stefan Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 hey all, am rather bored from studying for uni exams and need something to keep me having a break once in a while so i thought i would post this question. in cases when you do not see anything on the sounder (mine is pretty crappy), What depths do people usually downrig for kings? Is there a set depth or is it more of a trial and error from 5m to 20m thing? My thinking is that i would start on the halfway mark in the water and then once i suss out a nice path i will start varying it 2m +- until i get a strike. This method goes a bit wonky tho when im going over dropoffs and such ranging from 8m to 25m deep such as in MH Also, has anyone tried downrigging the length of north head (on the harbour side facing south i.e. the usual trolling path)? Just trying to suss out when its a good time to downrig and when its a good time just to set up base and wait for them to come to you. This is aside from the obvious scenarios of not downrigging when its crowded/when the fish are obviously biting. Stefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Rob Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 Hi Stefan If blind down rigging i would set the depth at approximately one third the depth of the water. If there is alot of surface action i would bring it closer to the surface. I find it better to be above the fish than at the same level. The stretch of water you mention is a prime place to target but be ready to get on to the rod asap as the fish there go straight for the bottom. I have been blown away a few times there. If the conditions are good the gap is another good spot. It’s great fun to share the experience with the onlookers above as well. Good luck with that study Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piss'n'Broke Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 (edited) Great question, its trial and error on that stretch of water. We(Greg/myself) dont have a downrigger but have done it many times on friends boats. As pointed out if your gonna downrig around this area run a very tight drag, and heavy leader. To date our worst score has been kings 7, us ZIP,,,, running 160LB leader. Trial and error. Dan Edited October 29, 2010 by Dan and Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aussie007 Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 depends what size boat u have as to how deep you can downrigg i have a 12ft tinny if the water is 50ft kings are at 40-50ft i will downrigg at no deeper than 30-35ft just for safety reasons if my weight snags i will capsize before the cable snaps but my kingy spot shows kingys in 50ft of water from 10-50ft packed with loads of them hook up nearly every pass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmaniac Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 I would downrigg anywhere between 2m to 10m from the bottom. For example, I usually have mine about 4-5 metres from the bottom in water up to 20m and up to 8-10m from the bottom in water around 30m+. I have mates that drag their bombs right near the bottom but at the end of the day we both get a similar number of hits. I adjust the bomb depth to the depth of the school once located. I wouldn't waste my time adjusting it up and down 2m. If a hungry king wants your bait it is not going to care if its 2m up or down. I fish also in a 12ft tinny and would not worry about capsize etc if the bomb gets snagged AS LONG AS you have the drag of your downrigger set properly. Most downriggers are designed to pay out line before snapping any cable. You should be able to adjust this tension to suit your safety requirements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aussie007 Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 I would downrigg anywhere between 2m to 10m from the bottom. For example, I usually have mine about 4-5 metres from the bottom in water up to 20m and up to 8-10m from the bottom in water around 30m+. I have mates that drag their bombs right near the bottom but at the end of the day we both get a similar number of hits. I adjust the bomb depth to the depth of the school once located. I wouldn't waste my time adjusting it up and down 2m. If a hungry king wants your bait it is not going to care if its 2m up or down. I fish also in a 12ft tinny and would not worry about capsize etc if the bomb gets snagged AS LONG AS you have the drag of your downrigger set properly. Most downriggers are designed to pay out line before snapping any cable. You should be able to adjust this tension to suit your safety requirements. the cannon lake troll dosent as far as i know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew399 Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 depends what size boat u have as to how deep you can downrigg i have a 12ft tinny if the water is 50ft kings are at 40-50ft i will downrigg at no deeper than 30-35ft just for safety reasons if my weight snags i will capsize before the cable snaps but my kingy spot shows kingys in 50ft of water from 10-50ft packed with loads of them hook up nearly every pass I dont think you would capsize mate, at the speeds your moving at when downrigging if you snagged you would probably just start turning in a circle... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aussie007 Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 I dont think you would capsize mate, at the speeds your moving at when downrigging if you snagged you would probably just start turning in a circle... i downrigg with the current plus motor in gear it will only take a couple of seconds to capsize also my downrigger is mounted midway on the side for ease of use Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stefan Posted October 31, 2010 Author Share Posted October 31, 2010 cheers for the replies guys very interesting. Specially the capsizing thing... I've never really thought about what could happen if I snagged the bomb, just presumed the cable wud snap. I kno ive already had some rough calls as its all scratched at the bottom of the bomb I thought trial and error wud b the go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aussie007 Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 the downrigger i use is spooled with 150-200lb (68-90kg) breaking strain stainless steel cable now if u have been in a small tinny u know by a person moving to one side of the boat makes u aware of what the person is doing imagine that person hanging 18 inches off a boom hanging off the side of the boat while driving the boat can and most probably will capsize if the weight snags Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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