Downrigging

[oapns]

Hi I've just bought a downrigger and am not sure as to what size weight and clip tension use. I'll be be using it to chase kings etc, so any info would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

[andrew399]

8-12lbs weight will do you fine in the harbour and most inshore locations.

[netic]

I have always used a 7lb inside the harbour, no need for any heavier

[BigKing]

Hi

7 lb is fine even smaller then that is also good. For clip is best to use rubber band.

How to use rubber band:

Put your bait on the leader hook keep moving slowly 1 Kt. Put your bait around 20 ft / 6m behind your boat. Make sure the bait is swimming nicely.

Take size 16 rubber band rep is around your main line. 6 -7 times (so that the main line does not slip) this will give you double loop. Take light braid around 60 – 90 cm Tie one end to the bomb and other to the rubber loop. With simple knot. This works better then any clip’s, with this setup you should troll around 1 – 1.5 kn

Size 16 rubber band breaks at 4-5lbs pressure on one loop, and 8-10lbs on double loop

Now if the depth you are fishing is say 20 m most of the king’s are found at 10 m lower your downrigger so that it is at 10 m. the bait will also go up and down.

I think this will help you.

Good luck

May be I will see you there.

Bigking

[Guest Aussie007]

all depends what brand downrigger u have some are only rated to 4lb weights so sticking a 7-8lb weight would be silly not to mention loosing the whole lot including you rod over board if the downrigger has a rod holder let us know what brand downrigger u have and we can help u

[oapns]

Thanks for the tips guys, hopefully I get to test it out this weekend. By the way it's a "black marlin" brand downrigger if that's any help.

[stevefish]

can i add another question, how for back from the bomb does everyone set their bait.

thanks in advance.

[Guest Aussie007]

can i add another question, how for back from the bomb does everyone set their bait.

thanks in advance.

i vary mine from 15-20 meters any closer to the bomb and the kingys just dont touch it

[jim77]

i vary mine from 15-20 meters any closer to the bomb and the kingys just dont touch it

15-20metres!! Do you mean feet Gazza?

That is an excessively long drop back - also if you get a decent fish you have effectively given it 15-20 metre headstart to get to the bottom. If you are fishing in 20m of water with your bait at 10m, but with a 15m drop back, all the fish had to do is swim down and it will already be at the bottom! You will also risk getting snagged on any structure everytime you make a turn if you have the bait that far back behind the boat.

I would suggest a drop back of approximately 5-7m max. The fish will still hit the bait don't worry about that! A lot of people paint and colour their bombs as they think it actually attracts fish. The bomb will not put them off - particularly if you are waving a juicy live squid or livey in their face!

Also unless you want to lose your rod over the side - DO NOT RELY ON THE BUILT IN ROD HOLDER ON THE DOWNRIGGER! If a big fish hits it hard (Not even that big an 85cm + will be enough to do it) you risk the rod holder snapping off and your rod quickly getting pulled overboard. Much safer to set up your downrigger so that you can use the gunnel mounted rod holders in your boat. Even then these are not foolproof - i have had 2 gunnel rod holders snapped off by hard hitting fish. If you are fishing solo it may even pay to put safety lines on your rods so that they can't get pulled over the side, especially if you are running more than one rod at once.

Good luck with it.

[Guest Aussie007]

yes 15-20 meters as i said any closer and the kingys wont touch the bait we have tried 2-3 meters behind the bomb and not even a touch drop it back 15-20 meters and get hooked up nearly every pass 45lb mono with 100lb leader of 1.2-1.5 meters long we dont get busted off and its all reef

[jim77]

45lb mono with 100lb leader of 1.2-1.5 meters long we dont get busted off and its all reef

Must be only rats mate....

[fishmaniac]

Hey mate,

I downrig a lot when chasing kings. I use a bomb that is roughly 4kg and it is fine for all harbour and inshore applications. I use the release clips provided with the downrigger. Some people prefer the rubber band method but each to their own.

With regard to setback from the bomb I agree with what Jim has said. I have a setback of about 4-6 metres, sometimes 7 or 8 if i am using a fast bait that may swim past the bomb if its too close such as a slimie.

Too much setback gives the king a large head start and can create issues with navigating through moorings and around markers as you really have no idea where the bait is relative to your direction of travel with so much line.

Kings are inquisitive fish, in fact at times i have had fish chase up and swim around the bomb while hooked up. Put a nice livie down and see how many hungry kings turn their nose up to it!

[iMick]

Max. 20 feet back from the bomb for me, I downrig using the electric so maybe with a petrol motor it may make sense to have your baits away from the boat. I got one the other day within 10 feet from the bomb. I didn't think a motor or a bomb would bother the kings.

Mick

[Guest Aussie007]

the reason for me using so far of a distance is how clear the water is i fish wollongong and we can almost see the bottom on a good sunny day in 30ft of water we can see the bomb 8lb fish weight near the bottom im pretty sure last season a fishing charter bloke agreed with a long run back from the weight when we pull up the roughly 80cm kings the 100lb leader looks like noodles but we havent lost a fish yet to snapped line using the leader and get hook ups on frozen squid atlease 9 out of 10 times we continued to use the same noodled leader for a few months last season

[jim77]

Fair enough Gazza - if that works for you keep doing it.

As the Kings come back in better numbers and bigger sizes each year following the banning of the traps there are more and more large fish around.

A lot of the time your 100lb leader will hold up on a reasonable fish, but when/if you come across that fish of a lifetime you want everything going in your favour. If 80cm Kings are grating your leader up on the bottom i would give you little to no chance on landing a metre plus fish... The water is equally clear in and around sydney and it really doesn't seem to be an issue running short drop backs.

I know another well known member on this site who catches more than his fair share of giant Kings. At times he fishes with 200-250lb leaders and still has little chance of stopping the fish! The power of a 10kg+ Kingfish is ridiculous and it never ceases to amaze me how much force they can exert.

If your leader has any sort of nicks or grazes on it i would be changing it. I know a lot of people who redo their knots after every big fish as the pressure of the fight pulls the knot really tight and weakens the line or so they say anyway.

There are no right or wrongs in fishing - if it is working for you then why change it. You learn new stuff everytime you go out. I would still try shortening your drop back though - maybe keep shortening it until you stop getting hits and then keep lengthening it until you get them again. If you do come across a better fish it might give you a better chance of landing it!

Good luck.