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Rigger release, FishHawk and weight setup- need some advice


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I made a comment last year about losing a ball when the clip on a Blacks release broke at the bend. The release was a few years old and I remove the weight after each trip so the clip was opened many times. The fatigue and the wear from weight moving back and forth caused the breakage. Point being I replace the release on the probe downrigger at the beginning of each season. I use Cannon STX riggers and they are scary violent on start and stop. Tried Amish snubber but they are large and seem to increase blowback some. Tried the Dreamweaver snubber that is two twisted clear bands with a generic blacks type release between them. Was a bit too elastic for my taste so I disassembled it and used one of the twisted bands per rigger just above the ball. This works well to calm down the cannon stx stops and starts. Another thing to be aware of is the eye hook area on the Fishawk. The piece both top and bottom is a stamped part and has a sharp edge on the punch exit side. I deburr that sharp edge very slightly because I dont want it rubbing and wearing the clips, especially on the top one which can cause a probe loss.

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17 minutes ago, lrg355 said:

I made a comment last year about losing a ball when the clip on a Blacks release broke at the bend. The release was a few years old and I remove the weight after each trip so the clip was opened many times. The fatigue and the wear from weight moving back and forth caused the breakage. Point being I replace the release on the probe downrigger at the beginning of each season. I use Cannon STX riggers and they are scary violent on start and stop. Tried Amish snubber but they are large and seem to increase blowback some. Tried the Dreamweaver snubber that is two twisted clear bands with a generic blacks type release between them. Was a bit too elastic for my taste so I disassembled it and used one of the twisted bands per rigger just above the ball. This works well to calm down the cannon stx stops and starts. Another thing to be aware of is the eye hook area on the Fishawk. The piece both top and bottom is a stamped part and has a sharp edge on the punch exit side. I deburr that sharp edge very slightly because I dont want it rubbing and wearing the clips, especially on the top one which can cause a probe loss.

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This is a good point about the Blacks breaking the snap bend. I have seen this too. At the end of the day when taking off the weight some guys (me included) attach the snap in an eye-lit on the rigger body then tighten the rigger cable up. If tightened/snugged up too much this puts added pressure at the bend point eventually causing it to break.

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16 hours ago, Rookie Fisherman said:

 

This is a good point about the Blacks breaking the snap bend. I have seen this too. At the end of the day when taking off the weight some guys (me included) attach the snap in an eye-lit on the rigger body then tighten the rigger cable up. If tightened/snugged up too much this puts added pressure at the bend point eventually causing it to break.

Well you guys just convinced me to buy new blacks releases! I have been running the same ones going on 3yrs now and do exactly what you described above. For the $10 cost of a new release I'll gladly take the piece of mind when clipping on a $300 probe.

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  • 2 weeks later...
20 minutes ago, hitasia said:

I would want a lighter sacrificial cable from the probe to the ball. 12"-18" long. (we usually run 80 lb) If something happens it's a lot cheaper to replace just the ball and save the probe.
 

I don't think you saw my and others comments on the first page here. I believe the standard Fishhawk breakaway cable is about 70 lbs.

Edited by Sk8man
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  • 2 weeks later...
what keeps the Chamberlain release from riding up the rigger line?

I use Scotty auto stop bead on riggercable to keep release pinned either 2 yellows or use the braid red one the red works better than yellows to fully load up rod without slippage


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