Downrigger hum

L

lloyds

New member
In preparation for the annual migration to vancouver island I purchased a Canon downrigger. Currently I have just a 4# ball for the lakes where I fish close to home. That thing hums like a jet ski approaching. Is this normal and is there anything that can be done to cut the noise down? It can't be good for fishing.
 
lloyds-

Those were my thoughts, exactly, when I first started using downriggers!

I started a similar thread where the essential points were:

1. Most folks don't think that the noise actually frightens fish, based on their experiences.

2. Some folks think it actually attracts them.

3. The noise still bothers the helll out of some people.

4. You can quiet some of the noise with clamped on dampeners of soft material, but the best solution is to.......

5 . Change out the steel wire for Spectra braided fishing line of similar test strength that makes no noise. (!)

I haven't done this yet, but probably will soon. I'm a little concerned with the possibility that the "rougher" braided plastic line will actually be more dangerous than the braided steel to your hands, should you accidently touch a line that is being reeled in or out---"the bandsaw effect!!! Haven't had any problem with the steel in this manner, but only because I haven't ever touched a moving/reeling wire. Maybe someone else has had an experience with this issue.

Here's a LINK to the previous discussion.
Joe
 
Buy the new scotty dacron downrigger line. No hum, no kinks, won't rust, simple to tie, and it is supposed to last years and years. I've had for about 5 months works great.
 
I have fished for many years in the Pacific Northwest and around Vancouver Island. I don't want to tell you how to fish your down riggers or your balls are to small but I have never used a weight smaller then 7#, my favorite size is a 10#, and if the water is running hard and I'm fishing deep I will put on a 12# ball. But like I said that is how I run mine, I'm sure you will do just fine with how you like to run yours. Good luck up north, we will be up there July & Aug.
Big Dave.
 
On my sled, In the past 6 years I have caught far more fish when the downriggers are "Singing" than not. I use 12# balls on my Scotty Electrics and carry 3 extras. I typically change out the cable every other year. I also carry extra snap swivels, pliers and crimps to replace the cable ends while out and a full extra spool of cable too. When you lose a ball you don't want to have to motor an hour back to the marina and hope they have what you need to continue fishing! Been there, Done that! Never again!

I've purchased a "black box" to hook up to the cable but haven't tried it yet. If you switch to the non metal cable you will lose this capability. Just a thought.

With the 12# balls I typically like to run with the cable between 30 and 45 degrees off of verticle. I rarely look at a speedo to guage the speed as I let the downriggers and tackle tell me how fast I need to go.

I also try to mount them such that they will show up in my fishfinder. It is fun to see a fish come take your offering on the finder! I've seen that a couple times.

I imagine that 4# weight works pretty well for light tackle in a lake! I've often thought it would be fun to use one when I'm up in Kamloops and decide to go after Kokanee. I might just pick up a cheapy clamp on rigger for the "Lake boat" and give that a try in August while I'm up there.
 
We like that hum!... sounds like home to us :0)

I use 15 pounders on both the Scotty and Cannon, one thing I notice; the faster you go, the more humin ya get. :| You should never need to exceed 2 knots for salmon... excluding the current of course! :x

I'm going to have to try that new line! cables get tangled often! One advantage to metal lines though; they produce the right amount of current on the water that attracts fish (!) so I ain't sure what I'm gonna do yet in that regard! :|

I have a free "Black Box" for someone - it does NOT make a bit of difference on my boat. Only thing that did me good using it was I found out the RedFox already fishes with the perfect amount of naturally generated electricity in the water! :thup
 
Think I will try the dacron downrigger line. Thank you all for your insight. Yeh, I already heard my balls are too small :lol:
 
Downrigger cables don't hum - they sing. That is the singin in the wires you have heard about. Almost out the door for a few days cruise in Northern Lk. Mich.

Regards
 
I like the hum personally, and remember sound can attract fish, thats one of the things that makes a flasher work, the sound it produces. As Tom Nelson says , Sight, sound, and smell, hit all three for consistent fishing. Beyond that I echo everyone's statements.. except for not trolling faster than two knots for any salmon. I regularly hook into more silvers when trolling 4.5- 6 mph. And blackmouth around 2.5-4mph. And just look at commercial trollers, they tend to go faster than us sporties and get their share of fish. But it could just be location, since I fish in washington state not alaska, so the fish might react differently. But for kings, sockeye, and chums I would agree with slower speeds working well. If you switch to the dacron let us know how it works for you. Good luck.

Sark
 
Back in dark ages when I was commercial - 3.5 to 4 knots worked. Don't want a slab that can't swim faster than that.

My best downrigger hum story is when an Orca hit the downrigger wire - man, ain't never seen wire go so fast and hum so loud. Trashed an old Penn manual too. :lol: :lol: And all hands aboard had to have double martins to stabilize.

Duster
 
Too q-well Dusty! that was a great image going on in my nogin reading that :thup :love I have some Dahls Porpous (bad spellin tonight :oops: ) hit my lines once... never again I pray! :sad they would have stolded all the danged expensive 130-pound test on my real, if I had not of cut it in time :shock:
 
Guess I will stick with the wire. I fished the lake this weekend and made myself stick exclusively with the downrigger. I caught fish. I actually caught more fish with the rigger than I did last week without it. And when they hit you don't have to be watching, you can tell by the hum when something is on. I hope I never have a porpoise or orca hit one though. That 16 won't handle much of that kind of excitement. Thanks everyone for the input. My questions are answered. Now if I could just figure out how to get the releases to work the same each time. It takes a pretty good trout to spring one of them.
 
Have you tried the pro release? You can change the amount of tension needed to pop it open. I also believe scotty makes a smaller clip for trout. Good luck.

Sark
 
I have an adjustable one that increases pressure with each "click". I tried it for awhile, then changed to a pro-clip that I purchased because I was told it was for smaller fish, like trout. It is more easily released but there is so much variance in how far in you put the line versus release pressure. Each time is different. Sometimes it releases as I am lowering the ball, which is really a pain. I really got the downrigger for salmon, where these problems won't be problems, but I can see how using a downrigger for kokanee would be the way to go. Just have to get them to release when the kokanee hit. But I am beginning to see how coupling a downrigger with a good fishfinder will rapidly improve your chances of catching. It amazes me how I fished all those years without any of this stuff and still caught fish.
 
Pro-clips are outstanding for any sort of non-mono line, eg Fireline as the older "squeeze" or clothespin type clips do not work well with this smaller diameter "slicker" line below about 40 ft at 2-3 knots. The adjustability of the Pro-Trolls is really handy.

As to kokanee - downriggers are the way to go - in particular because you can "follow them down" in depth as the day/sun progresses. Use a smaller clip (even a 2-2.5 inch clothespin style (scotty) with Fireline will work if you are using only a small dodger and small lure like a Macks wedding ring). Either way, I've had no trouble with them releasing the line from a properly adjusted clip. (No snubber either.)

Good luck.
 
Falco: Guess I have a lot to learn in using these things. I am still using mono. Time to break down and get a different reel, different line, and maybe different clips. Thanks for the info.
 
We've started using braided Spectra lines for trout trolling here on Lake Shasta. A nearly 20 lb test line has the same or smaller diameter as 6 lb mono, but usually assures that you get at least the dodger or gang troll back in a hookup with the bottom. Still use mono for leader, of course.

Joe.
 
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