Black Box / Positive Ion for downriggers/fishing ...Fact or Fiction?

[EZM]

A recent thread got me thinking about an age old question ..... here's the background ....

Boats produce an electrical field with either a negative or positive charge. It is theorized that by using a device such as a "black box" or "positive ion control" device that you will catch more fish.

There is good evidence to suggest that a number of fish are sensitive to electrical signals and are can be repelled or attracted based on this field. Sharks are good example of this, having highly developed electrical sensory organs.

For us fisherman, trolling for lakers, walleyes, salmon or casting for pike .... does it matter much?

Do you believer the black box (or a similar device) works?

Would you buy / use one?

[cube]

Originally Posted by EZM

A recent thread got me thinking about an age old question ..... here's the background ....

Boats produce an electrical field with either a negative or positive charge. It is theorized that by using a device such as a "black box" or "positive ion control" device that you will catch more fish.

There is good evidence to suggest that a number of fish are sensitive to electrical signals and are can be repelled or attracted based on this field. Sharks are good example of this, having highly developed electrical sensory organs.

For us fisherman, trolling for lakers, walleyes, salmon or casting for pike .... does it matter much?

Do you believer the black box (or a similar device) works?

Would you buy / use one?

You're a toy guy like me so I would say get one.

When I have thought of this though, all one would have to do in increase your set back and you would effectively eliminate the charge effect. You could also switch to braided downrigger cable instead of metal which would also negate the charge effect.

Since you have a metal boat one should also check the boat to see if it is putting too much current into the water. There is a section in the book below that tells you how to do it.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabel...ook/737227.uts

Better is to watch this vid though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90FThA_CfJw

They definitely say that positive ion control works I believe.

Good Luck

[Deep]

The guides I have gone with out of Sooke all use them. I assisted my brothers buddy to install one on his "Salmon hunter". I would say yes they are an asset to your fishing.

[Sea Hawk]

I have one on my boatand always use it. I did lots of research on before i put it in. The thing that sold me were the stories from fisherman who were able to make fish leave their fishfinder screen by cranking it up. Obviously it was having some effect on the fish. We have all heard stories of the so called "hot boat" that was unable to catch fish until a stray current problem was eliminated. The scotty info says the black box will offset any stray current. I use it for that reason and if it attracts fish i get the added bonus. I have always been able to catch my salmon but really have no proof if the black box made a difference.
one day i would like to take it ice fishing and drop a couple wires in the water, hook the box up and turn it on when i can watch fish on my camera to see the results.

[bardfromedson]

Switch to braid. But if sticking with cable I would have one myself. Especially if using a tin boat. All guides I've talked to says it makes a difference. Some boats put off worse charge than others.

[EZM]

I'm thinking it's important to have your boat taken care of - reducing the negative field if practical/possible. I looked last night and looks like all my stuff is grounded on one thick black negative wire and comes to a BUS bar near the main cranking battery.

Looks like (but not 100% sure) my front bow bank ( 2 12 v batteries in series making a 24v circuit) and the on board charger are tied into that same big black ground and it looks like it snakes down the spine under the floor toward that BUS.

I was a little surprised to see all of that on one ground (if my suspicion is correct).... didn't think you could/should ground 24v with 12v ..... but maybe the batteries are still treated as the 12v's ....????

I'm going to have to give it a test this year and see where I'm at when all the toys are on and the engine is running.

At the moment the signals are very clear and interference free ...... seems very clean compared to my last boat.

Jet, I agree you should make us a drawing so we can try it out. I'm pretty sure it can't be that complicated .... is it? do you think the front bank might be tied into the common 12v in the back? if so, is that an issue?

[-JR-]

I understand the Canon down riggers have this built into them.
I have also heard you only needed it in steal boats and not fibber glass boats.

I have 2 manual down riggers in my boat ,on a good day i can pull in 35 lakers


Anyone have any tricks on how to keep that loud high pitched line noise down.
Some day you get it and some days none.

[tacklerunner]

Originally Posted by -JR-

Anyone have any tricks on how to keep that loud high pitched line noise down.
Some day you get it and some days none.

Speed, wind, current and length all affect it. Personally I love that noise. You can hear it change when a fish hits before it trips and get on the rod quicker.

To the original OP they have been proven to work. Never used one myself though.

[cube]

Originally Posted by -JR-

Anyone have any tricks on how to keep that loud high pitched line noise down.
Some day you get it and some days none.

You can just use braid instead of Stainless steel.

Some guys think the noise attracts fish in, for what its worth.

[EZM]

My vacation home neighbor in Balfour (Kootenay Lake) says he would never waste his time fishing in a boat (especially a aluminum boat) that did not have black box.

He swears by it.

The science behind it makes prefect sense.

[EZM]

Originally Posted by Jet

Then you just need to figure out if that bus bar is bonded to the hull or not.

It looks to me the BUS bar line goes to a point not directly down to the hull, but, instead, toward the motor (it snakes behind my rear casting deck / live well so I can't quite see it).

Given the fact they could have grounded to the frame rails right below the bus bar and saved some time/effort/cost and it doesn't go that way .... I'm guessing the BUS is bonded to the motor at one common point.

There is definitely a ground on the motor I can see near the mounting point that comes out of the middle of the transom (up and over) of the same gauge - so my guess that's it.

The wiggle test doesn't work as Lund did a pretty good job of snugging up everything and tucking into incredibly tight places.

I'm not sure if bonding to the hull or motor is preferred (or which is better) - but this is a Lund factory installed bus bar - so I'm pretty sure there are few electrical engineers on staff that approved the design for application (knowing these are fishing boats that will likely run all sorts of stuff like my boat does - down riggers, trolling motors, fish finders, radios, etc...).

[waterninja]

I'm finding this thread very interesting, considering that I have no real knowledge about all the electrical data that is being discussed.
One thing I'm sure about is that fishermen love to buy any new toys that might increase their chances of hooking up. I'm sure that the "black box" will be on a lot of Christmas wish lists.

[Soiler]

Ok so is this still an issue for the clamp on down riggers ? Just wondering since I carry a couple in with me on fly-in trips & the only batt. in the boat is on my fish finder since we use the 9.9 's supplied for the motors..........

[ddddd05]

I have the same question as soiler?
Does it matter if you have clamp on downriggers? One is plastic and one is metal. But the metal one has a plastic spool.

Aluminum boat, with pull start engine. Minn kota trolling motor hooked to a battery that is not grounded to the boat. Also fishfinder 9 volt battery that is not grounded to the boat either. Engine is metal to metal to the boat and it has a couple zincs I think.

[surhuntsalot]

I've got a used Black Box if someone's looking to try one ... Used it a couple times, then got a bigger boat with Cannons that had Ion control built in... The boat I have now has Scotty's with braid, so not needed... pretty sure I know where it is can take a picture and text it... It was really simple and compact. Open to offers... PM me if interested