Help with Down Rigger

[Chief]

I bought a down rigger for my boat. Been fishing along time never used one except Ocean fishing. Want to try for lakers mostly Grandby. How long do yo run the line out past the ball? Do they have a mold to make those Balls? Thanks for any help

[tommy13]

I have never heard of any mold to make the downrigger balls, but I guess they could be out there or you could do a custom job. As for the distance to let out line from the ball that depends on the lure you are using and the size of the body of water you are fishing. Larger bodies of water you can let out up to 100 ft of line (or more) this helps get the lures away from the boat's shadow, but the more line you let out the more you have to be diligent about depth changes and it makes it harder to manuever especially in smaller bodies of water. Well that's what I have learned. Hope it helps.

[fishinwithlund]

Yes, they have many molds to make your own downrigger balls. Cabelas sells them, Janns Netcraft sells them and I am sure others do also... All sizes available... I NEVER let out more than 50ft of line when using the downrigger......I am sure others use less and some use more.. Its a person preference.. If fishing for Kokes, then I use 25 ft of line..... good luck..

[fishlip]

For lakers I don't like to put more than 10'-20' of line out behind a cannon ball. 10' is always a great starting point, often lakers see the cannonball first and actually are drawn to that, if the lure is close behind it becomes somewhat of a combination. I have seen numerous big lakers actually hit the cannonball.

Try brake and alignment shops for wheel weights, sometimes you can get their used weights cheap or free, melt these down pull the clips out and pour into your mold. It takes a lot of lead to pour cannon balls.

[artco]

FWL is correct,

Here you go....
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...equestid=52800