I need to buy down rigger gear--advice needed

[Odell]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to fishing out of a bigger boat, I have two manual down riggers on the boat I bought last summer. All they have is the line.

What weights should I buy?
Clips?
Accessories?

I want to fish kokanee on American lake. I want to troll for walleye in the potholes, other lakes.  And I want to be able to troll for salmon in the puget sound and maybe up at Seiku.

I really don't know much at all about this kind of fishing so any advice would be awesome

[hiway_99]

Were abouts are you?  If your close to Bremerton I would be more then happy to hook up with you and show you my set up.  Theirs too much that goes into downriggers and setups for me to type it all out.

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[ASHQUACK]

I run Scotty 1106 electrics. So keep that in mind. I run a 12 pound rigger balls and use the scotty quick release clips. I use the small ones for kokanee/trout  and the bigger ones for salmon. I like the extended line in my releases.  Do your riggers have braid or wire?

[Stein]

For salmon, I suggest a heavy weight, 15-18 pounds.

Electric downriggers are really the way to go, you absolutely will fish harder and be more successful with electrics because you will adjust depth, fish deeper and check your gear more often with electrics.  I tried to fight it for years, but finally made the jump and it is night and day.

Longer booms allow you to spread your gear and cover more water as well as avoid tangles.

I use Scotty, Cannon also has a following.  Used electrics from Penn and others can be good as well.  I don't think the advanced features are important and only add extra cost, complexity and computers to break or malfunction - just my opinion.

Talking about salmon again, I use Scotty releases on about 6" of 100# mono that I clip directly to the ball. I also run snubbers on the ball to make grabbing them and hefting the ball back in the boat easier.  I use braid and would never go back to wire.

Take extras of everything or you will eventually ruin a day of fishing.

[WAcoueshunter]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to fishing out of a bigger boat, I have two manual down riggers on the boat I bought last summer. All they have is the line.

What weights should I buy?
Clips?
Accessories?

I want to fish kokanee on American lake. I want to troll for walleye in the potholes, other lakes.  And I want to be able to troll for salmon in the puget sound and maybe up at Seiku.

I really don't know much at all about this kind of fishing so any advice would be awesome

You live in Bonney Lake, go down to Sportco in Fife and they will hook you up.  Good prices, knowledgeable staff.

I also run Scotty 1106s, and use 15 lb balls.  Heavier balls (15-18) wear down the brakes faster, but also make it easier to control depth, so a bit of a trade off.   I like using the braided line versus wire.  I also run a rubber snubber above the ball.  Like Stein mentioned, have duplicate gear (e.g., extra ball, clips, snubber, even an extra downrigger itself if you have room) and the ability to replace it on the water, you'll need it eventually.  You will need different release clips for kokanee versus saltwater salmon, but the sales guys should be able to help you with that too.

[JKEEN33]

Probably going to want to replace the existing line and check the brake on them. I use 12lb balls in the salt with backup line, connectors and balls on the boat. Clips for the end of the cable to connect the balls. I use snubbers, but not required. Lots of quick releases to connect your fishing line to the cable. I like the Scotty that clip to the cable not the ball.

Keep something on the boat handy to cut the line if needed.

[Crunchy]

For salmon keep it simple and go Scotty 1106s.  For weights 12-15. I wouldnt go heavier than that.  I would make your own downrigger clips if you have the crimping tools.  Just buy the clips, and releases and 150 pound mono and make them about 5 foot long or so. 

[pbg]

With manual downriggers I fish 6# balls for kokanee and 10# in the salt, Forget about 15# balls You will kill your self cranking that much weight. I like Seps release's for kokanee and Scotty 1170 power grip release's off the ball. Buy extra terminal gear and a replacement ball because you will loose a ball at some point. Braided line is nice but wire has caught millions of fish so if you have wire fish it until it's time to change it out and then decide what you want. You can spend lots of money on stuff like snubbers, rudder flashers, ball retrievers ext. Spend your money on the right tackle, rods and reels and learn how to catch fish and then you can buy the fluff if you want. good luck

[Odell]

For salmon keep it simple and go Scotty 1106s.  For weights 12-15. I wouldnt go heavier than that.  I would make your own downrigger clips if you have the crimping tools.  Just buy the clips, and releases and 150 pound mono and make them about 5 foot long or so.

Thats a good idea, I already have all that stuff from making texas rig decoys

[Odell]

Lots of good advice on here, thank you guys. Electric down riggers are not on the table right now. I just need to fish some and see if this is for me before shelling out the $$. Although I would love an electric pot puller.

Keep the tips coming, looks like I've got a lot to learn. Gotta figure out rod/reel combos too. That seems to be an expensive black hole lol

[h20hunter]

Check your messages 

[Stein]

Lots of good advice on here, thank you guys. Electric down riggers are not on the table right now. I just need to fish some and see if this is for me before shelling out the $$. Although I would love an electric pot puller.

Keep the tips coming, looks like I've got a lot to learn. Gotta figure out rod/reel combos too. That seems to be an expensive black hole lol

You don't need to spend a bunch of money on fishing gear.  I run Shimano TDR rods for salmon, you can get set up with a rod and reel for under $100 that is perfectly functional and durable.

I would suggest getting an electric downrigger before an electric pot puller if you are doing a decent amount of salmon fishing.  Shrimp is a one day event for most guys and crab pots are pretty easy to pull and many guys are successful in 50-60' of water.  This thing really helps.

http://scotty.com/product/no-750-trap-ease/

Check the classifieds for downriggers, there are usually good deals by guys upgrading and manual crank downriggers are pretty durable devices.

[Blacklab]

I just picked up 2 pro release ll. Haven’t used them yet. They seem like the cats meow 😉🥃

[MIKEXRAY]

I bought a boat years ago that came with two manual downriggers and still use them today.  They came with two 5 pound balls and cheaper releases. I purchased a couple of 10 pound balls and better releases . I don't notice much difference cranking either up and don't see a reason to go above 10 with manual. I use the 5's for kokanee & trout and the 10's for salmon . The 10's obviously give me a truer depth but not sure how much of a difference.  I like having the 5's and cheaper releases for backup in case of a problem but have never needed any in 15 years . If chosing one size I would buy the 10's and good releases , pretty cheap purchase since you have downriggers. Really any will work , just don't go to heavy. My boat came with Cannon quick releases which I don't like , I purchased Scotty power grip plus which I think are awesome.  Good luck and have a great year fishing .

[throttlejocky20]

get a meat line I hate down riggers