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[#0000FF]Sorry to burst your enthusiasm bubble, but that is not so much a true "downrigger" as just an added weight on your line. A downrigger is an independent weight to which your line is clipped...and will release when a fish hits it. With that setup you will continue to fight the heavy weight as well as the fish all the way back in.
A much better alternative is something like a Dipsy Diver or a crescent sinker.
I know you are new to Utah fishing, but what species and what waters do you anticipate using that device? Unless you are fishing late summer kokanees at Strawberry or Flaming Gorge I cannot think of many potential applications.
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Well it seemed like a good idea at the time. I thought by attaching it to my trolling rig as i fished in my kick boat was a good idea. Locating the fish with my fish finder I could drop my line down and keep it at that water locum as i kicked around and fished with my other pole. I was out at Jordanal the other day and the fish were at about 10 feet down. I got 3 nice trout and one small one with several hits along the way. I am going to use an 1oz weight on it as I will be moving very slow (no motor)
What the heck, it won't be the last cool looking fish gadget that I purchased thinking it will work, I think we all have been there
Rusty.
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[#0000FF]I would be the last one to criticize someone for buying a new thing for fishing...that seemed like it "might work". A lot of the stuff that is designed to catch fishermen...not fish...has found a home with me.
Just a thought on our local lakes. If the fish are showing in less than about 15-20 feet of water you really don't have to troll that deep to catch them. That is especially true for trout. They cruise around, looking upward, and will rise a long ways up in the water column to take something above them. So just adding a small amount of weight to a fly or small lure will usually get your offering deep enough to get fishy attention.
I make jigs and tie flies. One of my favorite slow trolling rigs for tube fishing is a jig and fly combo. I rig the jig on a dropper (8-10 inches) and then have the fly trailing behind about 3-4 feet...subject to personal preferences and fish acceptance.
I fish this rig when casting or drifting...with the combo riding above bottom. But for fishing the bottom zone I will often rig with the jig on the bottom and the fly riding on the dropper above.
See attached pics and diagram.
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once again you have gone out of your way to provide very helpful information, which I greatly appreciate. It looks like Redi Rig has just landed another fisherman, perhaps this will work in San Diego bay when I go back to SD. After reviewing the information that you sent I was very impressed with this concept and will be sure to present it to Mr. Trout as soon as I can. Also your advise on Cat Fishing trolling with an open bale using a spoon to hold the line is an excellent concept which will find its way to Utah Lake very soon.
I can not express my gratitude to all of those that have helped me get over my learning curve in a more rapid pace. This forum should be very proud of its members, one would not see this type of camaraderie and information given so freely in our local forum in California. Thank you one and all!
Rusty
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[#0000FF]You are welcome. Good to have you aboard. We look forward to reading your reports in the future.
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Can't even think of how to top the info you have been given, but when you mentioned fish in the 10' range made me relate to deep nymphing for fly fishing.
I am a fly fisher and I fish different depths with the aid of sonar and what is called a SLIP indicator. Using floating line I use a leader the length I need (in this case maybe 12' to fish 10') Set the slip indicator and kick back. even pulling it slowly. This will keep your lure at that depth.
I fish 30' using this tech. Cheap enough to try.
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