Jump to content

Recommended Posts

When you are bringing the downrigger back up - do not pop your main line off the downrigger release. Unclip the cheater when it reaches the surface. (This is for when you are retrieving and do not have a fish on the cheater or main line)

Edited by 58Johnson
  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

When you are bringing the downrigger back up - do not pop your main line off the downrigger release. Unclip the cheater when it reaches the surface. (This is for when you are retrieving and do not have a fish on the cheater or main line)

Unless the cheater spoon is fixed it will continue to slide down your main line until it reaches the main line release. I pop my main out of the release and let it float up without reeling. Generally misses the free slide cheater. I have also had hits as main is rising in the water column


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Generally the heavier the spoon the more it may slide downward but usually it reaches a bow in the line somewhere before actually reaching the end. If your cheater length is kept to about 6-8 ft as stated it should just go to the main line swivel and trail behind the main lure after popping the rigger if you are using decent swivel snaps and your trolling speed is not super excessive where there are strong currents. Sometimes folks underestimate the directionality of currents and think it is just one continuous direction while it can be multi-directional (e.g. side currents) from the side as well and this is the case with Lake O big time.

Edited by Sk8man
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Mrm31790 said:

Do you guys run them with. Rubber bands or clips? I’ve always just done a slider but would like to try fixing it.

for fixed cheaters I use the clips that a member here makes and they work well. I forgot his name off the top of my head but if you search in the classifieds you should be able to find the clips. I only use cheaters/sliders when I'm running spoons on my riggers, if you use them on FF or meat setups (anything with a flasher) you're gonna have a mess to deal with after bringing them in.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think "troubles on here (Greg Dale) makes some good ones. I have made my own for many years that I use with rubber bands.

fixedcheater.jpg

stacker1.jpg

Edited by Sk8man
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Edited by Sk8man
Link to comment
Share on other sites

When running sliders or fixed cheaters I put a bead on my main line, above the swivel, 6 foot leader to my snap. This prevents the slider/cheater from sliding all the way to the swivel on my main line and puts both spoons about the same distance back. The swivel on the slider does not screw up the swivel on the main line and if you double on that rod, which happens, you can net both fish at the same time.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, Sk8man said:

I think "troubles on here (Greg Dale) makes some good ones. I have made my own for many years that I use with rubber bands.

fixedcheater.jpg

stacker1.jpg

Those are really cool! I’ll give it a try. Thanks for the explanation/picture. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My fixed cheater is similar to Les’s except I use an Offshore OR-16 red clip to place on downrigger cable and my sliding swivel has poly tubing over clasp to protect the main line. I do raise the rigger and take the cheater off instead of popping the line off the release

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Mrm31790 said:

Those are really cool! I’ll give it a try. Thanks for the explanation/picture. 

The clip is a trot line clip from Jann's Netcraft, then a small piece of shrink tube and a large Duolock snap:smile:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/10/2021 at 2:18 PM, TyeeTanic said:

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.

Just make sure you hook to main line before throwing 😄😄. Yes I have done it twice 🤦🏻🤦🏻

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For our fixed sliders, we just half hitch a rubber band around the down rigger cable, hook the slider snap around the line to the rod and through the rubber band, close the snap. When the fish hits, it breaks the rubber band, releases the rod and you are on. Once had a wicked hit on the rigger then nothing. Brought the rigger up and found I had snapped the cheater leader directly to the down rigger cable. Not much give there, spoon gone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...