Mooched Pt. Defiance last night from 7:00-10:30 with nothing but dogfish & other riff-raff. Didn't see any fish caught, word on the dock was only 4-5 fish all day. Caught by trollers, all deep.

My "new" boat is nearly setup for trolling. A couple newbie questions on downriggers after limited experience:

1) If you loosen the brake on the fishing reel for the trip down, do you leave it loose while trolling (so you can adjust depth without adjusting the brake every time) or do you tighten it to fish-fighting tension once you're at the desired depth?

2) When adjusting the depth of the ball to accomodate changing bottom contours, do you adjust the amt of fishing line out as well? For example, if you bring the ball up 15 feet do you crank in fishing line as well or just leave it be? Sometimes there is so much drag on the line when at depth that I accidentally release the clip unless I back off the throttle to compensate.

Loking forward to more salmon, less dogfish...

Sideoff

Hey Sideoff-


Most definately tighten up your drag to fish-fighting tension. It is real easy to open up and let some line out if you need to make an adjustment.


Yes, Adjust the amount of line out so that at all times you have as much tension on the DR clip as possible without releasing from it. You will always have some slack from blow-back, but you want to be able to reel down on that fish as soon as he pops the clip. You cant do that if you have too much slack in the water.

Now I'm curious. How many out there loosen the brake, or drag, when dropping the DR ball?

I've always gone into freespool, thumbing the spool during the descent, then engaged the spool when at the right depth.

What's the majority do?

I have always opened up my drag and thumbed it. I think it is a pain in the A** to relax the drag and let line out that way. Plus, I have had my line hit on more than one occassion while dropping in....you want your pole in your hand, not in the holder!

Free spool mode! I keep the rod in my hand when I am dropping. Two reasons: (1) I can better control the amount of line by thumbing the spool and (2) if I get a fish on while lowering the ball, I can immediately reel the fish tight.

When you get the ball to the desired depth, you shouldn't have a heck of a lot of slack in the line. At this point, you may still have a little winding of line to do- this is ok. Wind down until it is tight and then use your hand to bring in the minor stuff the drag of the reel can't handle. This touch is going to take some practice and experience before you have it down. Many people are under the misconception that the line has to be straight down and the rod bent like a pole vault..
Actually, you want some blow back from the mono... (1) creates less pressure on your rod, (2) stretches the mono without damage thus helping you hook fish once it hits. When a BM or King hits, they actually turn to one side and downward... the stretch in the line will recoil to original shape offering no slack in the line at this point.

As far as adjusting depth, depending on how much deeper you are adjusting. Anything more than 10', you'll probably want to grab the rod again- remember those can hit at any depth. Just a couple feet.. just free spool/thumb a few feet off the reel...

We go into freespool with the baitclicker on. That way the spool doesn't run away from you and when you get to depth you don't have so much line to reel in, 10 or 12 turns or so. I have my drag set so that as I reel in the drag will stop the spool just before it trips the line release. This also seems a good setting for fighting fish. If I only have one pole, I may hold it but I'm usually stacking two poles on each rigger, so the baitclicker is the key. All of my reels are Abu5600c3's, nice baitclicker.

The other benefit is when the fish hits and he runs, I love to hear the clicker go WHIZZZZZZZZZZ!! Really turns me on, gets the excitement up and lets everyone around you know you got one on the line!

OK DR, I usually bend my poles over pretty good to get a good snap when released. If I can't get to the pole in time, it usually sets the hook(s) for me. I like my line pretty tight so if I get a sand dab or a doggy on the line I can see him on there and get him up and off. Plus I think it looks cool!! All that pent up tension ready to explode. MAN I CAN'T WAIT FOR SOME FISH!! That secret weapon is just gonna' kill 'em!

Wzzzzzzzz! Yes, there's no sweeter sound! To a seal or sealion that happens to be within earshot, that means chowtime!!! Anymore for me stealth is the name of the game when those critters are around. I also try not to stand at the back of the boat when fighting a fish.(sit down in the chair) Even cranking your downriggers(Penn Manuals in particular) will bring those big guys a running. It's always nice when someone else is using thier clickers cause it encourages them to follow the noisy boats around. Every once in a while I do enjoy activating that clicker. Especially when its a fiesty fish and my buddy is standing there watching

Thanks for the advice as always. Looks like I've got some new techniques to try this weekend. The EB report that was just posted looks prety positive, maybe a super early trip tomorrow.

I use the loose drag method. Rod in the holder, line in the releae clip, just loosen the drag enough to let out line as you drop the DR ball. I use 2 hands on the DR to controll how fast I let it down. I want to let it out slow as I pack the gear in tight to the wire (black box) and if it goes to fast your gear will be a mess. Also it seems to keep the line pretty taunt, not much free line to tighten up. I'm like Steve, rods bent over hard but I adjust the drag after it is set so the fish will take line when it hits it. As for how tight to make the line, well that just takes practice to get it right. Can't tell ya how many times I (should I say we here) have popped the line out of the clip trying to get it just right.
Good luck and tight lines, Jeff

Don't get me wrong here.. I, too, like my 10' 6" rods doubled over. Helps tremendously in removing any slack after the release. I was getting at not trying for the extra 3-4 inch bend and the super tight line. I let the stretch of the mono and blow back take care of keeping the fish on the line after the hook up. Clip pressure and drop back is what actually hooks the fish (provided hooks are sticky sharp).

Once I am at the depth I want to fish. I usually adjust the tension by hand. Too much and POP. It happens to all of us, but the main difference is time. If the release pops say 5 times that morning, that's equivelent to about 25 minutes of wasted time with the gear.
It never fails... soon as this happens, you notice the fish finder and there is bait and fish all over the place!

Why put unneeded wear on your drag? Freespool is the only way to drop your gear with a downrigger.

I may be misguided but I set the clip plenty tight, If the fish doesn't trip it a quick jerk with my thumb on the spool does.

I think extra sharp ( stick to my thumbnail with very very light pressure) is about the most important thing, when it comes to a hook up, I test every hook berfore it goes in the water, if I have a strike I reel up and check it .

With the rod at full bend I loosen the drag untill it just creeps out , then tighten enough to stop and reel down untill bend is proper, when I hook up I have my thumb on the spool for hook set, and then adjust the drag, ( usually loosen a little) during the fight and use my thumb to increase it when I feel its safe, I always like the drag loose when ready to net and use my thumb to get him in the net. I've lost a few and seen a lot lost because of too tight of a drag when the fish is next to the boat.

I'm not an expert by anybody's stretch of imagination, but that is the way that has worked the best for me.

I check my drag during the fight with my reel hand when the fish is pulling hard and not taking line I grasp the line with thumb and forefinger and try to gauge how much more it takes to spool, if I think it's to much I loosen a little.




herm

Herm,

I have seen plenty of two-piece rods quickly become three-piece rods from folks trying get the line out of the clip. A good rule of thumb for the setting pressure on the release is... enough for a 4# salmon to release free. Even with a small shaker on it is better to bring it up on the downrigger. More often than not, the fish frees itself. Don't forget, the line may be caught up on the clip too...

I like to use spinning reels, so I loosen the drag when lowering the DR ball.

Lately I’ve been using a Okuma Epixor baitfeeder reel. When using that I just flip the lever on the back for a tensioned free spool when lowering the ball.

Damon