I'm doing this all wrong

[DoubleJ]

45 minute boat trip to anywhere where there was more than 30' of water.  Grand total of 3 minutes on the water before both downrigger balls snagged.  45 minutes home with lost downrigger balls and now replacement cable needed before we can get back out.  4 beers in to my "therapy".  Salmon fishing. Bah.

[Mfowl]

You could always try mooching, jigging or trolling off divers. And don't feel too bad, I have busted off 2 full dr setups this summer as well. Ball, clip, snubber...everything.

[Motorjosh]

We lost a whole setup including the downrigger itself. Trolling down river and she hung up and ripped right off the side of the boat. Happened so fast we couldn't believe it.We don't fish like that anymore, $600 later.

[lokidog]

You could always try mooching, jigging or trolling off divers. And don't feel too bad, I have busted off 2 full dr setups this summer as well. Ball, clip, snubber...everything.

I lost my favorite 12 pound pancake when the stupid snubber snapped a couple weeks ago, no snagging or anything... crap happens, unfortunately.

[L-ofalab]

Ok here is the deal, you  fish near the bottom and you lose stuff. That's where the fish are! Change out the steel cable with braided dacron, I buy 300 foot spools for $15 and that's enough to re-spool twice. 135 lb dacron will break about as easy as the steel cable so that's similar but the Dacron has some stretch so it doesn't snap as easy if the brake gets hit too hard when lowering the ball. Here is the real benefit there is no hum from the line going through the water and dacron doesn't conduct electricity so no negative ions. Just change out one downrigger and that one will catch more fish, trust me! You will change the other side soon too. Go to Harbor Freight and get small carabineers, they are cheaper than regular clips and faster and easier to snap on the weight. I usually put a short piece of rubber hose on the line above the carabineer but the one in the photo is from a backup downrigger that had rubber from a cable setup. I have a mold for 10 lb. balls and the lead costs about 3 bucks if I don't get it free.

[lokidog]

I can't imagine the increased drag of 300 or even 135 pound dacron over wire when fishing 100+ feet deep....  Plus, my electric Cannons wouldn't come up without holding the switch since they auto shut off when the ball/cable end clears the water.

But, this might be a topic for another thread.   

JJ, if I was fishing in 30 feet of water, especially in a snaggy area, I would be inclined to use the dive planes.

[DoubleJ]

At the time of the loss, we were in 92ft of water.  The entire channel was shallow but we found deeper water.  Bottom didn't look snaggy on the fish finder.  With 40 degree blowback, I have a maximum of 85 feet of cable if it's all out.  I still had a bunch of cable on the spool so I wasn't even at max depth.  That's the part that ticked me off more than anything.  Oh well.  I'm over it now.

I want to learn more about where to get 10lbs of lead for $3

[L-ofalab]

Scrap yard 30 cents a pound. Old window weights are real good too. I have gotten lots for free. I bend the loops and add a fin that I make out of aluminum or stainless. $3 each max for me to make each ball.

[L-ofalab]

I can't imagine the increased drag of 300 or even 135 pound dacron over wire when fishing 100+ feet deep....  Plus, my electric Cannons wouldn't come up without holding the switch since they auto shut off when the ball/cable end clears the water.

But, this might be a topic for another thread.   

JJ, if I was fishing in 30 feet of water, especially in a snaggy area, I would be inclined to use the dive planes.

There is little difference in blow back but I don't fish deeper than 100. My friend uses Scotties with dacron and they shut off automatically, all he did was add a crimp to the line.