Downriggers?

[Steelhead Chaser]

Haven’t seen any posts on this so thought I would inquire.

Has anybody tried using downriggers on the river?

I have been fishing Lake Michigan for the past 25 years. Even worked on a charter boat for 4 summers when I was younger. Needless to say, I am very familiar with downrigger fishing. I can see the potential hazards in using them in the river with all of the structure and possible debris. I was just curious if anybody has tried.

Thanks.

[Mille Lacs Guy]

I think Downriggers would work for getting crank baits deep if you really wanted to use them. However, in the river I think leadcore is much more feasible as you can get down to 30 to 40 feet without any problems. Also, three way rigs or snap weights will also get small lures down deep.

I myself prefer leadcore for targeting fish in the river.

[FishonTom]

when you fish on Lake Michigan, you are fishing for Salmon, can you imagine how many times you would be dragging small fish around, like shakers on Michigan? Downriggers work great for suspended fish,and larger fish, but not bottom fish as much.

[Steelhead Chaser]

Thanks for the responses. You are probably correct. It would be to much hassle. I was just curious if anybody had tried.

[AaronM]

when you fish on Lake Michigan, you are fishing for Salmon, can you imagine how many times you would be dragging small fish around, like shakers on Michigan? Downriggers work great for suspended fish,and larger fish, but not bottom fish as much.

I disagree. Riggers work great for walleye holding tight to the bottom. Small fish, large fish, doesn't matter, depends what you have on.

[jigginjim]

You could pull large baits for bigger fish with downriggers, and still get withing 4ft of the bottm.

[DeEon]

I have a Cannon Optima and Iam anxious to try downriggers for walleye.  There is a bottom tracking feature on Optima.  I think most walleyes are close to bottom so I think it is a good tactic.  I am, however, nervous about using Fishhawk XD4 with on river.  A screwup would really be expensive!

[leech~~]

5 hours ago, DeEon said:

I have a Cannon Optima and Iam anxious to try downriggers for walleye.  There is a bottom tracking feature on Optima.  I think most walleyes are close to bottom so I think it is a good tactic.  I am, however, nervous about using Fishhawk XD4 with on river.  A screwup would really be expensive!

Welcome to the forum.

Downriggers work best for suspended fish in deep water. Most river's are shallow and rocky. If you want to fish the bottom in a river a bottom bouncer might be best to not lose a lot of expensive gear. Imo. Good luck.