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Tanners uncle Scott and I went to Deer Creek Sunday. We picked up a new downrigger, and wanted to learn how to use it.(practice for the Kokes at Strawberry.) We launched about 8:30 and went over to the west side of the lake. We trolled with our pop gear the first pass to see if there were any fish, and what depth. (We were up there last Thurs. and found out that the ball fouled up our fish finder depth readings.) We then went back and hooked up our downrigger and made a pass. Boy did we have fun! Someone should have been there with video camera! (Americas Funniest)!
We kept at it and got it figgured out, how to get the line out,and the ball down at the same time. Then we started catching fish. Good sized rainbows, and a couple of Browns. all around 16 to 19 inches and very fat. Fish were at about 35 ft.
The weather was beautiful, calm to just a ripple on the water until just afternoon. couldn't have been better. quite a few fishing boats, but no fast water skiers or personal water craft.
We had never been around a downrigger before, but thanks to Jared Johnson, Kyle Edwards and others at the Koke seminar, plus all the posts on BFT, we had no trouble learning to use it. Also the people at Sportsmans were helpful with what to use. This is such a great forum for us that don't know all we need to know about different kind of fishing! I have been fly fishing only, for the past 20 to 25 years . But Tanner wants to try it all! Thanks to all of you for the kowledge you provide!!
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What type of downrigger did you end up getting?
What did you figure out as far as using the downrigger?
Different anglers do it different ways, what worked for you?
Thanks for sharing tannersgrandpaw! [cool]
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sounds like you had a great time at deer creek! that place can be a lot of fun. i'll probably head up there saturday and give it a go. way to get that downrigger practice in early! its good to hear that your were able to get out and put some of that new knowledge to use!
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sounds like youve got it down pat! it can take some getting used to, but i think youre doing it all right!
the quick releases from cannon arent the easiest to use. they are the ones that probably came with the downrigger. have you tried the kind with the tension springs? check out the release on [url "http://www.rockymountaintackle.com"]www.rockymountaintackle.com[/url] these ones are much easier to get a consistent tension out of. the quick releases are very difficult to get consistency out of. been there, done that!
again, great report!
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I am planning to "practice" at DC on Sat. as well. There are sure some FAT rainbows there. Look foe the green and white pontoon. I will have the radio if anyone wants to say HI.
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I have 2 of those cannon easy trolls and they are a pretty good bang for your buck!! easy 1 handed operation,I really didnt care for the cannon realeases so i went with the off shore stackers and the scotty for my single! M.H.
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[#008000]Does anyone use the Jet divers or dipsy divers attached to the cable? I heard someone say that they would not use anything else......I generally loop a pony tail rubber band around the line and clip it in the release[/#008000]
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How much did you pay for your cannon easy troll? And is it really that easy to reel in? How many line can you run from one downrigger? Man you got me to make my mind up i am going to get one now. I guess you got yours at sportsmans right?
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You can get one for about 150$ I use 2 lines on each one of them and they are easy to use my wife has no problem realing up the 10# ball! M.H.
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A ten pound ball will have less blowback while trolling. an example, an 8 pound ball you will have 100 ft of cable out to be 80ft. deep where a 10 pound ball you would have 100 ft of cable to be about 90 ft deep. On my first try the 8 pound ball worked very well, but as I learn more, I may purchase a heavier ball.
To use 2 lines, I hook the first line to the eye on the rear of the ball, then lower the ball 10ft then I hook the second line to the cable, then lower to the desired depth. You can get a quick release for this at sportsmans that has two clips (like a short fat clothes pins), and a metal cllip that hooks around the cable. As Muskyhunter said I would buy another quick release in place of the one that comes with the downrigger. I found the one that comes with the downrigger very hard to use.
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Now all you need is to run the "ShuttleHawk" on the cable so you dont have to crank up the ball with every fish or missed strike. It sure makes it easier than all that cranking. They have them at Sportsmans Warehouse. I run one on each of my downriggers. You can run it down next to the ball or put the stopper on the cable at the desired depth so it can run your line that is placed higher up. The stopper will wind right in the spool with the cable.
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