Learn How To Fish Downriggers
Savvy fishermen know downrigging is one of the best ways to control the depth of their fishing lure-short of dropping anchor. Preferably you want to try to keep your bait at the same depth that your fish finder shows the fish are located. You can become quite good at doing this after some trial and error, a bit of record keeping and lots of patience.
I preferr Cannon Downriggers. I've tried some other brands but have never really been satisfied with them. They generally fell apart too soon or rusted long before they should have, and I didn't feel I got a real value for my money. However, some really great downrigging system are made by Cannon.They have more sufisticated systems, but I like to work with something a little easier, like the Mag 10TS, for example.
Experienced boaters and fishermen trust the Magnum because it has been proven to be extremely durable and dependable. It offers a speedy retrieval rate of 250 feet per minute, includes a short-stop feature to protect their boat so that a swinging weight won't put a hole in the side, and it is really tough and can handle a lot.
In particular, the Mag 10TS has a spool constructed of stainless steel that can deal with the "super lines" popular these days or monofilament. It looks stylish with an attractive metallic white finish, and it features Positive Ion Control designed to make your boat a fish-finding magnet by creating an electrical field fish are drawn into.
To begin you want to decide how deep you want to be and at what speed you will troll. When trolling faster or going deeper, more weight will be needed. This is because you must compensate for the drag of the water that increases with your trolling speed.
One example is most Great Lakes fishermen trolling for salmon set a speed of 1.5 up to 3 miles per hour and shoot for a depth of 15 to 30 feet down, so they don't have a significant drag and can use a 5lb ball. But deep sea fishermen trying to catch grouper-which often run at 60 feet below the surface or even deeper-troll at around 5 knots. With that kind of depth and speed, they get quite a bit of drag. So they probably need to use a 20lb weight.
After you have determined the weight ball you need you will still need to experiment some to be sure you're on track. Head out on the water to a depth similar to the depth at which you plan to fish. Set the boat speed to the desired trolling speed based on the fish you are trying to land. Now drop the ball all the way to the bottom at which point you will you see the cable start to slack up. Then quickly stop it and retrieve a bit of cable to tighten it back up. Now check the line counter on your downrigger. Here's where the record keeping comes in.
Write down that depth along with your trolling speed, the ball weight, and the water depth. Then try changing a bit. Each time you adjust your speed make a note of the information aquired. Adjust the cable depth at the various speeds and take note of that. Essentially you want to determine how much cable is ideal to let out at each particular depth and speed for the fish you are trying to catch.
By using some simple math like a percentage of cable needed to reach a certain depth or bottom you will be able to calculate how much cable to let out to be in the depth you desire.
My personal prefference is to stay about 10' above the bottom. For starters, I know bottom fish will still take the right bait from that distance. They'll come up to get it. I also don't care for the idea of getting hung up on something on the bottom and being forced to cut loose my cable.
Another recommendation is to keep your lead line at 10' or less from the ball to your bait so that you get the benifit of the negative Ion field that surrouds the ball. It has to be that close to use it. If you've got too much lead line in between there, it won't work.
In addition to the Cannon downrigger Mag 10TS, you'll need some basics to get started. Using a good sturdy 7' rod with a conventioal reel attached and the proper strenght line for the fish you are targeting, a well made line release attached to your ball, the right bait and a decent boat, you'll soon be downrigging like a pro. Downrigging is an enjoyable way to fish and a skill you'll soon master.
For more information about Cannon Downriggers and Accessories plus all types of other fishing and boating electroncs visit us at eFishBox.com.com website. You will find great fishing and boating articles at MyTackleSpace as well as advise from your peers. There are some blogs and discussion forums on fishing and equipment ideas! Have a look.
About the Author
eFishBox is a Fishing and Boating Electronics Outfitter Store. We offer great customer care and same day shipping. For more information on Cannon Downriggers see our Downriggers Page.
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