Downrigger Question

[frostyballs]

I've been reading the thrasher fishing reports and have read that the common depths to fish at are 180-220ft. I gave it a go about a week ago and after several minutes the downrigger seemed to start vibrating quite alot. Very noticeable on the tip of the rods as they were constantly shaking. This happened on both of the downriggers. I was using 15lb balls and one rigger has wire and the other has braid. Is this common when fishing this depth? or is there something i should be doing differently.

 

[scott craven]

Was the bait thick ? maybe a lot of big jelly fish ?
sometimes you can see the rod and rigger twitching when bouncing off
submerged sea life

 

[frostyballs]

Majority of the time we weren't marking anything new below us and it was still doing it. The shaking seemed quite significant. Maybe the down rigger ball is not heavy enough? Or the way I'm rigging my gear is wrong? I do about 15ft of line and then attach the the release clip which is about three feet above the ball.

 

[Trophy]

The only time I have had that happen is when the flasher tangles with the leader/spoon/downrigger line/cannon ball. I fish deep a lot with 15 and 18 lb balls, best tip is go down slow. The rigger arm will bounce alot if the ball is hitting bottom, some do it on purpose winter spring fishing.

 

[frostyballs]

That's what I thought it was but everytime I pulled the gear up and nothing was tangled. Il try and go down slower, thanks.

 

[Eastmon]

Maybe a silly response, but could it be trolling motor vibration? Mine can resonate at certain rpm

 

[lazylump]

It might be the speed you were trolling at combined with the currents there. Did you try speeding up?

 

[Canso]

If the downrigger ball has a fin it will swing side to side under water, I clip a dummy flasher to the fin to help the ball track straight. And clip the rod 3' above the ball.

 

[frostyballs]

I believe both balls do have a fun, so I will definitely give that a try. Thanks for the help