Downrigger for Prowler 15

I got the Laker downrigger by Scotty for $55 and no tax at the ISE show in Sacto. I didn't like the wire because it would unspool itself if there was any slack at all. I replaced it with 65# Spectra and put 250 feet of it on. It took up less room than the 100 feet of wire. I also got a 2.5 lb ( 40 0z. ) weight at Fishermans Warehouse for $10.
I mounted it at the end of the footwell. It is in surprisingly easy reach. Easy one hand operation too.
If you mount it this way make sure you have the inner key on the mount pointing the way you want it.
My downrigger sets into the mount with the arm of the downrigger towards me when I am seated. I don't have to reach as far when I put it in this way. All up to personal preference.
Like Eric said in his downrigger post; the line runs almost directly under the yak so I really didn't notice any pull to one side or the other. PolePole also made a good point about using the Spectra that it is easy to cut if you get into trouble. I like that.
I have a flush mount rod holder in the middle of the kayak. The pole lines up with the downrigger just right and is not in my way at all.



Here is another view.



Looking forward to using it in much better conditions than it's brutal Tahoe maiden voyage.
http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/bb/index.php?topic=7030.0

Very cool.  I look forward to seeing how well it works.

Looks great Tote!  How do you track your depth with those Lakers...is there a counter?

Excellent Ideal Tote.Scotty sent me one a couple of years ago to test. Which I immediately sit up on the console of my yak and headed for local waters. My personal thoughts was that it was a great way to get a fly down deep.  Once on the water's I wanted to fish I drop my set up in the water and let it sink to the desired depth. I snaged on what were probably a couple of boulders. Easy thing to do at Millerton Lake at any depth.I was in a bit of current which was pushing me sideways due to the position of the downrigger. When I tried to let out some wire on the spool it jamed. After almost capsizing  a few different times I tried to cut the wire or cable. Now I had a pair of dikes for just such an occasion. which I'd tested at home on a piece of the same cable. They worked at home but they weren't working now. By this time I was straddling my yak and the situation was getting bad. I grabed  the spool gave it twist and threw it in the water. When I got home I called scotty's and shared the results of my testing. They in turn told me I should have switch the cable with heavy duty mono because it was easier to cut and that a taunt cable can be almost impossible to cut. They then told they would send me another downrigger. They also told me if I threw this one in the water I could pay for the next one.

Looks great Tote!  How do you track your depth with those Lakers...is there a counter?

Looks good Tote... 

Sean, it's very simple... they are one foot of depth per turn... and it seems to jive pretty well with what the fishfinder says too. 

Looks great Tote!  How do you track your depth with those Lakers...is there a counter?

Eric is right. One crank per foot. It is a little disheartening counting each turn. Especially when you are saying 71..72..73..74.....I don't want to be reminded how many times I am turning that thing. It makes me appreciate my 5:1 reel ratio that much more. I am going to experiment with one of those clip-on line counters and see if it is feasible or not. I will get back to everyone with the results. If it doesn't work the way I hope then I will have to fall in love with counting. 

I have pretty much the same down rigger rig set up on my kayak as well.  One crank per foot, or you can just follow it down on the fish finder.  I suppose if you have a lot of line out, your weight might move outside the sonar cone, but I haven't had that experience between 0-80 ft at slow trolling speed.  I plan to take salmon fishing pretty seriously this year and I can see the $60 downrigger paying for itself given all the salmon lead I won't loose.

Brian

If I can pick up a 1/2 oz drop shot weight at 40', I doubt that I'll have problems picking up a 2.5-4 lb ball at 80 feet with the fish finder. I had a short discussion about the downrigger idea with Alan Tani and Mooch last Thursday night after the reel workshop. Neither of them seemed too hip to the idea. The big problem is that if you are out after Salmon, then there's a good likelihood you'll not have the time to get the downrigger up, while you are playing the fish. So you'd have to keep the fish away from the wire.  Maybe another good reason to go with spectra or mono over cable...

At any rate, I too will be experimenting with a downrigger this year. I already have one, just need to get it outfitted.

Regards,
Scott

Hmm, I hadn't thought about the downrigger line being an issue when playing a salmon.  Seems like it's not an issue in power boats and they often run 3 downriggers at once.  But then again, they continue to troll during the whole catching phase.  I'm still going to give a try... I just really hate dealing with and then loosing salmon weights.

I hear you Brian. I also really hate having a 2.5 lb ball dangling on the end of an 8'6" rod way the dickens outboard of centerline. With the downrigger, I'll be able to outfit with the RAM tube as well, in my mind yet another advantage.

But of course, only time will tell.

Scott

Scott, hopefully one of us can catch the first NCKA kayak downrigger salmon and prove this method successful.  Once we get that figured out we'll need to find a way to safely take out our toddler sons on the kayaks.

Brian

I'm hoping that some good information will come out from other members of the board.

I do know that NRS makes a nice PFD for toddlers. Here's a link to their kids floatation page:

http://www.nrsweb.com/product_support/kidspfdguide.asp?tn=142

I figure that if the stars are aligned properly, there's a possibility of James getting to ride around in my lap on our lake this summer. But that's about it for a couple more years.

Scott

Here is a picture of my 4 year old at the father's day tournament, he did OK that day.  He has gotten much better over time and now asks to go. On realy calm days my one year old goes out inside the reef and loves it, he usually falls a sleep.  A comfortable pfd that they are used to seems like the key
Ed

bsteves and thornley, y'all are loonies...

 


we had this debate last year, the pb's have electric downriggers or crewmembers to reel up those balls, I don't
think they leave them hanging when they have a fish on.

Also you need to be moving when paying out the ball for most salmon setups or they foul.

my own conclusion was that a downrigger makes some sense for trout, but not for salmon.

for trout, you can use a 1lb ball on mono and you don't need it to be super deep. for kokanee or land locked
kings, you might need a real downrigger since you can be 200 feet down.

for ocean salmon fishing, you have some alternatives to losing the lead.
if you really don't want to lose the lead, you can rig a keeper, a length of mono that is between the
release and the ball. the ball releases, the rod moves, then the lead hits the end of the fall and hopefully
you don't unhook your salmon.  some party boats did this last year with all the silvers out there.

or switch to a deep six when you run out of lead.

or just use the deep six or pink lady from the start.

that kind of summarizes the debate last year for you johnny come latelies.

and for the toddlers, they have invented a device for handling those. called a wife,  .
some wives have their own inventions. called nannies! some nannies have their own inventions too,
called nieces...

Best,
J

J,

I remember the debate... I'm just willing to try it while you and blue paddle around with 50 lbs of lead in your hatch (no wonder you think you need extra flotation).

I figured out how to play out the fishing line and downrigger line at the same time by loosening the drag on the reel.  It seemed to work well in trials on the Lake Sonoma this fall and I'm hoping I can do the same on the ocean during calmer days.  Lower the lure into the water attached to the downrigger line.  Paddle to get up speed, let out 20 ft of downrigger line and the line from the fishing rod follows suit, paddle some more and repeat.  Once you get to the desired depth, re-adjust your drag and set the tension on your rod.

As for concerns about the downrigger line while playing the fish, this is more of a concern for me but I suppose I have two choices:
1.) reel up the downrigger as fast as I can and pray that I don't loose the salmon in the process.
2.) hope that I can use the fact that my rod is long enough to play a fish completely around my kayak and thus counter and salmon around the line issues.

The toddler bit isn't really a fishing issue yet, I just want to figure out how to take my son on the kayak.  My wife has a kayak too, but we haven't had a chance to paddle together in a long time.

Brian