Downrigger setup - need help.

[reddeerguy2015]

I bought a 19ft fish/ski boat recently. It came equipped with one manual scotty downrigger with 10lb ball.

Took the kids out tonight to give it a whirl at Sylvan Lake with no luck.

According to our fish finder, the fish were hanging out mainly between 25 and 35 ft, with a 45ft bottom depth. No sweat, casted out, attached our clip, lowered cannonball to 30 ft - nothing. Trolled for a quite a while with a number of different lures and depths with no avail.

Troll speed is 3mph (GPS) with main engine (no kicker), cant go any slower.

Questions are:

1. How far out should I be casting my line before lowering the weight?

2. Is my troll speed too fast?

3. What kind of lures should I be trying? Spoons? Crank bait? Spinners?? Lost here.

4. Do I need to be running a flasher board (if that's what its called, I'm not sure)?

5. Maybe some tips on a typical setup for my situation (casual fisher wanting to get the kids interested in the sport)

Typically out at the local spots; sylvan, glennifer, gull, cow, etc but would like to do a trip next summer to fish Cold Lake or Lesser Slave for lakers.

Thanks!!

[bubba 96]

Speed may be a bit high we like to stay under 2mph, if ya try trolling in reverse you can get the boat a little slower yet. Down riggers may be a bit over kill at sylvan, we usally bottom bounce with stick weights and crawler harnesses.

[RavYak]

You were probably seeing lake whites on the fish finder. Walleye will be shallower and hugging the bottom. Pike will be shallower as well.

You shouldn't need a downrigger setup unless targeting lakers or bulls. There are better methods for walleye/pike etc.

[sanjuanworm]

Speed may be a bit high we like to stay under 2mph, if ya try trolling in reverse you can get the boat a little slower yet. Down riggers may be a bit over kill at sylvan, we usally bottom bounce with stick weights and crawler harnesses.

This. Stick to bottom bouncing and trolling reallllly slow. Save the downrigging for trout and salmon.

[EZM]

What species are you targeting at gull?

Walleye? use a 3oz bottom bouncer, spinner rig and crawler harness - troll at 1 mph

Pike? use a deep diving crank bait - many will run at 20+ feet @ 3 mph

Whitefish? no idea how to troll for them - never tried it myself - likely not a productive method for whites as I've never heard of anyone ever doing that

Perch - If I ever were to troll for them - a tiny spoon, spinner 30" back of a bottom bouncer - trolled 1.5-2mph is where I would start.

I typically wouldn't even use a down rigger unless I needed to be 30' or more down - and not often for any other species other than Trout and Salmon. A cannonball in a shallow lake is looking for trouble IMO.

[aulrich]

I have seen youtubes with downrigger whitefish, so on paper it should work. Since most folks(short of speck55) don’t even think about whites in the summer, so there are not a lot of “popular” methods for whites in the summer. On the videos they were just trolling walleye rigs though one thing it seemed they were basically right up against the ball 1or 2’ then the walleye spinner.

I am personally think it’s possible to target big pike on a down rigger, in the heat the big girls go deep, so a deep mid lake hump that has white fish swimming by, should produce big fish if not big numbers.

I have caught numerous pike in front of my cabin at dory in the evening as they are chasing schools of perch or whitefish miles from a typical pike cabbage bed. In the day they must be holding in the deep water then as night falls they start cruising the edge of the drop.

Has anyone ever DIY’d a downrigger they seem to be stupid expensive for what you are buying.

[aulrich]

the link to youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_9CoBKfTEE

[xring_assassin]

You were probably seeing lake whites on the fish finder. Walleye will be shallower and hugging the bottom. Pike will be shallower as well.

You shouldn't need a downrigger setup unless targeting lakers or bulls. There are better methods for walleye/pike etc.

I'm betting you're off the north end of RR23...north west end of halfmoon bay in which case you are seeing lake whitefish.

What he said ^^ the walleye are bottom huggers - 2 to 4 feet off bottom in 12-20 FOW usually, whereas lake whites suspend in water column such as you describe.

6lb fluorocarbon leader at the most - 20-30' off the ball - yellow/red body with silver blade tiny panther martin with half a worm dangling off the hook, troll at 1 to 1.2mph - the lake whites will hit but not many. They are such a faint biter even fly fishing that I am certain more bite and spit than I ever see hooked. I've dragged scuds and ice cream cone chironomids behind the ball with marginal success also.

Jigging with forage minnow about 2' above where they are suspending works slightly better IMO.


I'm the guy in the white lund classic floating around that area many an evening with a downrigger messing with them (getting funny looks). I can't wait for them to return to the shallows...

[huntsfurfish]

You were probably seeing lake whites on the fish finder. Walleye will be shallower and hugging the bottom. Pike will be shallower as well.

You shouldn't need a downrigger setup unless targeting lakers or bulls. There are better methods for walleye/pike etc.

What species are you targeting at gull?

Walleye? use a 3oz bottom bouncer, spinner rig and crawler harness - troll at 1 mph

Pike? use a deep diving crank bait - many will run at 20+ feet @ 3 mph

Whitefish? no idea how to troll for them - never tried it myself - likely not a productive method for whites as I've never heard of anyone ever doing that

Perch - If I ever were to troll for them - a tiny spoon, spinner 30" back of a bottom bouncer - trolled 1.5-2mph is where I would start.

I typically wouldn't even use a down rigger unless I needed to be 30' or more down - and not often for any other species other than Trout and Salmon. A cannonball in a shallow lake is looking for trouble IMO.

Agree, downriggers not needed. General rule is 1 oz for every 10ft of depth. Best to avoid deep water any way, its hard on most fish that you would be catching at Sylvan.

[EZM]

I'm betting you're off the north end of RR23...north west end of halfmoon bay in which case you are seeing lake whitefish.

What he said ^^ the walleye are bottom huggers - 2 to 4 feet off bottom in 12-20 FOW usually, whereas lake whites suspend in water column such as you describe.

6lb fluorocarbon leader at the most - 20-30' off the ball - yellow/red body with silver blade tiny panther martin with half a worm dangling off the hook, troll at 1 to 1.2mph - the lake whites will hit but not many. They are such a faint biter even fly fishing that I am certain more bite and spit than I ever see hooked. I've dragged scuds and ice cream cone chironomids behind the ball with marginal success also.

Jigging with forage minnow about 2' above where they are suspending works slightly better IMO.


I'm the guy in the white lund classic floating around that area many an evening with a downrigger messing with them (getting funny looks). I can't wait for them to return to the shallows...

I would think that a whites soft mouth would have trouble pulling the release free without tearing the hook out or being left with lips on the hook.

Using a small hook off a down rigger may compound the issue.

Interesting - how is it going down rigging for whites? Send pics .... who knows maybe you are onto a new revolutionary technique.

I, admittedly, would probably give you a curious look if I saw you with a down rigger in a prairie lake fishing 20-30 feet of water.

My look would get stranger when you told me you were fishing for whites.


I would sooner use a jet diver or cookie (small dipsy) in this application if you heart was set on using a diving aid.

I think a 2 oz to 3 oz bouncer would work better, is easier to use, and would allow for more hook ups.



Not judging you - just using common sense and reason. I have been known to be wrong ... so no offense intended.

[xring_assassin]

I would think that a whites soft mouth would have trouble pulling the release free without tearing the hook out or being left with lips on the hook.

Using a small hook off a down rigger may compound the issue.

Interesting - how is it going down rigging for whites? Send pics .... who knows maybe you are onto a new revolutionary technique.

I, admittedly, would probably give you a curious look if I saw you with a down rigger in a prairie lake fishing 20-30 feet of water.

My look would get stranger when you told me you were fishing for whites.


I would sooner use a jet diver or cookie (small dipsy) in this application if you heart was set on using a diving aid.

I think a 2 oz to 3 oz bouncer would work better, is easier to use, and would allow for more hook ups.



Not judging you - just using common sense and reason. I have been known to be wrong ... so no offense intended.

Chamberlain magnetic releases release with VERY light pull - 90% of lake whites that I actually get in are top lip hooked , and are always rather hard to get the hook back out of. I can only assume that, as you said, the rest of their little yaps are rather soft and can easily slip a hook.

The only reason I think I lose lots is that the release often trips and then no fish resistance - meaning something bit, popped release, then threw the hook before I could get tension on. Which, given the slack in the line immediately post release - is easy to understand why that would happen.

Sylvan has some seriously deep spots, like the OP said - 45 feet deep, whites are usually suspended 28 to 32' down. I knew panther partins worked okay from early spring fishing,then I thought downrigger would work to get hook RIGHT to where I wanted it, saw the video another gent here posted, and decided I'd give it a try. It works pretty well, but like I say - lots of strikes, not many hook ups (so far at least).

I have humminbird 998 setup with autochart pro piloting an ulterra too. It took me about 4 hours to map that area where I saw all the suspended fish, back and forth, forth and back, which gets even MORE strange looks - BUT - I tell that rig "follow the 44' contour" - it will pilot along 44' contour which allows me the comfort of knowing that my cannon ball down 30' will NOT be striking any shallow spots. It's also bloody amazing to sit back and let the motor drive the boat around without me doing anything. It works great for walleye trolling too - set it to follow 12' or 14' contour, let out however many line pulls if not using downrigger, if hook hits mud, do one less pull out next time. Other deadly thing with the 'bird - "reverse direction" the boat turns out towards deeper water, then hooks back onto the contour all on it's own - with a button push.

It was a conscious goal of mine this summer to figure out open water lake whitefish simply because they are DELICIOUS and the lakes around here have generous catch limits...which equates to good numbers and a harvestable surplus no other fish has to offer. The schools are HUGE too.

There was an elderly asian gent in a dingy the other day jigging gently in that same deep dropoff - he landed 3 in the time I was mapping. I stopped to ask him how he was doing - he was shocked that I knew what he was catching. LOL

I'm still getting it perfected with downrigger - oilfield is slow - not like I have much else to do...sit and research online all day, go out and try stupid things on afternoons and furlough days off.

I hope to pop back again soon - try out some different hooks, spinners etc...before the lil gaffers go back in the shallows. They are none too bright in the shallow water, but they sure are good fighters!

I'd post pics if it was easier to do so...I hate photobucket etc...because they seem to hate me.

[aulrich]

This is me guessing and thinking out loud , but do you think a shock leader (surgical tube) like they use for kokanee would help your hook up rate.

With the light release can you "pre-load" your rod so that when it trips the rod tip snaps up to set the hook.

[xring_assassin]

This is me guessing and thinking out loud , but do you think a shock leader (surgical tube) like they use for kokanee would help your hook up rate.

With the light release can you "pre-load" your rod so that when it trips the rod tip snaps up to set the hook.

I was looking at those snubbers wondering the same thing!

I'm also thinking that turning this release to be a bit harder to pop might help also...seriously they are super sensitive.

[EZM]

I was looking at those snubbers wondering the same thing!

I'm also thinking that turning this release to be a bit harder to pop might help also...seriously they are super sensitive.

The only issue with super sensitive release is that you can't load your rod up.

That cuts both ways and will, in fact, prevent some auto hook sets for sure.

Snubbers are great when flat lining ....... not that they don't have a use on riggers, but that's where they shine (on smaller and softer mouthed species).

Worth a try if you are committed to the idea.

[xring_assassin]

The only issue with super sensitive release is that you can't load your rod up.

That cuts both ways and will, in fact, prevent some auto hook sets for sure.

Snubbers are great when flat lining ....... not that they don't have a use on riggers, but that's where they shine (on smaller and softer mouthed species).

Worth a try if you are committed to the idea.

Have a peek at the chamberlain...you can load a rod up pretty hard - maybe I should try longer than 7' Rod?

[vetterm39]

too fast for sure . need to bring speed down

[mikebossy]

as has been stated above, there are way easier and more fun ways to fish those lakes imo, bottom bouncing will help you find fish that may be scattered, if they are concentrated in a spot stop, anchor or drift past them with jigs and minnows, or cast spoons or jigs with twister tails, if you think finding fish in Sylvan is hard(its not really) walk with your kids, and tackle and some frozen shiner minnows to the point closest to the water park and across street from tourist stores like Big Cow and such, and throw in a jig and minnow combo, let sit on bottom for oh about 3 seconds and you should have a fish. The point i'm referring to is a corner on the piece of land where all the kids play volleyball and kids will be diving into the lake right beside you, and you will STILL be catching fish like a hot dang! seeing is believing here. Just cast out a jig and minnow and wait about a three count, you can put down your rod and watch the tip bounce, or even more fun and interesting is to open the bail on your reel after you've cast out and get the kids to watch the line run out as a walleye picks up the jig and casually swims away, flip bail, set hook, shazam! happy fishing! PS there are no lakers in Slave Lake whether articles say so or not, save the triggers for Lake trout, they work great there, though i love jigging for lakers betters, though something is wrong with my technique as i get about 50 hits a day yet only seem to hook about 10 % of those, still refining technique lol