Fishing Sea

I would like to get into fishing with downriggers on Lake Michigan, but have never used downriggers. Can anyone give me a website to look at, or directions on how to hook them to the fishing line? Also, what sorts of lures would be good choices? Serious answers please.

Hey Prcla2000,

Here are a few sites with a few tricks.

"When changing baits attached to downriggers or when you have a release with no fish attached. Most fisherman reel in the bait then retreive the downrigger ball to reset the rig. The problem with doing this is that the downrigger ball can not catch fish! Instead try putting the rod back in the downrigger rod holder, the bait or lure will slowly rise to the surface fishing all the way. Retreive the downrigger ball first. When the downrigger is ready then retrieve the bait or lure. This technique will probably add a few more extra fish per year." from the second web site.

2006-08-19 21:14:34 by prcla2000

What is a good downrigger for a bass boat?

I run walkers on my bass boat. I had to improvise a little bit, but they get the job done. I found the canon ones to be cheap.

2006-12-12 11:58:16 by bodeen

Ive used Penn, Cannon, and Big Jon 'Riggers and I think that Cannon manual downriggers are the easiest to use but the best electric downriggers ive used are the ones from Big Jon. It also depends what you are fishing for, if it is between 25-50 ft than go with manual which are less expensive. If your salmon fishing or halibut fishing and need to put your lure 100s of feet down then deffinately go with an electric pair of 'riggers.

2006-08-06 22:01:07 by hoss5791

You can use leadcore line and/or dipsy divers.

2007-07-09 11:55:10 by adam t

trolling for strippers, and reds

I would say about 10-15mph, thats the speed I troll, also we caught a good stripers about 15lb doing this.

2007-06-04 14:47:03 by sa fishdude

I have a small fishing boat and I plan on getting an electric downrigger. I need a battery that is as small as possible since I will be carrying it up and down a hill. What is the best choice? Will an emergency starting battery work? How about a modified battery for a power tool? How much current do downriggers draw?

Your going to need a good high amp, deep cycle battery to run a downrigger. You aren’t going to get by on the “cheap” on this. Downriggers draw anywhere from 4-12+ amps. Ball weight plays a factor along with how deep you’re planning on fishing, the number of times a “fishing day” you run the riggers up, etc.. Skip the “modified tool battery” etc. idea’s unless you’re willing to chance having the rigger run out of juice with couple of hundred feet of line out and no way to wind it up! (this really sucks!!)

Friend of mine uses Scotty’s (2) he’s a professional guide and he’s got 3 group 24 batteries just to run the downriggers while trolling and he still drains them if he’s not keeping them charged daily. He’s even got a charger set up to run off his 9.9 kicker motor and still draws the battery’s down. He’s dragging 16-pound balls, and running down anywhere from 125 feet to over 450 feet deep.

You’ll be better off investing in a small battery cart to pull the batteries up the hill, maybe even an oversize cart to help carry all the “stuff” one always has to carry back to their rig.

Check the site out I provided. Not specifically “endorsing” Scotty’s but my friend wore out several other “brands” in no time. Scotty’s seem to stand up much better.

Hope this helps,
tight lines n’ singing reels !!

2007-01-19 12:11:10 by Jack