed by looking at the downrigger line angle. If I used too big of a ball it would be at straight. If my line is at a 45 degree angle I know I'm close on speed.

I never crank the ball up. I use what I like to call a poor man's electric downrigger. I use Shuttle Hawks from Shasta Tackle. I put one rod per downrigger and never crank it up. The shuttle hawks work perfect!

FF

 

[Private-Aye-Fish]

PI. yes I did because no one out there has anything like it plus being all stainless on the outside gives it the bling factor. dfly

Way cool! :applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause: I have SS bar weight envy. :thisbig:

 

[dragonfly]

thanx private aye
Flying. you probably have it figured out but for those that don't know you have to take in account the blowback. if you have 50' out on the counter and troll with a 45° angle your weight is actually about 35' deep.so if your target fish are at 50'- 55' your ball is 15' - 20' above them and may be enough to miss them especially if they are off to the side. also there is some sag in your line depending on your speed, the weight and drag of your troll rig and how far your set back is to take in consideration. so as you can see trolling isn't just buying a downrigger and a weight and tossing it over the side and go fishing, if it were easy everyone would be doing it. but starting with the right weight helps. dfly

 

[jagare]

I used to run 10 lb balls but since switched to my lead filled SS bar weights I found I only needed 8 lbs and have less blowback than a 10 lb ball. I mac fish and actually drag them and have never lost one, I put a bullet nose on them and they pull through rocks and stumps without hanging up. so shape is also important along with weight. another advantage is at an 1 1/2'' they fit in the pole holders when moving to a new spot.

I have two very similar only I milled a slot in them lengthways then put in a swing down fin to eliminate spin. The fin is held up or down with a ball detent but it gets hard to use with dirt ect fouling them. I will take a picture and try to post it this weekend. I first saw them fishing with a guide on lake Tahoe, they let you get real deep with little line angle for there weight. Never thought about pulling them over obstacles, good idea I will have to give that a try.

 

[dragonfly]

Jagare, I never noticed them spin with the bullet nose unlike the flat ended ones but I always run snubbers with swivels, mainly to take up the shock of the hi speed scottys when they come to a screaming stop. by adding a fin it would add to the chance of snagging up on the bottom where these just pull thru. dfly

 

[Quiet Riot]

I get away with 3lb pipe jigs or cannon balls on 65-80lb braid, using penn 330 gti reels on aluminum booms. Only get 10-20 deg blowback depending on speed/depth but I haven't needed to go down past 60' for my fishing.

I also use shuttle hawks, works great as long as its a weed free place. Diamond lake for example doesn't work with this due to weeds but downriggers aren't really needed there. Downrigger cable/wire size makes all the difference in weight and blowback.