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As some of you know I am going to the Gorge for a couple weeks in July. I will probably be posting with alot of questions and I definitely appreciate the help everyone on this board provides.
Can I use the same releases for kokes and macs? What releases do you recommend? How do you get it just right so that it will actually release when a fish hits?
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I have spoke with a few guys about releases on downriggers and their lack of consistancy of releasing with different sizes of fish. I have been told about this rubber band trick that is supposedly the best way to go. If anyone out there has any more insite on this, please share!!!! [cool][cool][cool]
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I use a rubber band release and enjoy it. The advantage is that the release is pretty constant; however, small fish including most of the cutthroats at Strawberry will not break the rubber band. My experience with the few kokanee that I have caught is that kokanee hit much harder than trout do, and if this is true they would break the rubber band.
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I used the rubberband release last year at the Gorge and did just fine for the Kokes. I was using a sling blade and a clauser minnow fly. I also used an off shore tackle release for the lakers. If you haven't used downriggers you will need to experiment with tension and how far to place the line in the clip. any clip can be used for any size fish. You just need to know the how much tension it takes to hold the size of rig you are fishing and adjust accordingly. Orange was a hot color last year have fun and try the Sheep Creek area. A friend of mine was up there last week and found all the lakers early in the morning working 20 to 35 ft of water feasting on rainbows. He caught several 35 lb lakers just casting a pearl 6 inch tube aand working it from 20 to 40ft. He also had success on the kokes vertical jigging a crippled herring in 50 ft of water. Good luck!
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Great! Thanks for information. I'll experiment a little with the releases and try not putting so far back in the clip. All this talk about those big fish is really getting me pumped!!!
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Hey PescadorUtah,
Was that your friend we saw jigging at the East end of the island at Red Cliff? It sounds like we need to talk to a few of you guys before we go after those macks again. WH2
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He was up there for three days and fished Sheep Creek and the Lucerne area. He was in a Red Lund Pro V with a couple of kids in the boat.
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Hey Wiperhunter2, were you at Wal-Mart last night? I thought I saw you but wasn't sure, we have only met once. Probably stocking up on some fishing gear!
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Yes I was, at the one in Riverdale, you should has said Hi. Sorry if I didnot see you. WH2
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I think I saw those guys jigging by the island, I guess he is not a member of BFT? WH2
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Hey Eric,
Are you and Neal still fishing together a lot? I haven't heard from him in a while.
The best way to figure out the releases is to mess with them. I personally don't like the rubber band releases, but I know guys who swear by them. I bought a handful of releases in varying tensions when I bought my downriggers to play with tensions. You've got to find the balance between having them loose enough to release when a fish strikes (it's no fun reeling in a fish with your downrigger) and tight enough so you can load your rod (you want to bend that baby as much as possible so that when a fish strikes it will pop up and take some of the slack out of line inherent with downrigging).
I have some Cannon and some OffShore releases and prefer the OffShore releases--which are the same as are on their inline planer boards. However, I use Cannon's stacker clips when the fishing isn't super fast so I can fish two rods off one downrigger and cover multiple depths at the same time. I usually throw out a couple leadcore rigs too, since they give a different look to the fish, but that's a different story. You'll want the same releases you'll use for walleyes.
When fishing for macs, I use a heavier tension release since I'm usually pulling some heavy homemade pop gear. Again, it's just finding the balance.
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