Kananaskis Lakes and a Downrigger?

[Xplorer]

Hey everyone,

I have been fishing some lakes since last year with my boat. I have been using dipsey divers and weight to get my offerings down deeper, but don't really like dragging all that extra stuff, kinda takes the fight out of the fish. I recently got a good deal on a downrigger for my small boat.

Soo...

Anyone use one on Upper and lower kananaskis lakes? I usually mark fish on my fishfinder around 40 feet during the summer. I have not really used a downrigger before(a bit when I was a kid, but that was a long time ago), so any advice about distance of the lure behind the ball, does the ball scare the fish? Also, any other advise regarding the lower lake(probably going there this weekend) or lures, or downrigger stuff would be great

Thanks

[fish99]

fished lower k lake with down rigger seen a fish on screen and dropped lure to 50 feet fish on works great when the fish are down deep

[EZM]

A couple tips from experience here ....

The shallower you are running your ball (closer to the boat) the more set back you generally want to keep the fish from spooking.

This is also true of very clear water. The clearer the water - the more set back you need.

If I'm trolling cold lake, with the ball down 80' or more - my set back is 20' or even less. The less set back the better (deeper) the hook sets it seems.

If I am trolling shallow - say 30' - I might run 30' to 40' behind the ball. Makes it a little harder to get a quick and positive set - but it works.

Hope that helps.

Also - keep in mind you cable will "bow" as you move forward and, of course, the ball will fall back - so if you let down 50' using a 20lb ball at 3 mph - your ball is running like 36'-38' feet.

I keep one transducer "tipped back" so I can see the line the ball makes on the sonar in relation to the target depth and use the second sonar to precisely tune in my running depth. in relation to the "known" target (like the thermocline or a group of fish).