downrigger advice.....

[GetANet]

Got a sweet deal on two cannon downriggers....free, yea baby! They are manual ones but oh well. So looking for some basic info to get them up and running. I want to use them for places like RV and MC What type of release suggestion? And looking for some kind of ideas as to some basic types of lures to use for trout and how to set them up etc. I will be using mono and some seven foot rod set ups cause thats all i afford right now I know this is a whole new ball game as for as tech and equip and im trying to do it on a tight budget. How far back do you fish the lures, lb. test speeds etc. any help would be appreciated just to save me some time with trial and error and not making the whole thing so complicated ........ Was looking for the book Trolling for Dummies but couldn't find one lol Thanks for the suggestions....

[DoubleG]

I haven't run downriggers on RV but I do troll Lake Ontario with them so I'm sure it's similar.

Use the heaviest weight that your downrigger is rated for, you should be able to find it on Cannon's website. This will cut down on the amount of blow back you will get when running in the deep water.

I mainly use Black's releases but in RV you can probably get away with Off Shore releases. If using the Off Shore type go with the light one, I think they are white, due the amount of stocked size trout there. Some of the smaller trout may have a hard time tripping a Black's if not set correctly and you will end up towing around the trout and eventually killing it.

When we troll Brown Trout in the spring we are trolling stick baits and spoons between 1.9 mph and 2.5 mph. I seem to do best around 2.2 mph. For Brown's I use the speed function on my GPS to track my speed. If you don't have a GPS, hang the lure over the side and adjust the speed of your boat by the lure action.

I run the lures 50' - 75' behind the rigger ball. Once you do get a few bucks saved up for gear buy yourself a couple of line counter reels, it takes a lot of the guessing out. At the very least buy a clip on line counter for now.

I use 12lb test with an 8' - 10' fluorocarbon leader usually 8lb Seaguar. Again, I'm trolling Lake Ontario so you could probably get away with a 6 lb leader. I find that Brown trout are very line shy so the floro leader is pretty important.

The best info you can get would probably come from Lebanon Sport Shop on 22. They will point you in the right direction for what lures they are catching them on and what depth you should start at and what fish are running the best because as the thermocline sets up it will move to different depths. So you will be trolling Browns and Rainbows near the thermocline but you will be trolling the Lakers real deep this time of year. They will let you know what to target. I buy my herring there when I go up and they seem like good people!

One other tip I can give you for RV is that there are a lot of sunken trees in the deep water where you will be trolling for Lakers. Use the clutch on the downrigger like the drag on your reel, don't tighten it all the way down just in case your ball gets hung up on a tree. You may still lose your ball but you wont bend or snap your downrigger boom.

I hope this helps and good luck!!

Gregg

[Capt. Lou]

I've used downdiggers for over thirty seasons on local water & my charter on Lk. O for over 15 seasons.
The old Invader alligator clip style worked for light yo medium duty, I believe Yellow Bird , offshore & host of others offer this style.
Light lines like used locally used the med weight release pressure!
Invader called this their Walleye release.
Use the heaviest weight your rigger will allow! Try to obtain a slim weight , this will cut water better & lessen scope when down deep.
The above mentioned set will allow for stacking a method that allows you to add more lures through the complete span of the thermocline!
The noted releases will work as stackers as well .
Speed is always ascertained by lure action , maintain a log book & note best speeds for various lures.
This can change with wind , depth trilled etc.' Deep water generally over 50' or so the scope factor if around 10% off lure depth,so your DR gauge would read 55'
to troll this depth.
If you have electronics , GPS will post your speed , however this will differ at the ball for various depths!
I used a electronic device to ascertain speed & temp at ball!
In local waters your main concern is a good topo map & down temp gauge , using these you can catch as well as anyone with an ff!
Rigging locally keep everything light, lengthen patterns from weight, experiment to you develop a technique.
you can PM me if you have Q's !
PS I personally never cared for DR's in local waters always used other methods to troll deep.
Good luck!

[jimmythegreek]

i hae been on lotsa boats w DR and just started on my boat this year. For reservoirs around here some basic lures are sutton spoons #66 or similar, (cleos, crocodiles, etc.) are kinda the same. Also rapala type floating stick baits work too, #11 is what Ive been using. Use floro leader, 6 or 8 is plenty, and if you can get a cheap FF to find the thermocline thats the best bet. Most of the trout will be at the lower end of thermocline, occasionally u will find them up from there but thats when they are actively feeding. I think speeds posted are too fast IMO, Ive seen 1.5 mph as the suggested trollin speed for RV. Another great way to troll is w a bait rig, basically u clip a herring into it and it trolls it spinning it slowly so it flashes, they r killer for trout. Lakers are gonna be deep, they can suspend beneath the thermocline but I wouldnt even target them if you dont have electronics. U can also drift herring w a 1/4 or slightly heavier weight a few feet up from your line about 20-30 feet below boat and that works too....

[Capt. Lou]

Originally Posted by jimmythegreek

i hae been on lotsa boats w DR and just started on my boat this year. For reservoirs around here some basic lures are sutton spoons #66 or similar, (cleos, crocodiles, etc.) are kinda the same. Also rapala type floating stick baits work too, #11 is what Ive been using. Use floro leader, 6 or 8 is plenty, and if you can get a cheap FF to find the thermocline thats the best bet. Most of the trout will be at the lower end of thermocline, occasionally u will find them up from there but thats when they are actively feeding. I think speeds posted are too fast IMO, Ive seen 1.5 mph as the suggested trollin speed for RV. Another great way to troll is w a bait rig, basically u clip a herring into it and it trolls it spinning it slowly so it flashes, they r killer for trout. Lakers are gonna be deep, they can suspend beneath the thermocline but I wouldnt even target them if you dont have electronics. U can also drift herring w a 1/4 or slightly heavier weight a few feet up from your line about 20-30 feet below boat and that works too....

P
I personally have not used an inexpensive FF that would indetify the thermocline , not break but vertical thickness , which one do you use ?
Is it wet mounted ? I'm rigging a small boat later this season &'this would help my selection.
I fish a lot with my neighbor who's a walleye nut & he has two Lorance on his boat not sure of models but neither one will acco
Plush this.

[jimmythegreek]

any of the decent humminbirds that have dual beam plus will show thermoclines if you turn the sensitivity all the way up. The newer ones have switchfire and u just turn that on and it shows. I have a 595color GPS at the helm that is 20 degree only (3yrs old) and I can see it decent on that with it on 10 sensitivtity. My older one a 565 black&white showed it too that was dual 20/60 degree cones. My new one (1 mo old) is a 998 SI/DI w dual beam and switchfire and I can see it w just 5 outta 10 on normal mode. I fished aeroflex 3 weeks ago and there was a solid thermocline lakewide at 21 feet about 3 feet thick. sun morning I hit it at 5am til almost noon and there wasnt anything solid, there was only a sparse band from 35-30 feet but not a true thermocline even over 100ft deep water. I think some of these lakes fluctuate because of rain water that leeches in, I couldnt understand how the thermocline disappeared in the lake, maybe it turned over somehow? I was gonna fish for some trout but couldnt mark anything rly deep i didnt see a single fish past 25 feet all day even on side imaging. I also saw the post on here from the 110 trout caught at nite in RV and they said they anchored in 60-70ft and fished 45 feet deep. I would think the thermocline there would be 30ft or less but maybe there isnt one w all the springs there at the left of the boat launch in laker alley? idk Id love to know how that thermocline works and how it sets up. Its the key to catching summer trout....

[DoubleG]

Capt Lou - I have the Humminbird 597 CI HD Combo and it works great, you can see the thermocline with the touch of a button. Very easy to use and the GPS is pretty good too. Next time I get out I'll take a picture so you can see if its what you are looking for.

[Capt. Lou]

Maybe I'm not understanding what you are describing is a temperature break or the top layer of the thermo , the thermo itself csn be very thick . It exhibits three distinct levels epilominon & hypolimium. Any lake that contains levels of of oxygen thru bottom levels.
Do those machines just exhibit the break or read it complete?
My Furunos could read it on grayline setting, but my temp gauge can do it much more accurately !
I'd like to see a photo of what your referring to as temp break which is only the beginning of the thermo, all solid body of coldwater,0

[jimmythegreek]

yes you are correct. U cannot see every layer and actual temps but the oxygen levels and temp affect the sonar sent thru the water and def show up on screen. I have been out trolling or pulling planer boards and spent alot of time marking fish and I can see the trout hugging the bottom foot of the thermocline in some reservoirs when there is a thermocline. I did mark a few fish under it that I beleive to have been lakers so theres no telling the actual layers and their depths to high accuracy, but its MORE than enough to set your DR up and figure out where they are suspending......the only way to do so is with a temp probe on your ball, like what you have used

[Capt. Lou]

Ok, just wanted to clarify this thermo issue with a lower end FF.
This is what I thought , not an issue I never use DR's in local lakes anyway. I fish / troll deep utilizing different methods entirely.

Thanks,
Lou

PS the thermcline is never found at the lakes bottom it's actually the top temp break layer. There's three layers of water that are found witin this break , thermo is top break , then comes two others. Some lakes like Swartswood do not contain oxygen at that level , they now pump it in via aerators to sustain cold water fisheries . RV & some other lakes this is not an issue!