How to avoid tangles while stacking downriggers?

[Full_Monte]

I've been pretty conservative about my approach to downrigger fishing so far. I haven't stacked lines on my downrigger cable. I'm wondering....for those of you who do it successfully, how do you avoid those monumental tangles I hear about?

 

[SuperD]

Heaviest gear on the bottom, 7' - 10' separation, lower rigger a little slower. But best of all, buy 2 more riggers.

 

[Full_Monte]

I'm afraid more downriggers aren't an option. I have two and that's more than enough to keep me befuddled. It seems to me that that main opportunity to get tangles is when the lower line gets hit, and as the fish rises in the water column, the two lines pass each other, creating a tangle. Am I missing something? Can I compensate by putting my lower line further back? I'd like to use my second pole, but every time I topline it, all I get is trout.

 

[Kokanee Wizard]

Yes, putting the lower rod back farther will help, especially if the tangles are when you hook a fish. A number of tangles will occur if you drop the weights too fast. I typically stop a few seconds about every 15' until I get to the proper depth. This allows the dodger and lure to catch up or flatten out. The longer the setback the more the need to stop. For Kokanee setbacks can be as short as 8' with the lower rod maybe around 20'.

Another option is using a Shuttle Hawk. It's basically a diving plane that takes the upper line/lure down to a stop on the cable. A second advantage is that it can be reset without raising the downriver weight. It works better at slightly higher speeds.

Hope that helps.

 

[Lundman]

I'm a veteran stacker and let out both lines out and lower my rigger by myself while the wife drives. -- A couple things to remember ---

Remember is to keep your boat going in a straight line. - if you are turning you will drop one or more lines on each other and the tangle will not be fun because you usually don't see it happen.

I alway fish my bottom line further back - say 80-100 feet for my bottom line and 50-75 feet for the top.

Remember when pressure is put on your line it will embed a little into the line on your spool - so pull about a foot of line off the spool with your hand and you can free spool down without a birds-nest happening.

Remember when let out your top line try to put it on the outside of the lower line that's been let out because it will sink deeper unless you let out you top line very slowly.

When letting down two lines at once and lowering the (Scotty) downrigger - I hold the bottom pole in my hand and release the spool on the top line reel. I then lower the downrigger to the depth at at fairly rapid speed and then click the free spool reel at immediatley after the ball has stopped. Practice is important.

Good Luck and Hope your Tangle Monster's stay away....

 

[SuperD]

In addition to letting the lower line out farther, try to not let the topline out any or much farther than the separation you are using on the wire. i.e. 10' separation between the stack would be 10' setback on the top rod.

 

[MMDON]

In addition to letting the lower line out farther, try to not let the topline out any or much farther than the separation you are using on the wire. i.e. 10' separation between the stack would be 10' setback on the top rod.

+1 Increase your boat speed and slow the rigger speed. Most tangles that aren't caused by fish are caused by stalling your rigs on top of one another. Increases speed in turns and a wider radius turn will keep the inside dodgers from stalling and falling as well.

 

[HiTechKoke]

Monte - Give me a call and we can discuss in detail. I've been stacking for a solid 7 years or so and use the shuttle hawks exclusively. I'll turn on a dime.. ok maybe 50 cent piece all the time. This last year with the 3rd rigger I don't need to stack as much but the keys for me are always:

1. Minumim 10 foot separation
2. Always have the heavier weight dodgers on the bottom of the stack if you are running them.... Sep's 3/0 for example.
3. Minimal setbacks 10-20 feet during the time of the year you are 40 feet or deeper. Sure you can adjust a bit.
4. It's the fish that usually get me tangled but pretty rarely but that's a bit of rod management and dependent on who's on the pole. I'll adjust other lines as needed to move them out of the way (to outside rod holders) and always bring the fish in to the center of the boat and steer the boat to make sure this happens.

Definitely get yourself used to doing it so you can rotate more gear to crack the code of what's working. I think some of my confidence in stacking comes from working a commercial salmon boat as a youth with Grandpa and we had around 40-50 stacked lines out at a time... granted they were somewhat fixed but you soon learn the ins and outs and how to think about it from a bigger picture.

Keviin

 

[Old School]

This has been a very good topic for me. I too have not tried staking, but would like to give it a shot sometime.

A lot of good info here.

 

[DLM]

... youth with Grandpa and we had around 40-50 stacked lines out at a time...
Keviin

40 - 50 lines?? Isn't that called a netlaugh hyst

 

[HiTechKoke]

40 - 50 lines?? Isn't that called a netlaugh hyst

It may seem like one but just think of spreading your downriggers out over a larger area, 2 of them are actually floated back behind the boat 20-30 yards, each of these having 8-10 hooks 10-12 feet apart. Then the deep lines are generally separated farther away from the boat after they are all setup with those long poles you see on the salmon trawlers that fold out to each side.... each of those lines can carry 10-12 lines each depending on the depth.

So the fun part is when you get a salmon on which vibrates the cable that is setup on a spring with a cowbell so you can hear the change in vibration or sound... and then you get to bring up all the hooks on that line until you get to the fish...then its a hand line it in quickly and then you might have another one on below it in a good case.. and then you get to reset all that tackle! The time consumer is a float line which takes a good while to bring in and process. And then you get interrupted by fish on other lines when the bite is on...complete chaos! So running 4 lines stacked is a walk in the park compared to that scenario. thumbsup

 

[S.S. Fireball]

Kevin, as always useful insight.

We have had success using shuttle hawks. Separation of about 10' has proven to be enough. I concur with the longer set back for the deeper lines.

We set the depth and use the flush rod mounts in the corner for the deep line and then run the second, shallower line on the shuttle hawk. 4 lines no problem and even a top line out the middle has worked (for trout).

 

[Full_Monte]

This has been a great thread. Thanks for all the interesting points! I've got a trip planned and I'll incorporate your advice into my stacking endeavor.