rigging a boat for kokanee

[rebelsportsman]

i am getting ready for the upcoming summer. i will be in colorado most of it and then i plan on trying new mexico on the way back to texas. i bought a porta bote and 6hp motor. i am now looking for a downrigger. i am trying to get a cannon or attwood mini downrigger for it. the next thing will be weights for the downrigger. will the walker flat weights work as good or better than a 3# ball?

 

[SuperD]

Have you had that boat and motor out on the water yet? My first concern is whether you can get your speed down to 1.5 mph or less. The later you get into summer, the deeper you'll have to go and blow back will become an issue with light weights as you've mentioned above.

 

[RalphL]

super d is right on, on a light boat like a 12 or 14 PB slowing down is an issue, check it out first, may have to re prop. an 8 lb ball works best for me, others may have luck with light ball

 

[SuperD]

I'm envisioning a trolling plate as at idling speeds, prop changes have very little effect. An electric trolling motor might be a more ideal power source for trolling.

 

[rebelsportsman]

i have an electric trolling motor. i also have some 6# balls but was afraid they may be to heavy for a small downrigger.

 

[rebelsportsman]

what about using a drift sock to help slow down. i guess i am also gonna have to take my hand held gps to keep up with my speed.

 

[Petty4life]

i have an electric trolling motor. i also have some 6# balls but was afraid they may be to heavy for a small downrigger.

6lb should work good for ya in that boat. a drift sock will also help to slow you down, i used to fish out of a 14ft aluminum with a 3hp gas motor but it would troll slow enough but i used my electric motor to troll with because of the loud 2 stroke engine

 

[bob r]

My wife and I fish from a flatback Old Town canoe with a 4 h.p. gas outboard(canoe is rated for 5h.p.), a mini-cannon downrigger and two drift socks off the bow for slowing to 1.5 or less, works for us, bob r

 

[rebelsportsman]

if the wind is blowing any can you drift without a motor? i know when drifting for bluecats, we try to stay under .8 mph. it does not take much wind to go over 1mph or is the 1.5 mph the ideal speed that you really need to work at.

 

[SuperD]

A couple of years ago at Flaming Gorge my fishing partner snagged the bottom so I put the boat in neutral while we tried to recover his gear. We got a double hook up on 2 of the other rods while we were sitting there in a dead drift so anything is possible while Koke fishing.

 

[SilverBullets]

if the wind is blowing any can you drift without a motor? i know when drifting for bluecats, we try to stay under .8 mph. it does not take much wind to go over 1mph or is the 1.5 mph the ideal speed that you really need to work at.

That's one of my favorite ways to jig...moving along with a slight breeze targeting suspended kokes. If the wind kicks up we throw out the drift sock to slow down to where the jig stays as vertical as possible. 3/4 oz jigs are best and if the line angle gets too excessive just let out another 10-15' of line to help get down to where they're showing on the fishfinder. One benefit of jigging this way (as opposed to anchored up stationary jigging) is your allways covering new water...works well when the fish are scattered out deep.

Edit: As far as useing a small clamp-on downrigger get one that will at least handle a 6-8 lb ball...any lighter and you'll get too much blow-back (especially when useing ball trolls.)
http://www.scotty.com/fishing-gear-equipment/compact-manual-downriggers/1050mp-masterpack.htm

 

[Kokanee-Toni]

I fish out of a 1970's fiberglass 12 foot Sears Gamefisher boat with a 1974 4hp Mercury outboard. With a Walker Lake Ranger Manual Downrigger (it can take up to a 10 lb. weight) with a 4 lb Cabelas finned downrigger ball.
My GPS is a android phone app called GPSCompass which tells me that my motor goes at its slowest 1.4 MPH. This has been perfect for where I fish at American Lake in WA. Of course to get my outboard to go 1.4 I had to change the screw on the carb to where it wouldn't touch at the lowest handle setting.
I went out a couple of times with my 46 thrust Minnkota 5 speed electric and found it harder to catch the kokanee. On 2 it went 1.3 and on 3 it went up to 1.8. I had to keep going between 2 and 3.
This year for me, 1.4 was a magic speed.

 

[SuperDaveMT]

mini downriggers

I use an 8# ball off my cannon mini troll and have not had any problems. I am looking to upgrade to an electric since I'm moving up from the tippy pelican bayou to a new to me crestliner canadian.

 

[Kokanee-Toni]

i have an electric trolling motor. i also have some 6# balls but was afraid they may be to heavy for a small downrigger.

I use 4 pound

 

[SuperD]

I use 4 pound

Sissy! nananana

 

[Kokanee-Toni]

Sissy! nananana

laugh hyst I am not male so I don't have to worry about big balls 101ok101

 

[eenakoK]

laugh hyst I am not male so I don't have to worry about big balls 101ok101

101goodpost101

 

[Bduck]

laugh hyst I am not male so I don't have to worry about big balls 101ok101

awesomereport laugh hyst

 

[RalphL]

hook set, reel him in.

 

[Bogey]

I have had great luck the last few years with a mini walker manual DR, while my wife used leaded line. I probably caught 5 to 1 with DR to leaded line.

So, this year, I went out and bought the electric Scotty 1101 for me (hey, I'm operating the boat, I needed it!) and a new manual Scotty 1050 for her. Then, because my boat is really a duck hunting boat with a tee rail instead of nice wide gunnels, I had to buy special brackets; they look first class and I think they'll be great, but boy are they spendy.

I've added ALL THIS new $$$$$$ equipment and I'll probably bomb this year!!