05-19-2004, 01:32 PM
I too prefer jiggin over downrigging when fishing for macks, but you're absolutely right, sometimes you do need them. With macks its a little bit tougher because they are glued to the bottom in the summer months. If you are fishing an area that has a flat bottom then you wont have any problems but most of the areas that hold fish have humps or drop offs and have a lot of varrying bottom depths. With those areas you will have to pay close attention to your depthfinder as you go over them or you will hang up alot and that can get expensive in a hurry.
With Kokes they are a different story, they are usually suspended higher up in the water column so all you have to do is find the depth they are at and leave your weight at or just above the depth you are marking the fish at.
As far as how to operate the downriggers, some of it is personal preference. Some people like to attach the release right to the ball others prefer to attach it to the cable higher up away from the ball especially when they are stacking (fishing multiple lines off of one downrigger). The easiest way to get started is stick with one line per downrigger.
Put your boat in gear and open the bail on your reel to let out line, once you get the desired amount of line out (I prefer around 150 feet) pinch the release on to your line (the further into the jaws the harder it is to pull out). Now with your line secured to the release and your bail still open you can drop down to your desired depth, if it is a manual downrigger turn the crank counter clockwise to release the brake and allow the ball to drop and clockwise to stop it. Once your ball is at the desired depth you will need to take up all the slack fishing line that will be bowing out from your rod to the release. This is another touchy are, the idea here is to get that line just as tight as you dare so when a fish pulls it off of the release there wont be a lot of slack line between you and the fish. Try to tighten the line enough that it is bending your rod down towards the water without tightening so much that you pull it out of the release and have to start all over again.
If this hasn't
you enough just wait until you try it lol. Just kiddin around, its not that bad.
[signature]
With Kokes they are a different story, they are usually suspended higher up in the water column so all you have to do is find the depth they are at and leave your weight at or just above the depth you are marking the fish at.
As far as how to operate the downriggers, some of it is personal preference. Some people like to attach the release right to the ball others prefer to attach it to the cable higher up away from the ball especially when they are stacking (fishing multiple lines off of one downrigger). The easiest way to get started is stick with one line per downrigger.
Put your boat in gear and open the bail on your reel to let out line, once you get the desired amount of line out (I prefer around 150 feet) pinch the release on to your line (the further into the jaws the harder it is to pull out). Now with your line secured to the release and your bail still open you can drop down to your desired depth, if it is a manual downrigger turn the crank counter clockwise to release the brake and allow the ball to drop and clockwise to stop it. Once your ball is at the desired depth you will need to take up all the slack fishing line that will be bowing out from your rod to the release. This is another touchy are, the idea here is to get that line just as tight as you dare so when a fish pulls it off of the release there wont be a lot of slack line between you and the fish. Try to tighten the line enough that it is bending your rod down towards the water without tightening so much that you pull it out of the release and have to start all over again.
If this hasn't
you enough just wait until you try it lol. Just kiddin around, its not that bad.[signature]