Down Rigging

[cfreund]

I fish a lot of lake trout and decided to get down riggers but i have a few questions what is the best speed to troll at for lake trout? Also how far into the line release to you put the line? do you put it deep into the release so that when a fish takes the lure the rod bounces and you jerk to release the line from the release then jerk again to hook the fish or do you put the line looser in the release so when the fish grabs the lure it pulls the line from the release and the you jerk to hook the fish? I'm just wondering what the best way to put the line in the release is?

[Surface Tension]

Speed depends on what your lures your using.

Some spoons are trolled faster then others.

Stick baits are trolled slower then spoons.

Flasher fly w/meat even slower.

Best way to tell is get it in the water and look at the action.

Jim's FlashBacks have a place in my boat for trolling lake trout and salmon.

I tend to run them between 2-2.5 MPH.

You can set the release either way but always tight enough to put a load on the rod to take out the slack. From there you can adjust the tension on the release so that you can manually

snap it loose with a good jerk. If your too tight you'll have trouble freeing the release.

Too loose and it'll pop off just by the preload or when changing speeds and for sure won't be enough resistance to get a good hook set on the strike.

When you get to that point, you'll have it set so most fish release on the strike but you do get an occasional fish that won't trip it. Now you have it set so when it releases the hook is set by the strike and you don't set the hook after its released.

Styles of releases. Some are pinch pads. The amount of force to release is set by how deep into the pad the line is set. These have a tether between the release and clip generally anywhere from 1-2' long. This type is called a shaker release that offers more detection of a strike and or a fish one that hasn't released by way of a bouncing rod tip.

Scotty's release (Shaker Style)

The large clip on this one is actually what I'd use to stack with and would use a much smaller clip to attach to the ball.

Another type and one that after the tension is set on the release itself, is duplicated with no guess work. Those attach between the ball and cable. While you can still see a rod tip bounce but because of the direct connect to cable its noticeably less but also that direct connect, hookups are better because the strike is meet with the full weight of the ball.

Roemer release

Blacks release

[cfreund]

Thanks that was very helpful!

[cfreund]

I have another question i went down rigging lake trout today and i had the line release 5 times but every time i reeled up there was no fish its like the fish let go as soon as they hit it i was just wondering if i am could be doing something wrong? the line releases and i grab the pole and reel but there is never any tension on. I'm just wondering if there is anything that i could do to hook the fish?

[Surface Tension]

The hook should be set on the strike.

Sharp hooks and enough tension on the release.

If not enough tension the line will pop off too easily.

The preload on the rod is to take up slack and lessen the slack time after the release.

That small amount of slack time is critical.

Setbacks. The longer the setback the more slack time and more line stretch. That stretch and distance from ball is bad for hooks sets. For lake trout I keep setbacks at around 10'.

What weight ball are you using? The heavier the ball the more resistance is meet when a fish hits(better hook sets) and less blow back. Blowback isn't good for precision trolling but again creates even more slack time after a release.

Could be that you had false release from not enough tension on the clip or maybe you were using a braid and it slipped through. Did you see the rod tip bounce?

You might want to increase the release tension for now and manually pop the release when a fish is on. This allows you to raise the rod tip and take up(reel in)slack at the same time.

[cfreund]

Thanks for the information we went out today and had three releases and we got three lake trout the biggest being 4 pounds thanks for all the information it was a lot of help just wondering if there are any other secrets i should know about that are useful with down rigging? but thanks so much for everything you were a lot of help surface tension.

[Surface Tension]

Tips, many but here are a few.

Use the heaviest ball your rigger can handle, especially when getting 100+.

I have 8, 10, and 12 lb balls. The 8 is fine for under 60'.

Keep the balls at the fish's level or just above.

Even though you might have a counter, tracking the ball on your sounder is a plus and you'll find out the depth indicated by the counter isn't the true depth of the ball.

Dual Ducer split screened 200 and 50. The 50 has a wider cone angle to pick up the ball but poor definition and reason the split screen.

When it comes time when the fish are tight to bottom then so should be the rigger.

Drop down till you hit bottom and then crank up a few ft.

Give the ball time to find it spot and then drop down again till you hit bottom.

Repeat till your certain the ball is tracking close to bottom.

Watch the sounder for depth changes and adjust the ball. The better you stay on top of this the more fish you'll take off the bottom.

Running two or more riggers and stacking.

Instead of thinking this is a good way to cover more water in the column, think if it as adding to your presentation at one depth and of coarse a depth the fish are using.

Either on a second rigger or stacked, add an attractor(flasher/dodger) 10' above a plain lure on a short setback. As long as the bottom lure is getting hit, you don't touch the upper with attractor.

Great Lakes and currents.

Get to know what your blowback should look like. When running into or with currents you'll see the angle on the rigger cable increase or decrease and so is the lure speed. A SubTroll with speed & temp would be nice but if you stay observant to those changes and adjust you'll figure it out.

Instead of reeling the lure when checking/changing lures or false release keep it fishing.

Pop it off the release and let it come to the surface, then reel it in.