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How much line to let out behind a downrigger?
#1
I have read a few ideas on here regarding how much line to let out behind a downrigger, but I would like to hear from a wider group. How much line do you let out when using a downrigger for trout, for macks, for kokanee, and for whatever else you are using them for?
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#2
I've only fished Strawberry, Fish Lake, and Flaming Gorge with downriggers, so I am by no means an expert. I'm going by more of what I've read on here and been told by others on the water.

Strawberry we would let out about 30 feet if the fish were holding in less than 30 feet of water (which is almost always there) and would catch Rainbow, Cuts, and an occassional Koke. Very productive way to fish there if you have the electronics to keep you on the fish.

Fish Lake, we trolled all over that lake from 45 feet down to 110 feet down and tried from 40 feet out to over 150 feet out. The only fish I caught rigging there was a 3lb. Rainbow at 75 feet down and about 100 feet behind the rigger. I stick to jigging there.

Flaming Gorge we trolled from 75-150 feet behind the rigger and didn't have any luck for big fish and minimal luck for smaller fish. Then I was told to run 150-250 feet out for the big fish, but by then I no longer had access to a downrigger to try it.

Like I said, no expert. On Strawberry there were days that we couldn't even keep the boat going in any perticular direction because every pole on board would go at the same time leaving noone to steer. There, I can say about 30 feet out works quite well.
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#3
I'm sure you will get a wide response to this post - I have heard some folk actually hook their flashers to the downrigger ball and then have their release off the end of the flashers with just the lure on there line.

I myself stack my poles (two) on a side - the first one I usually put out 65' and then let it down 15' and then stack the second pole and let out about 40' to 50' and then send the both rigs down to 45' - that way I'm got one outfit fishing 45' - 65' back and another fishing 30' - 50' back. Then depending on results and time of year I can go deeper or furether out if need be.

Be careful because this is quite a task for one person to do without some practice. You should have one person driving the boat and loosen the drag all the way one the first pole and then put it in the rod holder before letting it down to attach the second pole. It can be quite a exercise to keep the correct tensions and not put a line out of a release on the way down. But practice it and you can do it as long as you use rubber bands as releases.

Good luck Kent and it seem like the magic depth last year at this time was about 28'....
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#4
I always go out 75-100 feet no matter where I use my down rigger. It has seemed to work for me.
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#5
When you use a stacker which pole do you put on first? I usually put the one on closest to the down rigger first and keep the pole to the rear of the boat. The 2nd pole is usually the one up front. Is this how you do it?
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#6
I've had best luck running 15 to 20 feet behind ball. I put silver prizm on the ball and this seems to atract fish who in turn see the lure.
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#7
[size 1]"Good luck Kent and it seem like the magic depth last year at this time was about 28'...." For what body of water?[/size]

[size 1]I can see that I am letting out way too much line. I have always felt if letting a little line out is good, then letting a lot of line out must be that much better. I have been known to let out up to 125' of line. I am going to try considerably less tomorrow at Strawberry. I have tried using a flasher on the downrigger, and I believe it helped a little. My current weight has green prism tape on it already, so not sure how much a flasher would add to it.[/size]
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#8
I have just started using down rigers last year at flaming gorge but i used the stacking at 10 feet seperation i was 50 t0 75 feet back off the down rigger with a dodger 5 feet in front off the lure and on my pancake wight i put a prizem type tape on the blade it did seem to work ok i dont think you need to be too far out becuse if you keep it kind of close you dont tangle your other lines as mutch as long line and you can make sharper turns with out problems but i am still new at this (WANDO)
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#9
It all depends on what you are using.......... Flasher: They spin and the more spin you want the closer you run them to the ball. Usually 15-25ft and along with size and speed of the troll thats what you shoot for.

If you run just your line with and lure/bait, run her out to 100 ft but any more then you loose the control of down rigging...............

Dodger: They wobble and you run those any where from 25-50ft.... Now these put alot more strain on your clip and line and are made to be trolled slow. I you want a constant release find your sweet spot and stick with it. There is no need to run any further out then this. Even if your down only 15-20ft. Now there is static electricity that the steel line creates and will some what affect the fish but if you have a quality ball with a good rubber coating where your clip attaches to then you'll be fine. I am very confident in running down riggers and been doing it for about 18yrs from sea to fresh.[size 2]

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#10
I don't use a downrigger, but I can tell you this: Using one at fishlake is a waste of time. Copper line on a hand paddle is the only way to go. I've spent a lot of time fishing with the old guys up there and that's how it's done. Downriggers do not allow you to stay in constant contact with the bottom. And after sun-up, that's where the Macs are.
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#11
Hi Kent,

I use downriggers a lot and I always run a minimum of 75 feet behind the ball. The deeper you're trolling the less line I feel you need out behind the ball. Why so much line? Well the ball is almost directly under your boat. That means the lure is only behind your boat the number of feet you let out your line out behind the ball. In shallow water fish tend to avoid boats due to noise from the motors. So I try to run as far back as I would as if I was trolling. My suggestion of 75 or more feet goes out the window when you're trolling in water deeper than 80 feet or so. You can get away with running closer to the ball since the lure is so deep. The last two weekends here at Bear Lake I was running riggers down 12-14 feet in water only 15-20 feet deep. I had two poles stacked on the riggers and one was back 125 feet and the other 100 feet. I probably caught more fish than the average person since they were running so short behind the ball. In that depth of water fish avoid the boat. I wish I would have had side planer boards to to get the lures away from the boat. I'm sure this would have worked here at Bear Lake last weekend in the shallow water. I've used side planers a lot for walleye back in Michigan on Lake Erie.

Scott
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#12
I ran my line back from 45 to 60 feet today at Srawberry and anywhere from 10 feet to 19 feet down. I didn't have any problem getting bites, and previously I would have run it back from 100 to 125 feet. Most of the time I was fishing in water at least 35 feet deep, and often around 75 feet deep. I have been fishing sometimes when the prop seemed to attract fish to it. If I let out much line I didn't catch fish, but if I fished close behind the boat it was non-stop action.
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#13
For kokanee I only let 15 to 20 feet out. Even if I am only 10 feet down, it doesn't seem to bother the fish. It could help. the rest of the story is that I take the biggest pop gear that I can find and attach it directly to the downrigger ball. I then attach a slightly smaller set of pop gear to the end of the large pop gear. Then a smaller set to that until I have a string of 2 to 4 sets of popgear going back about 15 feet (alot of flash). I use the heaviest ball that I can find for this (13 lbs). I lower the ball with the pop gear down about 4 feet and then attach my line to the cable with a stacker clip. I let just enough line out to put my lure about 5 feet behind the end of the pop gear. This seems to work really well, especially in the searching mode and when the kokanee are spread out. It is very important to lower the ball slowly when you do this.

I did the rubber band thing for awhile and it wasn't too bad. I now use a heavy tension stacker clip with the cable that attaches to the fishing line lengthened. With this setup I can easily see when I have a bite and remove the line from the clip myself by pulling hard on the line. This prevents premature releases, having to reset the downrigger for every little bite, and helps ensure a good hook set on the larger fish.

One of the guides that I salmon fish with on the Oregon Coast has a prop on his trolling motor with holes drilled in it. The prop really stirs up the water and leaves a large trail of bubbles. We put our lines right behind the prop and about 3 feet down. We seem to always get more fish than average. He says that this attracts the salmon to the boat.
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#14
Thanks Ryan,

You gave me some ideas to try. Interesting idea of attaching substantial pop gear directly to the downrigger, and using a stacker clip and then only going back 15 to 20 feet. I will have to give that a try my next trip out.
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