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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#000000] Was wondering if any one as input on down riggers, [/#000000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#000000]I use lead core line 20 lbs at 230-300 feet out trolling, it is about 30-40 feet below, and with a deep diver on I can reach 40-50 feet deep, so would a down rigger be needed for the george or deeper waters. how would a down rigger be different fishing if the line is at the deepest part anyway. THANKS [  ][/#000000][/font]
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Why would you want all of that line out? A rigger runs straight down. more accurate on your depth, you can stack the rigger and put more than one line on it. There are just a few. Riggers are the only way to go. you will never regret buying one
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well the big diffrence of lead core is that you have to let sooooooooooooooooooooooo much out to get down that deep.. and try and turn around on a dime with out tangling everything up.. a down rigger you let 10 feet to 50 feet out put it on the clip and down it go's..
and the real diffrence will show it's self when you catch one.. on lead core you reel and reel and reel and even reel some more befor the fish gets to ya.. on the down rigger when ya pop the clip ya reel just a little and your done..
and ya get so much better of a fight on mono then lead!
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i grew up on lead core line. hell for awhile thats all I knew. here recently when we bought a new boat it came with 2 downriggers. after using them on a good day at fish lake I say its the only good way to go deep. im going to miss my lead core but I think im a downrigger guy now. like what was already mentioned, shorter line out to go deeper. with a good fishfinder your putting yourself at the right depth for where the fish are. and 1 other bonus i can think of is you get to feel a better fight with the mono line on a downrigger rather then the lead core line. just my 2 cents worth. and like i said this coming from a guy who loved hes lead core line
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The biggest advantage of downrigging is exact depth of your lures. I can see the downrigger balls on my fishfinder so i know exactly how deep my lures are. With lead-core, you are only guessing. Sometimes, bringing the balls up or down a few feet can make a difference in hook-ups. You can also use very light tackle with the riggers, not the tuna rod you need for LC.
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With the down riggers is it any di  vantage that you are fishing directly under the potentially noisy boat... esp when you are only fishing say 20-30ft deep? I have been using lead core for kokes for a while and am kind of tired of not being able to hardly feel when a fish is on? Any recommendations for mounting a downrigger to a boat that has no horizontal surface area? mine is a jon boat with nothing more than a thin rim all the way around. sorry for the partial post hijacking.
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You can mount it inside the boat area on any flat surface or any way you can come up with. The seat area. Get one with a longer boom, I.E Scotty 1106 with the 60" extendable boom.
your only limited by your imagination. use it.
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big john makes a downrigger that will clamp's right to the side of your boat!
[url "http://www.bigjon.com/"]http://www.bigjon.com/[/url]
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I would say 90% of the time if you can get down 40-50 feet with lead core, you will be in the strike zone. I have fished FG at times 60-100 feet and on several occasions gone deeper than 50 feet at Strawberry with down riggers.
Another great advantage to downriggers - it is easier/faster to adjust you depth when you go over a school of fish. I can't count the number of times that I have either raised or lowered my downrigger 10-20 feet based upon the school of fish that I just passed over and seen on the fish finder and got a hook-up. In addition, you can add a cheater hook and pull two hooks through a school of fish and often times get double hook ups - this is a very frequent occurence at FG and Strawberry.
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I can only agree to what has been posted, I used leaded line for most of my life also and just started using downriggers the last five years or so. If I only knew then what I know now. I immediately started catching more fish and feeling the fight of the fish made it even better. I hardly ever get the leaded core out anymore and never use pop gear anymore. Go with downriggers you will be amazed.
If you feel that you are not deep enough and the boat is scarring the fish away just let more line out behind the boat before you clip it to the ball problem solved.
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Ditto what everyone else said, but for me trolling was always a LAST choice because I flat didn't really enjoy fishing with that big ol' lead core line much, but I too bought a boat that came with a couple of downriggers and I love using them. They're fun to use, and it certainly is a lot more fun to fight the fish on conventional line than on a big "cable". You can spend the big bucks for a fancy one, or just get one or 2 of the basic ones like the Sport Troll. There are several kinds of mounts, but some of them are pretty pricey. You can even use a standard spinning rod and reel if you like, although a dedicated trolling rod and reel with a line counter is probably a better choice. I too track the depth with my sonar, so I always know just how deep I am in relation to the bottom, and if I need to I can bring it up quickly over a hump or point, and immediately go right back down again. Try doing that with your 300 feet of lead core.
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milenine almost all downrigger manufactures make a downrigger that mounts right to the side of your boat with a clamp
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[#800000][size 4]Milenine,
What Petty4life said. There are bases available from most mfg’s and from others that clamp to the gunnel. Also, a 2 X 6 or 2 X 8 long enough to reach across the width near the back of the boat will also work. Sealed oak works the best but also costs the most. And if you really want to go fancy, by an aluminum track long enough to reach across the width. Downrigger bases slide in and out of the track as well as several types of rod holders. There are lots of options for Jon boats. [/size][/#800000]
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Bob Hicks, from Utah
I'm 82 years young and going as hard as I can for as long as I can.
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Down riggers hands down. If you consider the cost of a decent lead core outfit, (Rod, reel and line), compared to a "Strong Arm" (hand cranked) Down Rigger there probably isnt enough difference in cost to argue over.
How's that old saying go,,"90% of the fish are found in 10% of the water"? With a rigger and a fairly decent FF you know your fishing that 10% of the water column.
Oh and Btw, if you happen to hear some old far* screaming his guts out after he cut a crazzy Iven across your wake, well its me. Wave and say hello because and I just drug my rigger weights into your long lines.[laugh]
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Depends on the water in my opinion. I have bolth and for the gorge, berry, bear lake a downrigger is a must. Some smaller lakes (since I have a smaller boar that is what I fish) lead core works just fine. If you are fishing pop gear and work you almost have to use lead core to set the hook. For trolling dodger spoon combo's or crankbaits the rigger is better. On scofield and shallow lakes they are only 30ft deep you can just remember the color you were at or have a line counter and be just as effective IMHO. Like all fishing depends on the situation, plus I haven't caught a ton of fish on my rigger yet so I may be biased or just suck, probably a bit of bolth...
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Everyone has their personal opinion on what's best, but from my own personal experience, I can tell you that before electronics (fish finders) were available, I drug flat fish, pop gear, worms, etc. for hundreds of miles, without knowing if I was over fish or not.
When downriggers came along, I was then sure that my baits were at the same level as the fish in the water column.
Both of these innovations added considerable increase in by catch ratio, and fun in the sport.
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OCF, What is a cheater hook?
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[quote milenine]With the down riggers is it any di vantage that you are fishing directly under the potentially noisy boat... esp when you are only fishing say 20-30ft deep?[/quote]
No, because you can still choose to let out any distance of line behind the boat. What you gain though is that you can set it at a specific depth.
-DallanC
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alot of great info THANKS,[ ] I have been looking at a rigger at boaters world in SLC (2100 south state), it mounts were my poll mount is using the same set up, it is small with a crank, I do not want a monster of rigger to work with, and YES I have alot invested in lead core and the pole-real combo, the rigger I am looking at cost in the area of $70-$80, has any one used it?
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A cheater hook is a second lure that is attached to your line. I will try to explain:
You attached your first lure to the down rigger ball as normal. When you are trolling you get a bow in your line from the end of your rod tip (top) to the down rigger release (bottom). I then use a 6 foot piece of leader and attach two cross over snaps (snap swivels would also work) - one one each end of this leader. I attach a second lure to one end of this leader and then using the cross over snap on the other end, I attach the leader to my line and toss it over board. The second lure will sink to the appex of the bow in your line - or half the distance from your rod tip to the downrigger release. You are now pulling 2 lures instead of one.
I have found that I increase my catch rate on the cheater by 50%. Your cheater lure needs to be something without a lot of action - i.e. needle fish, RMT lures, flies, cripple lures, humdingers, & etc. Do I get some tangles - yes, but generally the hassel is well worth the effort.
If you want to get fancy - attach your first line to the down rigger ball as normal, drop the ball into the water 10 feet, attach the cheater, attach a second downrigger release to your line and the downrigger line and then drop your down rigger to depth. Since the bow in the line is now 10 feet in the depth your second lure is tracking 5 feet above your first lure. This is how I often get double hook ups - pulling two lures through one school of fish. I caught four sets of doubles at Strawberry last Saturday. You can generally gage the quality of fishing on any particular day by the number of doubles caught.
Hope you could make sense out of this!
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