Downriggers

[dannyboy]

Hi guys new here so go easy on me lol , have a few questions regards downriggers and would be interested to hear some of you guys views . manual v electric ??
cannon v scotty ??
Are they worth fitting to the boat ??
any help with the above would be greatly appreciated as this side of the pond we have very limited knowledge with downriggers .

thanks dannyboy

[Oliver]

Where are you fishing, and what's your target quarry? what size boat are you fishing from. Helps a heap to know some of the basics before steaming in with an answer!

Ollie

[dannyboy]

Hi Ollie , thanks for the reply sorry to be a bit vague with the initial question but just wanted to get the ball roling on this one . Fishing the atlantic side of the irish coast , quarry would hopefully be anything like Tope , Blues , Porgie . Boat is a 16 footer . Do you own a downrigger yourself as its not something i,ve seen a lot of over here ???

Thanks Dannyboy

[Oliver]

Danny,

First off down riggers are best suited to trolling. Not saying that they don't have other uses, but primaraly trolling. Trolling is a method of fishing to cover a large ammont of ground quickly. You mention Shark fishing, which I would have thought you would do by drifting. IMHO drifting would be a far more productive way of fishing for sharks in your waters. Set out a chum slick and then set out dead baits at various depths using ballons and let the fish come to you.

Using a down rigger and trolling for these fish would not be a hugely productive way of fishing for them. Why use the fuel going looking for them when they will come to you!

I could POSSIBLY see a down rigger being used for say bass or maybe pollock in inshore waters over reefs etc, and maybe some of your charter skippers may give them a shot at some of the monster giant blue fin tunas that show up come the fall.

Ollie.

[dannyboy]

Hi Ollie , Thanks again for taking the time to reply , the method of shark fishing on the drift is commonly used over here , i myself have had much success with it , i had thought we were missing out on something over here by not using downriggers as much as in the states perhaps . Thought that maybe trolling a Williamson lure might have been more productive but like you say wasting fuel . I know you say downriggers are primarily used for trolling but what would your views be about fishing in deep water at anchor in 5-6 knots of tide , normally even at slack water 3lb of lead will struggle to hold bottom , would a downrigger with braid fitted and say 15lb lead hold through a tide ??

Thanks Gixer

[fdarden]

Sounds like what you want is an electric reel instead of Downriggers. Before the Electric Fishing reels were prevalent here in South Florida, people would rig the downriggers to do a very deep, straight drop onto a specific hole.