Trolling

[Mike Council]

I'm trying to get my boat ready for spring (start early - I always say) on Table Rock and want to add a downrigger. Since trolling is something I've never tried with a downrigger I will appreciate any wisdom/opinions you might want to share. The boat is a tri-toon with a 36 volt trolling motor, so I can troll at just about any speed. I'm thinking about using a removable bracket near the rear of the boat to hold the downrigger. Thanks for your input on models, arm length, weight, bait, etc.

[Quillback]

I used to troll with downriggers quite a bit in the Pacific NW. I had Scotty electrics with 4'adjustable booms. I had them for 12 years and never had a problem, besides replacing the cable due to saltwater corrosion. However Scotty electrics run about $400 apiece. Electrics were good for salmon fishing becuase when you hooked a fish you needed to get the downriggers balls out of the water because if they wrapped the mono on the cable it was goodbye fish. We also trolled at depths typically 100' to 150' so manually cranking up one or two downriggers when a fish was on added some unneeded excitement and stress.

However I would imagine fishing the lakes around here you won't be fishing very deep so you could get by with manual riggers. I have had Cannon manuals before I got my Scotty's and they worked fine. Scotty also makes manual riggers, I'm sure they work fine also.

I would think you could use 6-8 LB balls to troll with, the faster you troll, the heavier weight you need to keep your lure at the exact depth you are targeting.

[SKMO]

Mike - I think your downrigger idea is awesome. I have only talked with one person who did it and he was a transplant from Colorado and had a boat already set up. If I remember right he trolled in-line spinners and thin blade flutter spoons in the lower James and around K-city.

He said did really well with it catching all species: whites, blacks, crappie etc. I would think in the summer dragging that thing around the thermocline could be pretty productive as long as you could stay out of the trees.

I know of a few people who troll a deep diving crankbait on 3-way swivel down to 25-30' or so (Hellbender) with a spinner trailer and I guess this comes kind of close to what you are shooting for.

Hard to imagine there is not someone else doing the downrigger thing on the lower lake.

Let us know how the endeavor turns out, I am really curious. Also hope any bass caught are released for the next guy, you should be able to dredge up pleanty of meal fare of other species.

[greenwoodmo]

I'm somewhat of a novice myself at trolling but I've been doing for a year now. What everyone else said is good advice. I have two on my 16 ft. aluminum. Hand cranks with no boom. I put one on each side and they work great. I attached them to some plywood and clamp them to the boat so I can remove them when I need to. Cabela's sells an inexpensive one (can't remember the brand name but I know its not Cannon)for about $50 and it comes with a 4lb. ball and clip. Its a good way to try it without putting too much money in it.

The only advice I can give you is to use a long, flexible rod, like an ugly stick. When a fish hits and the line comes free, a soft rod will pick up the slack better than a graphite rod.

[Trolling For Walleye]

Update on your trolling experiences?

That's pretty much the only style of fishing i've really done and i've always had moderate success with hellbenders and storm rattle tots or hot 'n tots

i am new to downrigging though and am pretty excited about that.