Shadow Cliffs 3/8/08 - Nice Day But...

Well I wanted to test my new spectra downrigger before Shelter Cove, so I went to Shadow Cliffs for the water clarity and it is close to my house. I will say it is one of the ugliest fishing holes in the bay area, but the the fishing can be OK. The good news is, my downrigger worked great and I will probably never go back to wire. The bad news is I didn't catch any fish. It was good fishing with Raymac for the first time. He is one of my trout trolling heroes. 

Scott

Right on, Scott.  Good thinking to work the kinks out there rather than on the ocean.  That place doesn't look ugly at all to those of us with eyes that are hungry for water!   

I thought you just replaced the wire on the Scotty Downrigger, I didn't know you changed downriggers altogether.  Any reason why you didn't just pull the wire off the other and put braid on it?  What are some of the advantages to the new downrigger?

Michael

Scott,

What weight line and what weight weight are you using on the downrigger? 

Chuck

I am using an Okuma catalina linecounter with 30# power pro and 2-2.5# of weight. I use the Okuma for rock fish stuff and I had an old spinning rod butt which I glued a tip on. Long story behind this rod which I can tell after a couple of beers.  I didn't replace the wire on my scotty lake troller because there is some theory that the electric current in the cable attracts fish like kokanee, So this spring, I will be doing a spectra vs wire comparison at catching kokanee. Stay tuned.    BTW, the Okuma reel deploys and retrieves much easier and quicker than the lake troller and gives you the depth to the foot.

scott

Was great meeting Great Bass 2. Another face to put a name to. Sorry about tangling your firetiger in my downrigger wire. Ended with two small trout on a 3/8 oz kastmaster blue and silver with a white skirt. Trolled at  18ft 75ft back.Rapala J7 Firetiger was not working. Great day to be on the lake.
PIC GB2

Scott do you take it out of the holder to bring it up or just crank it from where it is?

Thanks, Scott.  I was looking at the Scotty Depthking  but the mounting bracket footprint is to big for my Outback, so I think this is the answer.  What is your “boom” length, and would you make it longer or shorter? 

I like it. Nice job Scott.

I leave the rod in the holder when deploying and retrieving. I used 4 zip ties to hold the rod to the rod holder. The boom length is 16 inches from the tip to the center of the mount or 19 inches to the center of the reel seat. The standard boom arm is 12 inches. Because the mount is several inches in from the edge of the hull, I made it a little longer.

scott

How much effort does it take to bring in the downrigger weight?
I know the larger diameter of the Laker Downrigger makes it a little easier.

How much effort does it take to bring in the downrigger weight?
I know the larger diameter of the Laker Downrigger makes it a little easier.

Mike -

It was really easy. Much easier than the scotty. The Okuma is a 5/1 retrieve but has a narrow spool and 2 settings on the crank arm which I extended for more torque. BTW, thanks for the spectra idea, really cool, no hum and less drag.  The picture shows how I secured it with zip ties.

scott

Scott Nice job on that downrigger looks like it will work just fine.

Pat R

Great idea on the downrigger.

Thanks, Scott.  If you don’t have a patent out on it,  would like to copy you.  More bothersome questions:  What is the model # on the Okuma CT?  When you drop your weight, do you put it on free spool and thumb the spool or do you keep it engaged and back off on the drag?