12 lb or 15 lb cannonballs?

[chris73]

Hey fishhawk; yup, that's what happens with strong tides and deep water. Switch to 12 lbs, pick slack tides or fish with the current and maybe reduce your speed a bit. All helps to keep close to bottom. 15 lbs, I would not recommend until you have thoroughly checked if your rig can take the stress (mounts, gunnel or railing etc.). Even switching from 10 to 12 lbs you will notice a lot more stress on the system. Hope this helps.

[adrianna3]

Hey Fishhawk; I bought a 300yd roll of PowerPro for my 3 downriggers and split it evenly. That's 100yds (300ft) per rigger. I've got feeders at 200' but won't be going much deeper than that. 15 pound balls are nice when fishing feeders 'cause you can go right to the bottom, then up a few feet. You can fish them faster without the drag lifting them up and back. I run my clips right off the ball so I'm always within the bottom 3 to 10 feet.

[The Fish Assassin]

I use 13# flat ones with large s/s fins.

tip: bend the fins a little bit so the the fins take the balls away from your boat. Just dont mix up what side each ball is for. It will eleiminate the possibility of having the downrigger wires tangle below your boat.

Take only what you need.

[Islandgirl]

Fishhawk8 I alway buy the largest amount I can to put on my downrigger spools. Several times a year I end up cutting off the first 15-20 ft. due to kinks etc with double stacking rods, etc. I use supermax 185lb wire and 400ft.. we end up fishing deep on the east coast of the island. I put the wire on the DR winter of 2004 and I am still using the same stuff. Never tried the braided stuff yet.

[constantsguy]

I also like the 15# balls. I find that they get me into the zone alot more accurately. I do like to fish with the current, I find it gives me more control over the angle of the cable. I run 400' of 150# test on my rigger, I figure that with 400' of wire I can do some Hali fishin when the current is too much to drift.

[Big Bad Bill]

I also fish in Nanaimo . Use 15 lb ,no fin and Braided line . since switching to braided line I have not lost 1 cannon ball and I regularly fish right on the bottom .

[Gunsmith]

This braided line is it synthetic or steel?

[Highliner]

It's spectra fiber.

http://www.powerpro.com/advantage/index.asp

Highliner

[Gunsmith]

Thanks.