TyeeTanic

If there's a way to do it without that mono piece, I'd do it. That's one less knot I'd have to worry about.

Definitely lose the mono backing and go to 30# braid, really, it's a no brainer. You will save reel capacity (even compared to only 17# mono) and have a stronger backing. My favorite leadcore setups are 5 and 7 color. After that I prefer to switch to copper. If I want more depth on my leadcores, I can attach a torpedo weight (ex. cuda) with an OR16 clip onto the backing and let out 50 ft or so. I attach my board release directly to the braid. What board are you using? If you use something like a TX44, you can stop the braid from slipping through the release by wrapping it around the release once before you clamp down.

Pumpkin or Fiery Bloom or Lava Storm

If you troll with your main motor, that's okay provided (1) you're okay with putting LOTS of hours on your main motor (remember it takes 30 minutes to get to your fishing spot, and 5 hours of trolling). (2) can you get down to 2 mph on your main motor. You want to troll at 2 - 3 mph, average 2.5 mph for salmon. Most guys can't get that low using the main motor, without the use of something to produce drag like a bucket over the side on a rope or a trolling bag(s). Now, if you don't want to put a rigger on right away, I'd invest in 2 kinds of rods. Firstly, and foremost, wireline rods, and put dipsey divers/SD/flies on them or MC rockets. You need the right equipment for this (prefer a roller rod, size 30 reel, with 1000 ft of 7 strand or 19 strand stainless wire). Second would be some leadcore rods (chrome eyes, size 30 reel with backing and 5 and 7 colors of leadcore). If you can do it now, get at least 1 copper rod with 250 ft or 300 ft of 27 lb copper line (you'll need a bigger reel for this). If you don't want to get into leadcore or copper right now then get some mono rods, that you can later change to rigger rods. Get some torpedo weights like the cuda, to attach to the mono line to give you some depth. For ALL the rods I mentioned in the second set, you will need inline planer boards, get 2 TX44 boards (one operating starboard and another port side). For all the second set of rods you will need 20lb fluoro leader - recommend attaching 15 ft to the end of those lines before you put your bait on.

Well for starters, the obvious thing is power, and that will be one of two of the biggest jobs in installing an electric rigger. Firstly you should get a plug and receptacle kit for the electric downrigger. This way you can unplug it and even take it off the boat when it's not in use. You will have to run the right gauge wire to handle the amps and distance - can't remember what amps, but I think 30A is what I based my cable on, with a 20A inline fuse. The cable can go directly onto your battery auxillary posts, and the fuse should be on the live wire (red), as close to the battery as possible (say 1 foot from post). Run wire to wear you want to put the receptacle and secure. Make sure receptacle is in a place where the rigger cable can reach the receptacle without it being tight (pulling). Do you have a place to mount the rigger? Are you considering a pivoting/rotating seat? I would. If ou want to adjust the angle of the rigger, it's best to have a rotating seat. These are made specific to the brand of rigger you have (what do you have?). You can also mount the rigger on a track with a rigger mount pedastol. You should think about what is going to be the easiest and give you the strength to handle as large a weight as possible (I don't like anything less than a 12 lb weight, hopefully your rigger can handle that). Ensure it's mounted in a strong place, reinforce if necessary. A few guys have seen their riggers sink down to the bottom of the lake, with half their gunwale attached. Major repairs to do after that. Also mount it in a way that it doesn't obstruct anything like other rod holders, your engine, your canvas (should be able to close the canvas up if you have one, even if you take it off, make sure the swivel base which says on does not obstruct it). That's probably enough for you to digest for now ... we can talk about rigger snubbers, connectors/clips, cable, etc another time.

I admit 30% is based on what others have told me. I'd love for it to be at 50%. But the sonar tells you how far it is away from the transducer, not how deep it is. The blowback on the main line is significantly impacted with the drag of the slider. Maybe if you can post a screens hot of the sonar it would make it easier to see how you get to 50%.

Sliders are preferred on my boat over stacked rods to get more lines in the water. Slider leader is 6 ft of 20 lb fluoro. Larger swivel on end that connects to main line and small swivel on end that attaches to spoon. Use a smaller spoon on the slider line than you have on the main line. Only use spoons on the slider and main line to avoid tangles. For a free slider drop your main line to the desired depth and then connect the slider line swivel to the main line and throw the spoon to the side of the main line to avoid tangles. It will fall to around 30% of the depth of the main line. Fixed line you drop Mian line around 10 or 15 ft and then attach the fixed slider with an elastic or OR16 clip. Then lower everything to the desired depth.

LOL, that would be a long walk! You can simply let out 10' according to the reel counter, and then measure it. I'm willing to bet it's off by around 10%.

The counter will be off, probably by around 10%. When you start putting line on, I think each 1 ft on the counter is actually only 0.3 ft of line (basically it is over-estimating by 3x). Closer to the top, it's less of an issue, but I'd probably add 10% just in case. To be honest nowadays I don't really worry about where exactly my wire divers are. I put 4 wirelines out at different depths (depending on where fish are - high, middle, deep). So say they're deep in 80 ft of water, I'll go 160, 180, 220, 250 of line out. I'll start getting hits on one of them and then adjust my other lines accordingly.

For meat heads, definitely nothing under 48" leader length. I'd tie some up at 48", and then up to 72" (not sure how long your rod is, but if you can get away with 72" I'd do it.

No. Generally it's a shorter leader for flies and longer for meat heads. Reason is flies do not impose any action on their own, so you rely on the SD to create the action. Whereas, meat heads spin (about 1 to 2 turns per second is optimal). Some guys use as short as 48" to meatheads and others 72". For a fly, a good rule is 3x the lenght of the flasher, so an 11" paddle would get a 33" leader, and a 8" paddle around a 24" leader. I typically run mine around 32".

Just a variety of names you can consider applying to any of the fly patterns: Middle finger (a funny twist in respects to the finger lakes) Grass hopper Bandit Duke's Dinner Mesmorizer Trigger or Trigger Happy Spanish Fly Full Moon Fusion Black Hole JAF (just another fly) Crackhead Stinky Toes

They all look good, and will probably all catch fish. The first 2 and the 3rd and 2nd last will probably catch the most fish though.

I don't use snubbers. I don't think they are necessary, and just add unecessary complexity.

I assume you're not putting the wire on the down rigger, you're just clarifying that you'll have 2 downrigger rods out at the same time, with mono line on them, right? After you've deployed the dipsey to the desired depth, the drag should be set that it creeps out a little, like a click every 30 seconds or so. There's many reasons for that, but mostly for the initial hit (no stretch in wire) to provide some shock absorption, so the hook doesn't rip through the fishes mouth. Wire goes to quick snap ball bearing swivel (I use spro). Here is a good knot that I use. http://www.lotsa1.org/Wire%20Line%20Knot.htm Only thing extra is run a trout bead through the wire before you tie that knot. When you reel up to the swivel, it will protect your swivel end from being damaged. Generally, I let the fish run and tire itself out. You may have to tighten the drag a little, but not much. Then you pump up and reel on the down. Be careful on the downswing to reel before you drop the rod, otherwise that creates slack in the line and the fish could come off. For storage, you need to keep the line tight to avoid pig tail kinks. You will get them though, no matter how good you are, and need to trim a foot here and there to keep the line clean. I just break my rod in two and put the tip on the butt end of the second piece, and keep the wire semi-tight. I've had wire for 5 years, you don't need to replace until it gets too short. Generally when I see my reel capacity has dropped below around 70% (1000 ft should fill a size 30 reel to the brim), then I replace it completely. In fact I have to do that now with probably 2 of my rods. Maintanence - see above, keep line tight and cut off curly ends when they appear. Check for kinks especially in the first say 6 to 10 ft (full rod length), they're easy to spot, just slide your pinched fingers up and down. Don't be afraid to cut wire off if you find a kink. I generally don't like to turn more than what gets my wires to around the center of my stern on the outside lines.