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Help! Down rigger question

Handsonthepole

By Handsonthepole
in Open Water

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Handsonthepole Contributor

Handsonthepole

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Not sure if this is the place to ask this but I have a question regarding rigging my boat up with down riggers. I have an 18ft Alumnacraft Tournament Pro with a 175 Merc on i t. I am getting tired of the same old walleye fishing I do and want to start fishing some bigger lakes primarily for lake trout. I have jigged them before but after watching a few videos I am interested in trolling. I guess any info/help would be appreciated as I don't even know where to start. I am looking for info on setting up my boat with something removable that won't empty my wallet. Do I need electric down riggers or will manual be sufficient? How many do i need? Where can I find used ones? Stuff like that! Thanks for any help!

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Ballyhoo Collaborator

Ballyhoo

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I you are just going to fish walleyes on LOW occasionally then crank ones are sufficient. If you are going to regularily fish lake trout in deeper waters then you will want electrics. Cranking up a 10 lb ball from 60-80' can be tiresome especially if you have some false releases. Cranking an 8 lb ball from 30' is not that bad.

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tacklejunkie Grand Master

tacklejunkie

Posted
Posted

Not sure if this is the place to ask this but I have a question regarding rigging my boat up with down riggers. I have an 18ft Alumnacraft Tournament Pro with a 175 Merc on i t. I am getting tired of the same old walleye fishing I do and want to start fishing some bigger lakes primarily for lake trout. I have jigged them before but after watching a few videos I am interested in trolling. I guess any info/help would be appreciated as I don't even know where to start. I am looking for info on setting up my boat with something removable that won't empty my wallet. Do I need electric down riggers or will manual be sufficient? How many do i need? Where can I find used ones? Stuff like that! Thanks for any help!

I use dipseys alot more now on Superior but I use 12 lb balls on downriggers on Lake Superior and a hand crank model. I use the 12 lb because it lessens the blowback when trolling and I've seen some electric ones that won't crank up a ball that heavy.

It can be a cranking job but I've cranked up balls that were over 100 feet down and it isn't bad

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ATW Rookie

ATW

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Manual DRs will work fine for most applications, unless you know you'll be doing a lot of fishing deeper than 100' at the ball. I started with two manual DRs running 12# balls (one in each corner) that I bought off E bay. They're a little bit of a workout to raise, but not too bad. You can also stack lines to cover 4 different depths with two DRs.

If you're also considering targeting Salmon,there's a lot of action from the surface to 80 feet, depending on the time of year and water temperature.

I'm currently running two manual and two electric DRs (all with 15# balls) on a larger boat, and don't see a need to replace the manual DRs for the few times I'm able to get out.

If you get into the big water trolling, DRs will be just the beginning. There's also planer boards, dipsy divers, copper line, etc...

Good luck!

Paul

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