Downriggers Offshore question

[in2fishing]

Just wondering if any members have had much experience with downriggers targeting Snapper and Mackerel, or any other offshore species. I have been told trolling livies with a downrigger is an option for snapper, but you rarely see downriggers on offshore boats.

Also told similar with the mackerel, trolling live bait, pillies or lures deeper on a downrigger can be worthwhile. So, interested to find out if they are a good investment or not for the offshore side of fishing. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Don

[Platitudinus]

Hi Don;
No experienceof using downriggers offshore but we used outriggers in the Bay of Islands (NZ) very successfully, to suspend livies from midwater down to the bottom for Kingfish, John Dory and Snapper. Depths were typically 50m-80m. The advantage of using the outrigger was a) it kept the livies well clear of the other rods and b) we could check the depths the fish were feeding at for our normal bottom gear.
It worked better at anchor than on the drift but it also enabled us to suspend a berley bomb very accurately in shallow water (we also had a berley bag about 10m up the anchor chain for deep water).
Hope that helps
Peter
:-*

[camer1]

I have used downriggers quite a lot for marlin, sailfish etc. And they are a fair bit of hassle but sometimes very effective when the bait is mid water and spread out as they allow you to cover ground and also keep your baits deep. I would say these principles would be of great use when targetting mackeral as they have similar feeding habits to the billfish ie feed where the bait is, sometimes deep. I have no reason to believe that a downrigger wouldn't work for snapper fishing but in my experience there would certainly be better ways involving less hassle to catch snapper. In regards to are they a good investment, if you are going to chase mackeral a lot, it gives you another option when they are not surface feeding so yes but if snapper is your primary aim imo I wouldn't worry. Hope this helps.

I agree with platitudiness in that outriggers are far better investment although a lot more expensive.

camer1

[1lastcast]

Hi there in2fishing the mackeral below was with a down rigger yes they work well infact very well because you can troll livies slow you only need to be trolling them at a quick walking pace and you can lift or drop them into the depth of the bait as you see them appear on your sounder .

But it is only an option with 2 or more anglers on your boat as you can be kept quite busy lifting and dropping the rigger .

Try not to let it run to close to the bottom it really needs to be at least 3-5 meters of the bottom this will stop the bomb snagging up if you cross a bommie and a it will be a lot easier to use.

a penn fathom master 600 or 620 is a good downrigger to get they are simple construction and cost around $500.00

good luck with it !

MONOSTRETCHO

[in2fishing]

Thanks for your help Peter, Camer1 and Monostretcho. All info helps as I don't want to buy a downrigger and find it just sitting in the garage gathering dust.

Monostretcho as you mentioned it gets busy, this was a concern and I was thinking maybe they are just too much trouble as a possible reason for not seeing many in use. But good to hear you have been getting some good mackeral, nice fish in the pic.

Camer1, I may end up chasing some billfish occasionally, but a bit limited in my boat to better weather days. A couple of months ago with a mate on his boat at North reef off Noosa, I hooked my first Sailfish and got to see lots of jumps before the line broke. So I have the bug to try for more. But I have to admit I wasn't targeting sailfish. We had caught some huge yakkas on our 5.0 hooks chasing reef fish on the bottom in about 45m.
The sailfish took a huge yakka set about 10 to 15m up off the bottom on an unattended rod. Took a fair bit before it really took off - just felt heavy, but then it knew it was hooked and took off like a nuk powered sub going for the surface. I had no idea what it was until it started jumping. My Abu 10,000 that was low on line in the first place was running out of line so I increased the drag too much and lost him. We were anchored, so no chance of chasing him. So next time I send down a huge bait like that one I will be better prepared with atleast a reel full of line.

So back to the downriggers, sounds like it could be good for billfish too, as the one above would have been at 30 to 35m deep when hooked.

Thanks for the help, all info is appreciated,

Cheers, Don

[in2fishing]

Also Peter - Platitudinus, I ment to put in the message above. Outriggers would have been ideal in the situation mentioned at North Reef above, as you have mentioned. That day there was only 2 of us on board so the livies didn't cause any problems, but can see they would be good to keep the lines apart.

Thanks again, Don

[arvor]

some of the electric cannons now interface with your sounder .so you just set at say 7mtrs from bottom and start your troll and as terrain changes the electrics kick in and up or down auto.very neat.

[camer1]

In2fishing,

The majority of Sailfish caught on the Sunshine Coast over the last 10 years have been caught in exactly the same way you hooked yours except the boats have been drifting as opposed to anchored to allow to chase the fish effectively after a hookup. If the bait is spread out you can see how effective a downrigger would be.

I am not surprised your keen to actually land a sailfish now as it is great buzz.

Good Luck with your downrigger.

camer1

[in2fishing]

Camer1,

Yes, have to say actually landing a sailfish or marlin is on the must do list. Then I am expecting after landing one, I will be completly addicted.

Arvor,

I have checked out the Cannon downriggers that can be interfaced with your sounder. Sure would reduce the workload and reduce the chances of snagging the bottom. I have a Garmin 178C GPS/Sounder, I don't think it hooks up with the Cannon downriggers. Will look into it.

Thanks, Don

[skipalong]

when the fishing become hectic them become in the road

[Horse]

I seldom go anywehere without the downrigger on board. Big Macs often hunt on deeper reefs so they are a great way to present a bait to them

look at the US sites and land them at less than 50% of Aussie costs. Someone is gouging us badly in this type of gear

[juggie]

hi don
fished mortern bay 2 weeks ago in 60 feet of water and set my downrigger to 50 feet an landed a 6 kilo snapper on a dead whiting
cheers juggie

[Smithy]

When the fishing becomes hectic I get them out of the way like in this video.



We were using a deck winch with braid as a downrigger on that occasion. I have my Canon mounted on a plate that goes into a rod holder. After a strike I put it up on the bunks and get it out of the way.

For Mackeral Fishing I like to keep the bomb about 10-20' off the bottom. Most times then I have it running at around 50' or so. Sailfishing I have it out 70' or so but at the higher speeds who knows how far it is actually down with the belly in the downrigger line. Maybe 30' or so. What everyone is doing these days is replacing the wire cable with 200lb braid to minimise the humming noise.

If you are gearing up from new I would go with an electric one. The electric Scotty looks bullet proof to me. We did have a Canon Digitroll IV the ducks guts of downriggers on the Signature but we never got it working successfully. That was a $3,500 setup or something with the bottom following transducer. The Scotty by comparison on another boat I fished on worked great and buying from the States was as cheap as chips for how good it worked.

[in2fishing]

Hi Horse,

Thanks for the info on the mackeral. You say it all if you don't go out without it. Had a quick search on some US sites as you and Smithy have mentioned, the Scotty electric is good value over there from what i see. Will look into the shipping costs.

Juggie, thanks for that on Snapper. Glad to hear about that with the whiting bait on the downrigger.


Hi Smithy,

Thanks for the Video clip and your info on the depth guides, brands etc. The idea of removing the downrigger quickly for billfish makes things easier for fighting the fish, so I will look into those options too.

When you use braid instead of wire cable, do you need to use say a few metres of wire cable just above the bomb incase you snag the bottom.? Also have you played around with different types of bombs, and bomb weights.? I have been told I would need an 8 lb cannonball type minimun for offshore. I have read Torpede or pancake shaped bombs are sometimes preferred because of less drag. What would be your recommended type and weight.?

Also wondering if you have used the SharkCannonballs, which are reflective and supposed to act like a teaser.? (but very expensive compared to others)

Thanks again. Don

[Smithy]

Nope just braid all the way to a massive snap swivel. Stick with the 10lb Canon weights or equivalent. I did get a 13lb pancake weight in once from the US but it never tracked straight but we never perservered with it. The 10lbers used to be about $30 then they jumped to $42 or something but they are now $46.50 from Wellsys on the Sunny Coast. I have only lost one to a trap float at Port Stephens in NSW.

The sharks look like an expensive toy to me. If you have the money go for it certainly. On the freshwater dams the fish were certainly attracted to the plain grey bombs. You could see them come up and look at it on the sounder.

[in2fishing]

Thanks again Smithy, I will just go for the standard 10 pounder cannonball type for now.

Cheers,

Don

[cptpott]

Guys, how much trace between the bomb and the bait?
What sort of release do you use, a rubber band or a clip?
Cheers
Craig

[rogerb]

Downriggers are the go for mackerel and wahoo, see the Penn Fathom Master in my avatar. The wahoo was taken trolling a dead garfish dressed with a Sea Witch, speed was 7 knots with 50 feet of wire out. When fishing around Fads using 4 surface baits and 1 downrigger 90% of our wahoo came on the downrigger. Hard body lures such as Rapala and Halco also work well on the downrigger.
Penn's are tough well made units that stand some hard fishing, I have been told that they are being phased out. Now trying a cannon on the new boat.

All the best, Rog

[in2fishing]

Thanks Rog, that sure is a good result on the Wahoo, certainly makes the extra work in using a downrigger worthwhile. I am going through the exercise of comparing brands / prices, manual / electric etc.

So much good info received from this post, all very helpful when you haven't used one before.

Cheers,

Don

[maxi]

Hi,

Looking to purchase a Scotty 1050 from the States ?Do you get charged import duties. ? Can you purchase with Braid instead of cable. ?I was going to run it on the Gunnal near the cabin, any one know if it is likely to show up on my Furuno sounder. ? Has anyone had any drama's buying from Cabelas or other US sites.

Thanks,
Greg

[no_wind]

maxi, the bomb will show up on your sounder,it does on my furuno
I just bought a new downrigger some aussie blokes have just designed
$400 with a full spool of braid and it's all alluminium
no plastic, tuff as an old boot.
Their not on the market yet but have some great features for the price you pay
you can pm me if you want to know more.









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[Gazza.Boyne]

I've also been thinking about a downrigger for chasing spaniards and the like. Think i'd stick with a manual type, what brand & size should i be looking at.

Cheers Gazza

[JayT]

Hey guys, I bought a little scotty lake troll from bcf and customised it with a slightly longer arm, being a 400-500mm piece of box ally:) certainly not as flash as the dearer models but gee it works a treat offshore for a very minimal price!
I run a 7pd bomb and because it has no counter i just marked the cable with pink paint every 5mtrs and away I go, works awesome on the spots, spano,s and hoo, total cost bout $150 for the rigger an less than 10bucks for the extention!
Very cheap and perfect for what I do....something for people to think about at a lower cost:)
Cheers

[Horse]

I've also been thinking about a downrigger for chasing spaniards and the like. Think i'd stick with a manual type, what brand & size should i be looking at.

Cheers Gazza

I have the Cannon Easy Troll HS and it does a great job. I would go with any of the major manufacturers such as Scotty or Cannon. The smaller versions such as Lake Troll would struggle with the size bomb you need for deeper work

[catfish55]

some of the electric cannons now interface with your sounder .so you just set at say 7mtrs from bottom and start your troll and as terrain changes the electrics kick in and up or down auto.very neat.


nice call sighn ther arvor ther a nice boat as well
catfish

[catfish55]

hi don
fished mortern bay 2 weeks ago in 60 feet of water and set my downrigger to 50 feet an landed a 6 kilo snapper on a dead whiting
cheers juggie

hi juggie tell me were you anchored or drifting or what mate
interesting and great catch
catfish55

[catfish55]

Guys, how much trace between the bomb and the bait?
What sort of release do you use, a rubber band or a clip?
Cheers
Craig

i too would be interested inthis as well
catfish55

[ddobson]

I have just put one on my boat and playing around in the bay for snapper with it but only with hard bodies so far. I was thinking of dropping live bait down to see what comes up.

[nofrills]

I have just put one on my boat and playing around in the bay for snapper with it but only with hard bodies so far. I was thinking of dropping live bait down to see what comes up.

The thing to remember with livies is you need enough current to keep them from swimming up and tangleing on the bomb/cable.So if your anchored you want enough current to keep them back away and if your slow trolling,especially with a faster bait like a big slimey or a little tuna you will need enough speed to keep them back their swimming happily but not so fast that you scull drag them to death. If unsure best is to troll them on the surface for a little bit first and just watch them to see what boat speed suits best.Then wack em in the clip and send em to their doom.

cheers scotty

[reel scream]

The thing to remember with livies is you need enough current to keep them from swimming up and tangleing on the bomb/cable.So if your anchored you want enough current to keep them back away and if your slow trolling,especially with a faster bait like a big slimey or a little tuna you will need enough speed to keep them back their swimming happily but not so fast that you scull drag them to death. If unsure best is to troll them on the surface for a little bit first and just watch them to see what boat speed suits best.Then wack em in the clip and send em to their doom.

cheers scotty

Irks me to say it (lol) but scotty knows his downrigger stuff. He has the set up and knows how to work it to get fish. Takes a fair bit of rum to get some of his secrets out. I would be happy to pitch in to get him hypnotised;D .

The best advice i can give is - pull the bloody thing up before you go charging off to that spot a click away! Doh! Saves buying more bombs.

Cheers Scott

[reel scream]

And strap the video camera down.!! Double Doh Ouch!!

[juggie]

hi juggie tell me were you anchored or drifting or what mate
interesting and great catch
catfish55

hi catfish55 mate I was anchored near some structure in moreton bay with a fair bit of current flowing. I also caught a 9.5kg cod using the same method. Cheers