Downrigger set back Help.

[plugs]

Ok let's get everyone chiming in and give their usuall set back from the ball before she goes in the release to get a good adverage for us newbies to have a good starting point for a set back.
When ever I've fished for silvers on rife lake I've always used gang trolls weighted set back 32-35 pulls. When I got up to Merwin with using downriggers for the 1st time ever 1st thing that hit my mind as I was lowering down the ball was "oh crap" how far do I set back? So shruged my scholders and just set my line 32 pulls back as usual without riggers. It worked and I got fish but after watching a bunch of Utube vids it dosen't look like that's the norm.

10ft. deep or less set back ____ ?
20ft.+ set back _____?

Rod

 

[Kokanee Kid]

40 pulls set back and send-er down

 

[smokin' Kokes]

I'm a firm believer in using a line counter reel for set back.

spring flat line surface fishing with no side planer =s 50>150 ft back with no weight and just a troll blade device or dodger

shallow DR fishing in the spring, same distances.

later season DR fishing. I usually go 2>3 Xs the ball depth for set back.

main thing, experiment until you find the fish. what you see on the sonar may not be biting fish.

if you don't have a bite in 15 minutes, change something.
set back
speed
lure
depth

 

[kelson]

The shallower the longer the deeper the shorter. My normal is approx 80 feet

 

[SilverBullets]

top 10 feet 80-100' set-back
20' down 60-80' set-back
30' down 40-60' set-back
40' and below 10-15' set-back useing ball trolls...without ball trolls will go back up to 40' depending on the bite.
most used set-back during the season...12'

 

[Kokonuts]

I agree with Silver Bullets!!

Kokonuts

 

[Rikker99]

I have been using a string of blades off my downrigger ball so the set back is about six feet to maximize the attraction. Used this system in 20-30 feet depths last year with great success.

 

[Smalma]

I too agree with silverbullets -

For newbies or guys that are struggling I always suggest the rule of 100. For a flat line the gear would be 100 feet behind the boat. If the gear is at 20 feet the set back is 80', if at 40 feet the set back is 60', and so on. Don't always need that much but the rule of 100 seems a simple/easy to remember guideline for the guys getting started.

Tight lines
Curt

 

[plugs]

Thanks guys,
Pretty simple start at 100, drop 20 shorten 20.

By this formula I take it early in the spring the kokes are more aggressive while in the top 10 feet as I was only 64-70 ft. back last weekend and got 5 & lost 8 so early season may be more of a experiment than later in the season when the fish start to move deeper and temps come up I take it???

 

[Smalma]

Plugs -
As with all things kokanee there always are plenty of exceptions!

The rule of 100 is just a basic guideline to get folks in the game. Generally if you are going to err on the drop back length it is better to be too long than too short.

How aggressive the fish are varies a lot day to day or even hour to hour. I have caught plenty of kokanee on the surface only 20 or 30 feet behind the boat but at other times I needed increase the "drop-back" to 200 feet or more. At times they can be pretty boat shy; factors that seem to affect that shyness include the time of day, the brightness of the day, whether the lake is flat or has a nice "fishing" riffle, the amount of boat traffic, whether you are fishing with an electric or gas motor, etc.

The most basic rule of kokanee fishing is that you are always better of letting the kokanee tell you the best presentation is for the day rather than forcing them to accept your preferred approach. Virtually all the best kokanee fishers are constantly change things when the bite lags. Changing colors, speed, drop-back, lures, dpeths, scents, baits, etc.

Good luck
Curt

 

[Randy B]

Set Backs

Plugs,
Lots of feed back on this one!
Heres my 2 cents, I run 4 downriggers. If the fish are in the top 20ft of the water column I'm back at least 100ft, some time 150 is needed. Now when I'm fishing 20ft and deeper I run 2 rods back 30 to 50ft back, this allows time for me to change depths when I see fish at different depths than what the downriggers are set at. The other 2 rods I run at a 6 to 12 ft set back. Others have mentioned ball trolls, They work! but can get tangled with you line if there is not enough vertical seperation between them or you drop down too quickly. There is a great solution, the is a product called the Ultimate Downrigger Release it's a ball troll and release built into one. It has 3 #4.5 silver plated willow leaf blades attached, which spin in either a horizontal or fully loaded position. The blades and release clip can be changed if you have other prefences. I run these releases on my short set back rods. I designed and build them for Shasta Tackle. they are available on Shasta Tackles web site. Randy B

 

[DLM]

This has been very interesting, I am suprised by some of the long setbacks at some of the deeper depths. This would make it harder to determine just how deep your lure is. Dodgers and gang trolls will sink while sling blade type dodgers will drop very little if at all, depending of course on your speed.

Try this.

I will let the line out behind the boat until I lose sight of my attractor, usually a dodger. Once I can't see it, I clip it. The theory is, the clearer the water the further the setback will be. With clearer water, the more the boat will scatter the fish, so a longer set back would be needed. Not very scientific, but easy to use and I catch fish.

Down around 40' and deeper I don't think the boat has much affect on the fish, shorter setbacks are just fine, sometimes as close as 6' if using a ball troll.2centsmovie89586

 

[KokChris]

During my green horn days, my setbacks where only 2' or so. I slayed em' and was hooked on kokes ever since. I personally dont think set backs are as important as getting your rig through the fish. Find the depth of the fish and troll on through em'. Youll more than likely persuade one to bite no matter the setback. These kokes are not very line shy and a 2lb-4lb ball shouldnt spook em either. But for the record, now days my set backs have definitely lengthened. Im not exactly sure why that is either. I figure if the fish dont mind jumping next to the boat, then they should bite next to it too. Everyday its different though lol.