ErieBuck

Whaler -- what LB test mono and leader do you use?

I’ve been using 30lb mono on my riggers... what are your thoughts? Is the stretch of mono good on rigger rods or do you think a tighter line with braid would lead to more hooked fish? I

pro-troll 11” paddles with Twinkie meat rigs on riggers and 8 inch spin doctors with flies on wire rods is our preferred program Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United mobile app

good stuff, thank you sir!

That’s a very good point, I have noticed line building in the edge of the spool at times and seeing loops. So how do you use the hook as a guide, not following how they would work. It’s an open hook and the cable flows through/around it. Are you just saying a visual guide? Thanks!

Gotcha, being a Lake Erie guy I’m not familiar with Copper but sounds like the same concept as lead core. Most people run copper off the big boards? I have them, just hate running them!

I run the riggers on a 45 degree angle off the back corners of my boat. When rigging a line, I swivel the boom so its perpendicular (ish) to the boat. Having the 15lb shark out of the water in rough seas I think caused it to bounce slightly and it snapped. Perhaps there was a weakness in the line as well, who knows. Based on all the feedback, I'm going to keep weights in the water, utilize snubbers, and put my release above the snubber which will make it easier to reach

The Boat Doctors tackle shop near the Olcott Bridge has them

Joe G -- to clarify, you run your release above the snubber and ball -- thereby keeping the ball in the water and making it easier to reach and set release to the line? Does not having release hooked directly to the ball effect the bite at all?

My god, can't imagine

Much appreciated Joe -- I will pick up a couple. The ones fish hawk sells are too long IMO at 13"

Can you explain your 2 coppers -- are those on dipseys? I've been doing a simple 4 rod set up -- wire dipsey with flasher/flies and downriggers with big paddles and twinkie rigs. Thought about adding a slider on the riggers to get a few more lines out but haven't had the guts yet. Curious how those coppers are running

A-Tom-Mik Meat rigs w/ big 11" Pro-Troll Paddles is King Candy! Herring strips. Caught almost all my Kings last week on this combo out of Olcott in 520 FOW. The bright green color was hot

For those who hook up downriggers with weights IN the water -- is your release hooked directly to your ball or is it above it to easier reach?

appreciate it, I'll check out the options. I know some say you don't want everything too strong so you don't rip the rigger off the boat in case the ball get hung up on the bottom, so it's always good to set the clutch so it will slip

My gunwales are high, it’s tough and hard to reach but I’ll keep experimenting. anyone ever beef up their downrigger line?

I think the snubbers will mainly help in rough seas— it snapped when a wave flung the shark up and the line went a little slack and then big force when it came back down. I need to bring the weight about a foot out of the water to hook my release, hence why it’s susceptible to wave action. I’ve experimented with some other methods such as using retro ease and the Scotty releases hooked on the mainline above the ball, but settled on just bringing the ball out of the water a foot or so.

My downrigger line snapped last week and I lost my fish hawk probe and 15lb shark. This was 5 minutes into my first ever trip to Lake Ontario with my boat after big investments: I upgraded my boat with Cannon Optimums TS, Fish Hawk X4D, Cisco rod holders etc for the mighty Kings and I was so excited... so that was a buzzkill to say the least. Shortly after this incident, I realized the sonar on my Raymarine Axiom w/ RV-100 transducer does not work in deep water (we were fishing in the 500s). So we were flying completely blind despite all my fancy technology! Luckily. I had an experienced mate on board who has been coming to Lake Ontario for many years so we still managed to catch quite a few Kings, Coho, and Steelhead. I know now to always use a snubber, especially with the heavier weights, and especially in rough seas. In addition to adding snubbers, I was thinking about adding stronger line to my Optimums than the 150lb test wire that comes with them. Have any of you done this successfully? Cannon says it will throw the line counter off, but I don't really care about a few feet of depth accuracy to prevent losing another $400 in gear! I was thinking about putting Malin 49 (7x7) strand on which would be 270lb test. Diameter would go from 0.033 with the Cannon line to 0.049 with the Malin. What would you all recommend? BTW, I've adjusted my transom mount transducer to hopefully work better in the 500 ft water (but I don't think it has the power) and also have replaced the old non-working thru-hull Airmar B60 transducer with a new one and will hook up to the Axiom with their $100 Y cable. Cha Ching. Cha Ching. The story of fishing on the Great Lakes! Thanks in advance, this is my first post. Appreciate you all.