ThreeDogsDown

Ah. Thanks.


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Welcome to the Forum. A sweeping first post! Where are you located?


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Nice! Never really thought of that. Thanks!


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Wherearethey, after hooking the herring strip with the single hook, do you leave the treble hook hanging free?


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Do they stay on the line if you are pulling 10 color? Or when you have a bigger fish on?


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Looks great Sea Eagle. I like your rod/reel organization too.

I took off my Magnum Metalz downriggers, lubed them up, cut off some cable and added new Klincher ends.

I am ready to troll this coming spring (or if we get some calm days out in Frankfort), but I put the sport top up and I am now configured for perch jigging. I can quickly change back to trolling if we get an Indian summer.


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Bought these from bikinibottom early this season, put them in the water one time, my downriggers did not like pulling them up.(rookie mistake). Looking for 8 or 10# sharks will sell for 150tyd on the pair. They got thrashed on the boat from rolling around in my compartment.
 
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Good point. Mine are all labelled. I snagged a Walleye board with a wire line on it with a huge flatfish on it yesterday. It was not labelled. So I added a flag and reflective tape and put it in my bow netting for another spare.


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I see a few people talking about running dipseys on a board. Doesn’t make sense. Like stated above dipseys, especially on 3, get out away from the boat.
Also, not sure you need to spend $50+ for the bigger inline boards. I use standard Offshore boards with up to 300 copper and full core with no problem.
My friend even uses Church walleye boards for up to 300 copper and full core. I was surprised but they track pretty good. He just moves the weights to the back.
My 2 cents.

“If you are purchasing new downriggers why would you continue using dipsies and not invest in downrigger weights?”

Downriggers are only 2 presentations (or 4 if you stack them) in a 9 or 12 rod spread. Somedays, dipsies outperform downriggers, at which point, I will stow one downrigger and replace it with another dipsy. I always have one DR down with my Fishhawk Probe.

“Using downrigger weights such as the 4 Fins design will allow you the ability to know precisely what depth your presentation is with little or no blow back depending on your trolling speed”.

My probe tells me how much blowback I am incurring at all speeds...and I can tell you it is 20’ or more blowback at 2.5 mph. This is a hassle both in presentation accuracy and tangles. This feature is attractive to me.

“This design of DR weights also track extremely well and will not travel under your boat during turns when trolling.”

This feature is also attractive to me. I have 39 days trolling on Lake Michigan this season and this season is winding down. I have lost one ball this season. I replaced it with another Cabelas Directional 12lb downrigger weight. It does pull the ball outside (slightly) the gunnel and opens up the chute for turns and fighting/netting fish. So they do track well, but I am always ready to try something else.

My plan is to purchase ALL MY SEASON UPGRADES (DR weights included) in one big month. Most probably in March 2020 (which is what I did this year) at the Ultimate Sport Show in Grand Rapids. I make a list of everything new or different I would like to try. If it isn’t at the show, I will order online in the hotel that night. Shark style weights are on my list.



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Great report! That last pic where the kids are helping hold the fish is hilarious. The girls look like they were slightly pressured to hold on to it. Made me laugh.


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3 short trips fri eve, sat morn, sat eve... couple kings 19# & 27#, a coho, a steelhead, several lakers, white protroll with blue fly and green glow beads took majority of fish 60’ down on rigger, other king came on 10” white/glo spindoctor w/ white/glo musselhead meatrig low diver 140’ back, king bites were 152’ 10:30 am and 117’ 9pm, east troll at 2-2.3 sog worked for them, didn’t mark much in terms of bait or fish but certainly learn something every time. This trip’s lesson- Remember to double check to make sure divers are not on same setting. Thanks to all who share info on this forum.
 
 
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Are any of you guys adding a scent attractor to your baits?  (Not talking about herring, but rather an oil, gel or paste scent attractor.)  Or religiously cleaning them to remove unnatural scents?  Just wonder if people are doing this and noticing a difference.

I use the “Klincher Downrigger Termination Kit”. I use 15lb balls and a Fish Hawk as well. I will be moving up to 20lb balls and I have no confidence issues with the Klincher.

Seems to be very solid. Take your time getting it attached and you will know when you did it correctly.


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Will do Sir. My 12#’s seem to have quite a blow at 2.7-3.0 MPH. I am looking for 15#’s with a coated slim profile.


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Trophy Taker! Great report! Seems like you Southern Port guys are having a great early season. Hopefully my reports out of Frankfort (tomorrow) will be as successful and as detailed. I monitor channel 68 as well.


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Good call. Have caught myself looking at that net in the rear view mirror once already.


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You are bangin em down there! Send some up to Frankfort please.


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Thanks man. Those Big Jon ratchet holders are my “go to” holders for Dipsies. Yes, they go parallel to the water.

I set out 9 lines on Saturday and only got slightly tangled once. Rod trees made all the difference.


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Thanks much! For as much as I have searched, I can’t find any negative comments on them.


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Thanks. I will look into the Chamberlain releases.

Yes, the Scotty stacker clips are what I was referring too. They are convenient, but the leave a kink in the cable. I haven’t seen anyone complain about the little kink, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be a problem in the future.


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Anyone concerned about the kink the metal clip puts on your downrigger cable?

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Thanks Mike. Hopefully it will last my lifetime.


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You will be very happy in the long run by doing it right the first time. I think you did a  first class installation.

Well, here is what I finally ended up with after a couple iterations of trial and error...

Magnum Metalz 2500 series Downriggers.

Big Jon Tracks and Dipsy Rod holders

Fish On Triple Rod Tree with Net Holder.

After much installation and testing on the water and bumpy dirt roads, this was the “heaviest dutiest” setup I could come up with (both solid to the gunnel, and solid in its own design). I was balancing price versus quality.




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