Question on stacking a downrigger

I have seen several threads about stacking, but none that address smallest weight of ball required to stack. I'm asking because I currently have an undersized downrigger (cannon minitroll) that's meant for a 4# ball only. Besides the obvious solution of getting a larger downrigger, I'm considering using a larger ball while trolling for Kokanees at the Flaming Gorge in July. I have a 6#, but am not sure if that's going to suffice by the time I put a 2nd line on. Anyone even tried stacking with a puny 4# ball? My past experience on a different boat was 10# ball worked well with 2 lines. I'm sure it will make a difference how much the gear I'm pulling drags, but any insight would be helpful.

Thanks...

Here is the problem with stacking with a 4lb. ball. As a lighter weight, the ball will drag at a larger angle back from the rigger than a 10 lb ball, which should troll almost straight down. This means that if you wanted to stack 10 feet up from the lower clip, you need to actually put 15 to 20 feet extra space between clips on the wire because of the drag angle. I wouldn't recommend the smaller weight with a stacker, but maybe someone else here has done it successfully.

I had never considered a line clip as reason for a heavier weight. The Gorge by mid July will probably put you in the 50 - 60' deep range. The water drag from that depth is what will give you the most sway back. Can you reinforce the booms on your rigger a bit to handle say an 8 lbs weight?

I don't know where you purchased your Mini Troll but according to Cabelas, the Mini Troll comes prespooled with 100' of 120# test steel cable. This is more than sufficient to support a 10# weight. The only questions that remain are the sturdiness and security of your actual mounting to your boat. If the clamping system is in good shape and the area of the boat does not flex, you should be good to go with the heavier weight. As Full Monte said earlier, the lighter the weight and the added drag from the stacked lure increases the swayback. I would check your entire mount set-up with the heavier weight on dry land to avoid losing anything overboard, never to see it again. Hope this helps?

Some have said that replacing the SS cable cable with braid reduces the drag and blow back. This may be an appropriate time for this.

I see what you're saying about swayback angle. I didn't consider that, and I'll factor that in. Regarding reinforcing the rigger I think the weak point is where the pulley attaches to the arm. I'm attaching a pic of my chincy downrigger. I think I'm realizing I just have to bite the bullet and get a proper downrigger to handle a heavier ball.....next year I guess (each fish I catch gets a little more expensive). I will try to use the 6# and see what happens.

If you are dragging lead balls around the lake, you will most likely want to see where they are on the fish finder relative to the bottom. Letting the balls drag back behind the boat often puts them out of sight of the fish finder, and you may get surprised by underwater "humps" that sneak up on you from the bottom. Make sure you set the drag right on the rigger so that it CAN pay out wire if you do snag. It's better than capsizing the boat....

Downrigger

My advice is to get a better downrigger. Hell with the gas to drive to the Gorge, hotels, food, misc stuff...you need to have the right gear. A downrigger
is not expensive. A new Scotty manual, not electric is around $154.00....Go for it.......don't go to the Gorge and be disappointed because you could not get to the fish, that's not cool.......

It's all in the boom arm of the rigger. If your mounting surface is week then buying another rigger is of no use. Rigger manufactures put a weight limit because of the materials use. Your front pulley should be fine. I use the same pulley for my home made rigger (pictured). I would go ahead and at least move to a 6 pound ball, switch to braid (which is on mine) and find a pan-cake style ball. I use to have 2 6lbs'r, they are hard to come by. I think you will be fine.

I would also recommend upgrading at least to a Scotty manual. I use the Scotty 1060 Depthking and it's been a great unit over the years. I started with a 6lb weights but when useing ball trolls the sway back was too much and like Monte mentioned the ball was off the screen. Switching to 8lb balls cured the problem. Using the right weight to keep the sway back to a minimum is also a safety issue to keep the wire from getting caught up in the prop when making tight turns.