Lets say I am in 40 foot of water and I'm targeting walleyes 3 inches of bottom using downriggers. I'm using 10ft. lead off ball trolling 1.2 -1.5 . Is Running 34ft. the correct deepth I should run. oh yea! using Bandits deep walleye!!
Printable View
Lets say I am in 40 foot of water and I'm targeting walleyes 3 inches of bottom using downriggers. I'm using 10ft. lead off ball trolling 1.2 -1.5 . Is Running 34ft. the correct deepth I should run. oh yea! using Bandits deep walleye!!
My guess is the precision dive chart is good just from ball instead of board. I’d say 30-32 down would get you 40 with a 10’ lead of 10#.
Forget 30lb. Braid like 10lb.mono
Hi Gator Bait.
When using downriggers one of the critical factors is blowback. Blowback is how high your ball rises in the water. This is controlled by weight of the ball and your speed. The lighter the ball or the faster you troll the more the ball rises up in the water.
Because of blowback you can't use the precision trolling app exactly, you have to adjust for your particular blowback. In general you will have to set the rigger deeper than what the app says.
The easiest and best way it to use a fish hawk that tells you the exact depth (and speed) of your ball and hence bait. But like everything else they can be pricey. Before we had fish hawks we would let the rigger down when at trolling speed until it just bumped bottom. The difference between the rigger counter and your depth sounder is your blowback. Once you know this you are good to dial the rigger precisely to the depth you want for any depth.
It is not as bad as it sounds because after a few times you will know your boat/rigger blowback and won't need to check anymore.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fishing Tiger
I should of put that in description too. running 12lb. flat round wt. with fin i do have a hawk cause trolling for them salmon and coho's you got smaller window. I didn't know it was called blowback i called it drift lol and uses hawk and solix to zero in on on that depth. and speed. thanks Tiger
If you're running bandits off the ball I'd run the shallow Bandits as opposed to the deep ones.
I never attach a crank bait directly to the connon ball. Instead, I use a stacker release and attach my crank above the ball. This allows you to run a longer lead if desired. Just use a trolling app for you distance back to depth ratio above the ball for your stacker. You mentioned fishing for fish on the bottom. Keep this in mind that walleye tend to feed UP. That is why I always keep the ball a foot or two off bottom. If the fish are really biting, I take a six foot leader and attach it directly to the cannon ball and run a spoon. Just remember this constitutes another two rods.
fish hawk ty I do understand what your saying I do have the rods to run 6 a side!! but will have to invest in my stackers...lol but between boards weights and length of bandits trolled behind usally don't have much trouble.... Just wanted to try on slow days.. that saying I know a capt. that besides running 4boards a side also runs downriggers with snubbers attached to ball and just checks it periodalicy for fish... lol i just wanted to run a pole on that concept instead of bringing up ball to check for fish.../.just saying :rolleyes:
I’m new to downrigging. I read your comment fishhawk about clipping directly to the ball with a crankbait. Why not clip there instead of right about it on the cable?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bamatroller
Not quite sure what you're are asking. What I attach to the ball is a short(6ft) lead and run a spoon off it. I run my primary bait off a stacker release above the ball.
I was referring to what you said about hooking a clip directly to the ball and running a crankbait from that clip I was wondering you’d had problems with rigging it that way. Maybe I misread or misunderstood what you were saying.Quote:
Originally Posted by fishhawk2700
We use Blacks releases right off the ball. Run your bait back the desired distance and then hook your line to the release. Lower the ball to desired depth. You can set the Blacks release fine enough it will release on all but the smallest fish.
We don't use stackers. ,
Ok Thanks for the info. I’ll try those blacks releases.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fishing Tiger
cannon makes a good ajustable one
Thanks I’ll check that one out.Quote:
Originally Posted by GatorBait
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bamatroller
The OP was asking about running a crank close to the bottom off a rigger. It's just easier to keep your crank from plowing bottom if you use a stacker release and a trolling app. Your cannon ball becomes your lower limit. Example, take a crank that at 20' back runs 8' down @ 2.3 mph w/10# test. Place your stacker 10' above the ball, that way you can run your ball much closer to the bottom and have a known distance above the bottom for your crank. If the ball touches bottom, bring it up a hair, keep your crank running clean.. I didn't have a trolling app back when I used to run riggers a lot. It was trail and error. I don't even put my riggers on my boat anymore unless I go east to fish and that doesn't happen much. This is something to try on a slow bite day when they are sulking on the bottom. It's not part of my regular program.
I see what you’re saying now. Good method. Thanks for the info.Quote:
Originally Posted by fishhawk2700
great method!!!! and will use. I"m going to set up the LIVE SCOPE to monitor baits in Real Time and should be able to really dial in the special one or two foot depth above fish that I desire but will have to invest in another 126sv garmin display to monitor that... $$$$$$$ momma hit the ceiling on that move lol
You should be able to see your cannon balls on the graph anyway, so you will know how far off the bottom they are running. You can do the same thing only without a stacker. Use the trolling app and find a setting that will run 10 feet down at a certain distance back and then run your cannon-balls 12 feet off the bottom. That way, you don't risk snagging a cannon-ball on the bottom and the baits are running below the cannon-balls, which may spook the fish as they come through.
Guys use a modified version of this for steelhead that some call the SWR "Secret Weapon Rig". They run 5 colors of lead-core off the cannon-ball with a spoon attached. That gets the spoon further away from the boat, gets it below the cannon ball and the lead-core has a dampening effect on big waves, making the presentation more natural in rough water. The same would work with shallow diving body baits for walleyes. Cheers!