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What are downriggers on a boat?
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A downrigger allows you to fish a lure or bait at a specific depth accurately behind a trolling boat. A downrigger contains a rod holder for storing your downrigger rod when it is actively fishing. The cannonball weight is deployed to the selected depth and allows the lure or bait to run at a specific depth.
Downriggers are an efficient way to put live bait and lures in precise zones of the water column, and all anglers know that being in the right depth leads to more fish in the box. Downriggers are consistently used to target king mackerel, amberjack, cobia, grouper, among others.
How do you use downriggers on a boat?
Do you need downriggers to troll?
Trolling is a great way to cover lots of water and find more fish, but getting outfitted to catch “the big one” in deep water can seem like a daunting task. Downriggers certainly make reaching greater depths easier. However, for those of you with small boats or kayaks, it may not even be feasible to use them.
What are downriggers on a boat? – Related Questions
How far behind a boat should you troll?
At least 50 yds out to 100 yds. for the main lines and a couple of shorter sets closer to the boat.
How deep can you fish without downriggers?
With kokanee at shallower depths in the spring and early summer, downriggers are less important. Even as the fish move deeper later in the season, you can get your lure to depths of 30 to 60 feet without one, using tackle you likely already have in your tackle box.
What is the difference between an outrigger and a downrigger?
Downriggers VS Outriggers: What’s The Difference? Outriggers are long poles or antennas that extend out on either side off the rear of the boat (starboard and port) and pull (or troll) your lines, lures and bait behind you. Downriggers, on the other hand, extend beneath the boat.
How fast can you troll with a downrigger?
Downrigger 2.0: 4 to 7 knots
Now, if you’re pulling dead baits at 4 to 7 knots, you don’t have to part with your downrigger, but you’ll need a different setup if you want to get a bait deep. A downrigger ball—especially on thick mono—won’t cut it.
What lures to use on a downrigger?
An assortment of floating crank baits and minnow imitations all work, as do plastic tubes simply dragged behind as close as 5 feet to up to 25 feet. With the slower boat speeds used for worm harness and tubes, as well as using these techniques in shallower waters, downrigger weights can be decreased.
Typical trolling speeds vary from 2.4 to four kph (1.5 to 2.5 mph) for trout, and 1.9 to 2.9 kph (1.2 to 1.8 mph) for kokanee. However, when trolling plugs or bucktail lures, you can speed up to as much as 5.6 kph (3.5 mph).
What depth is best for lake trout?
Lake trout prefer cold deep water lakes, and it’s crucial to get your bait or lure to the depth the trout is feeding. During mid-spring, fish at a depth of 20-30 inches.In late spring, fish at a depth of 30-45 inches deep.
What speed do you troll for lake trout?
It is common practice to troll for lake trout at a speed of 1.5 mph. In fact, this is actually an effective trolling speed for lakers, when the fish are in deep water.
How far do you have to be behind a boat to troll for trout?
Trolling is one of the easiest, yet most effective ways to catch trout (bass too). You cover a lot of water and your chances of locating the fish are much better. A lure is cast behind the boat while the boat is moving, at a very slow speed. Ideally the lure should be 75 to 100 feet behind the boat.
What lures to use for trolling for lake trout?
With all of that being said though, if I only had one lure to catch an absolutely monstrous lake trout, it would be a soft-plastic swimbait. Soft plastics are the ultimate lake trout lures. They can be trolled, cast and retrieved, or jigged.
With triple outboards, for example, shutting down the center engine (or leaving it in neutral) will help you troll slower. If that’s not slow enough, use just the center outboard and turn off the two outside motors. With quad outboards, try running just two motors.
Does slow trolling hurt big engines?
Extended trolling at low speeds with this motor won’t hurt anything, other than maybe using a little more fuel than a small kicker would. If it was a 2 cycle motor with a Carburetor, then you waould have to worry about loading up after extended periods of idling. Keep trolling and don’t worry about it!
How much will a trolling plate slow you down?
Once locked into place the trolling plate will block some of the prop thrust and slow the boat to a 1 to 2 mph trolling speed while allowing the angler to maintain steering control.
What is the best speed for trolling?
The best trolling speed depends on several factors including the type of fish, water conditions and lure choice. In general, trolling speeds between 1.5 and 2.5 mph, as measured by GPS, are a good starting place for most species like walleye, trout and salmon.
How much line should you let out when trolling?
Let out 50 feet of line and clip into the release. If that’s not enough distance to prevent your lake’s wary walleyes from seeing the ballthen let out 150 feet of line! Just remember, the flat-line diving depth of your crankbait still applies behind the ball!