wireline and 1lb balls verses downriggers

[sachem longrifle]

I would like to add to my arsenal. I have 2 downriggers. My Lake superior fishing consists of agate bay, duluth entry, Wisconsin point and the river mouths at certain times of the year. I was on a charter this summer and we had luck with the wireline and 1 lb ball. Would the wireline and 1 lb ball work ok for my style of fishing or should i buy another downrigger instead? I dont have the means or equipment to be a REAL Lk superior fisherman. Who on this forum uses the wireline with 1lb ball?

[SKIPPERS KID]

I do but you must put in your time on fishing them to work it is how much line is out and what you are using for it to fish. I do know this is where it is at and fish are on. I put it right back to that depth. Well this will change but it is a starting point and must be changed as you go?????? They take time do not think you can do what you did on your charter? the Capt. and mate know And have lot's of time on the water doing what you are asking and they do not wright a book on this I wish every one good luck and have fun ..

[sachem longrifle]

So you think I should buy a couple more downriggers as opposed to wireline and 1 lb ball? I like those as I can see how much line I let out but I never used the wireline with the ball. It just seemed to work on the charter. By the way, I discovered this forum not that long ago and now I am addicted. The tips are useful and I never plan a trip without first checking out the forum. This is one of the best forums and up to date I have ever seen

[SKIPPERS KID]

Well down-riggers have a counter on the side or top to tell you the depth it will get you close to the depth you would like to be at? I have one graph on my boat to read just the down-rigger's so when I see the fish and at what depth I can adjust my baits and hope they bite. I like to run wireline but we as charter boats work together every day and to how much line and what is working? some time we just use spoons and fish mid-water and most of the time we use dodgers and smelt. If you are just out on weekends I would go with the down-rigger but wire can be fun on that when you have a fish on the down-rigger you better make sure that the wire rod is clear if you get those two tangled you will cute the fish off on that wire rod so it is your call they both will catch fish if run right. If you still need help let us know good fishing.

[Northlander]

If you have room and the $ to get a few more downriggers do that. It would be easiest. Have you thought about dypsie divers. You can get them down and away from the boat better.

[Surface Tension]

I would add them to your arsenal at some time. Like SK said it takes time to learn how to use them to their full potential. Trolling out there is a huge learning curve thats never ending. The wire rods add another dimension and will do things your down riggers won't do. I can attribute more tangles to the # ball rig then anything else on the boat too.

Having said that, if your serious about getting your boat to fish for next year there are some things that you should have in place before the wire rods. The season will start out fishing on top, you'll need a good set of trolling boards and a mast right away. Later on when things start going a little deeper you can use snap weights off the board rods along with the down riggers and maybe a wire rod out the back. Then eventually running rods off the boards isn't going to produce, you can put the boards away or use them in much the same way the bigger boats use outriggers and wire rods.

[ReelTimes]

Sachem, I think like so many aspects of fishing, it is a personal preference thing. I know some guys really like to run wire both with and without lead balls. This method with the lead balls is probably primarily of value late in the season when the fish are down very, very deep. I don't think the majority would consider this their primary method of getting lures down, particularly at more moderate depths, just another tool for getting an additional line down. Personally, I don't use them and ended up going with four down riggers because of ease and simplicity. By the time you factor in the wire, additional rod/reel, you are probably in the range of an inexpensive rigger or at least a used one and they're much easier to fish. For moderate depths, dipseys will get your lure down fairly good. Also, for moderate depths, I have had good success running deep diving lures (like reefrunners) with weight attached down to 40-60 feet as well (on boards). Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. If you can afford to, pick up another downrigger or two and as noted above, you can get into some of the smaller, indexpensive ones for not too much money.

[sachem longrifle]

Downriggers it is then. Thank you all. I do already have boards that i use for walleye fishing and trolling early in the year on the big pond.

[SFBOY]

a quick point about fishing with downriggers. if you set the depth at 60 feet for example, your ball is never at 60' unless you are motionless. if you are trolling and the downrigger cable is dragging back at 20 degrees from vertical, the angle is probably more than 20, your baits will be at appoximately 56 feet of depth. this gets worse if the set point is deeper and the angle is greater, say 90 feet. the counter on the downrigger is simply a line counter to allow you to repeat the experiment over and over again assuming you can control your boat speed. if you mark fish at 60 feet, you might have to let out 64 to 70 feet of down rigger line to have your baits at 60 feet depending on the angle of the downrigger cable. who said that trig never comes in handy? but then again, who likes to fish with engineers anyway?

i would fish with the downriggers. it is much more enjoyable to catch fish when they are not fighting the weight of the line and ball. good luck.

[SKIPPERS KID]

SFBOY

i would fish with the down-riggers. it is much more enjoyable to catch fish when they are not fighting the weight of the line and ball. good luck.

I do prefer down-rigger's as well. But there are day's the wire rod will catch most of the fish in the boat. I would like to add that trolling with down-riggers you must use what weight ball's well I run 12lb's it all depends on the depth and speed the deeper you fish use 12lb's mid-water 8 to 10lb's weight's will work just fine they will have more drag than 12lb's do I would have to add there are lots of current out there and knowing how to fish the current will help you out a lot and it can be hard to fish. The best way to learn is try every thing speed and current speed and the way you fish the current going with the current troll faster and going in to the current you must go slower. I would say that this lake is hard some days but keep trying and remember what you did when the fish are biting and keep learning that is the fun-nest thing about the big lake when you got it figured out it changes :.shocked: Well it is fishing good luck to all and have fun .

[SFBOY]

totally agree with the current in the lake. the best way that we found was to keep an eye on the angle the downrigger cable makes with the water. lake michigan too has current that is hard to detect from the surface. not saying to never use the wire line, just that it is alot more fun to use the downriggers. theres always more to it than just dropping your balls down there and tooling around. we also keep an eye on the charters and try to mimic their speed and location. those guys are paid to be good and a guy can learn alot from watching them.