TyeeTanic

I assume you've run an 8 rod spread before?

It's one thing having the equipment, and another having the experience to deploy and retrieve and not end up spending half your day untangling lines.

Assuming you have done this before ... for sure 2 downriggers, probably a cheater on one of them (to target steelhead), 4 dipseys wire divers, and 2 off the boards one on each side of the boat (depending on where the 42F to 48F depth is, it'll be either leadcore for shallower depths, and copper for deeper).

If you haven't done 8 before, I'd probably cut 2 wire dipseys from the stage.

As Misdirection says, the TOP of the fish arch is the actual depth of the fish (provided it's right underneath your boat and the fish is not off to the side of the boat).  Now, your downrigger ... let's say the top of the fish arch is at 100 ft. You have to let out probably 130 ft to 140 ft of cable out to get 100 ft down.  That is because of the drag on the line and weight which pushes it back away from your boat, and swings it up in the process.  Your downrigger weight is further back from the boat than you think ... the only way to figure it out precisely is to have a depth measure like smart troll or fishhawk.  The deeper it is, the worse it gets.

As for using a spoon on your rigger, I would not use a paddle with a spoon ... it changes the action of the spoon a lot and takes away from what it was designed to do.  I suggest running spoons clean with a 10 ft fluoro leader (20 lb).

19 hours ago, Sk8man said:

The reason for 6-8 ft is primarily because of the rod length as you want it short of that for netting the fish so you don't have to hand line it in. I have used them as short as 2 ft. successfully and 12 ft. which I hand lined in.  The leader length isn't what usually is the problem. The reason I use the tiny rubber bands that girls use for their hair is that when half-hitched tightly they stay on the mainline and don't drop off in the water and they will reel right up into the reel without problem if I don't get them off on the way in.

Oh, I also found that too long of a lead (I tried using 20 ft once) tended to tangle a lot more, especially if I wasn't careful retrieving the downrigger weight (brought it up too fast) ... I found the 6 ft was more forgiving, and even if it did tangle ... it wasn't a big issue to untangle,

Depends on how well you put the wire on .... it should be tight as heck, otherwise you will have problems with misalignment of your wire guide and where it sits on the reel afterwards.

Some guys put on the backing line and wire .... then go out with a big board on the line (no lure/hooks), let it all out, then reel it back in. Gets rid of line twist and also gets that wire back on tight.

When I filled up a size 30 reel (or Oukuma 600) ... we had some braid backing, kind of enough to cover the entire base of the spool (maybe 1/8" deep), and after that, wire went on and filled it perfectly to the top.

19 hours ago, Mrm31790 said:

How do you keep it feom

tangling? I tried it once and ended with a nice rats nest...

SHORT leader ... it should only be 6 ft long ... and when you drop it out, literally throw the lure out so it gets behind the main line.

No issue at all.

You're cheater line shouldn't be long ... 6 to 8 ft is more than enough.

Put braid on as the backing, you'll get WAY more on the reel than mono.  Having 300 yards of backing is nothing ... a big king will take that all out, no problem ... you ideally want at least 600 to 700 yards of backing.

I heard they announced they will no longer be publishing those transects. It sucks, as that was good information to at least help devise a strategy.

I wish I had the money to buy the right stuff at the beginning, instead of the wrong stuff 3 x over, before I spend the money anyhow and buy the right stuff.

Sorry for your loss. No one can take away your good memories.

Whoa, 40+ day ... nice!

12 hours ago, MikeyP said:

No tetanus shot? Lol. Happened to me too but in the finger. Went to ER and was given a digital block which essentially was a novocaine shot at the base of my finger. Numbed the entire finger in less than a minute. I remember the Doc asking me "do you feel this?"  I said "feel what" about 10-15 seconds later he said "okay it's out" Felt that tetanus shot in the butt though!

Haha, they did deliver a tetanus shot too!

51 minutes ago, Yankee Troller said:

 

The other thread was about the lack of BT. I think that's more of a stocking goof up. The fishery seems healthy. Looks like there is more Smelt than we've had in recent years, and the 2020 class of Alewife are very strong.

OK good to know ... I was getting the (wrong) impression that there was something generally wrong with the overall fishery.  Then river fishing hasn't been a blast ... so I was starting to freak that there is a problem, but in the end it just seems that the fish ran early due to the warmer weather and are all back in the lake ... which is perfectly okay for me.

Nice kings! So is there or isn't there a problem with the fishery? (Just noting the concern on the other thread you guys are posting on).

I got a hook deep in the palm of my hand once. We tried to push it through ... no go.

Went to hospital, they did the string method ... no go.  They tried to push it through ... no go.

Somehow it was stuck in both directions ... so the only option was to make a small incision to get

it out. It wasn't bad, they didn't even stitch the incision ... just a band aid. 

That's definitely not a brown, so my vote is an atlantic. Looks more like a rainbow than a brown, so that is the give away in my mind.

Cool video! I guess that is "resting your case!" Check-mate.

14 hours ago, Wise77 said:

So I'm guessing a couple hundred feet of braid would be the best backing then.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Lake Ontario United mobile app
 

I put some electrical tape. Basically tie the braid around the spool once, make a knot, then apply one turn of electrical tape.  You don't need many revolutions after that for the braid to bite down on itself and prevent spinning.

I used mono once to back ... led to creep ... basically the mono stretches with enough wire out, then the wire position and guide end up not aligned, and you saw a hole through the line guide, plus puts a lot of stress on everything, sometimes it just stops coming out, if it gets bad enough.

For this reason, I would suggest using braid backing ... it doesn't stretch, this way the way (position) it went on the reel, always stays aligned with the line guide.

I don't recall having to put that much on though ... maybe 200' of braid ... I normally just made sure there was a good bed of braid on the spool, to cover the base completely.  With that much on a size 30 reel, the spool was definitely full with 1000' on ... in some cases, too full (but that I might blame on not putting the wire on tight enough ... which is another problem you need to deal with ... keep that wire tight when spooling!),

16 hours ago, Sk8man said:

Each material has its best uses and strengths and weaknesses.

Mono has varying degrees of stretch depending on the brand, pound test etc. and usually is larger diameter than fluoro of the same pound test. Fluoro has a harder outer surface and in many cases is more abrasion resistant; but it is also more brittle in the cold weather and at the terminal knot. Fluoro is reputed to have a less visible signature in the water than mono as well as the lesser diameter making it a good choice for shallow water situations especially, and often with long leads in that situation you may not wish to have much more stretch in your line. On the other hand, when lines are run deep mono may be preferred as there is usually more tension in the line and when the leader is paired with braid, wire, or copper which have little to no stretch it acts to buffer strong abrupt hits from fish and perhaps even occasional contact with underwater objects or touching bottom (instead of an instant "snap-off). I use both materials selectively but many folks use just one or the other. I tie my own trolling flies with 50 lb Big Game mono after experiencing a couple snap-offs from vicious hits on flies I bought that were tied with fluoro. My feeling is that the mono offers just a little needed stretch on the fly termination when there is none from the wire or braid. You will find hard core adherents to both materials but my take on it is that they are both good but it depends on specific use.

Nothing more to be said. I think overall fluoro is the better choice, and I try and keep it simple and stick with that.

Don't get Magda ... they are crap ... too much plastic. You will regret it, throw them away, and buy something a little better that will last, and in the end it will just cost you MORE money ... you won't save anything with magda reels.

I'd much sooner spend a few more $ and get Okuma Convector Reels.

On 12/30/2020 at 9:51 AM, Firechief48 said:

I run 10' Eagle Claws. For the money I don't think you can beat them.

 

Wooden poles? Or have they changed that?

I snapped 2 Eagle Claws after 1 year of use, one on a laker, another on a big king. Snapped right above

the first eyelet. I swore I'd never buy Eagle Claws again after that.

Wire cuts through fleas that show up in drobes in July.  Braid will become a mess if you go through the fleas.

That's really the main reason people choose wire over braid.

Some also say wire has a better sink rate because of its density, which I do buy the argument on.

x4 on the mix ... but if someone had a gun to your head (it would literally have to be that drastic), then spin doctors.

Twillie tips are great, but don't you guys saw through your other eyelets below the tip as well, if you are using the regular rods, especially the one closest to the reel, where side to side action will put wire pressure on sides of eyelets?