Shark cannon balls

kevind

Well-Known Member
Anyone try them? Saw them at the outdoor show. Looked interesting but sticker shock on them.
 
Similar to pancakes that used to be around although they were far cheaper!
JC those are ridiculously priced!!!
 
Kevind, is that what it actually looks like? Doesn't look like a shark. Looks like a avocado with a tail.

judging by the professional pink marketing billboard and the hand written pricing, the company doesn't sell enough to be able to afford a marketing budget.
 
Ya I’d have to try one to see if they are worth the price. First thought is I’m happy with some extra blow back for more than half the price. Trying to get my hands on one to see. I’ll be crying if I ever broke one off with those type of prices.

yup that’s what they look like. I think they work better than the pancakes because they cut through the water like a bullet but is it worth it to cut back on plow back???
 
I think what Kevind meant to say is that it creates less bow back rather than no bow back. So if it works as advertised, you can run it when fishing deep and against strong currents without having to switch to 18lb or 20lb balls. If your downriggers can't handle the higher weights you are stuck with 15s.
 
Do they really help with blow back??

No they don't really to any degree and may actually increase blow back in some circumstances and they increase costs. Lots of previous threads and discussions on this. Designing the ball to look a little like a fish is part marketing concept. They pop up every now and then and that price is high. Save money and buy balls/spheres, with a small fin if you must, unless you need to tune your balls. There is a reason the commercial guys use balls/spheres. You will drop/lose the odd ball on occasion and I would go with the lowest replacement cost option.

Stainless fined pancakes or disks have their place, but not because they decrease blow back; they actuality increase it. The large fin can be tuned to trade increased drag for separation to cover more area and in the case of one of my buddies, allow you to fish three downriggers on a smaller narrower boat. The fins are tuned to plane the two side rigger disks away from the boat and avoid interference with the out the back center rigger that has a ball/sphere on it.
 
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Does anyone else use the blow back to help judge a best speed to troll getting the best results for the gear being trolled? I used to use the humming sound coming from the stainless steel down rigger cable however with the braided lines there is no more humming. Over time I have discovered that with a 30 degree blowback in any tidal flow direction gives me the most strikes. Going with the current it might be as low as 1.5 MPH or with the current as high as 3.5 MPH. I will stay with the proven round lead balls.
 
The first guy to invent something that gets your gear down without using a lead ball for $20 is gonna make a ton. A special hydro-dynamic downrigger “planer”.
 
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Does anyone else use the blow back to help judge a best speed to troll getting the best results for the gear being trolled? I used to use the humming sound coming from the stainless steel down rigger cable however with the braided lines there is no more humming. Over time I have discovered that with a 30 degree blowback in any tidal flow direction gives me the most strikes. Going with the current it might be as low as 1.5 MPH or with the current as high as 3.5 MPH. I will stay with the proven round lead balls.

I use my SOG as a guideline but ultimately I use the angle of my downrigger lines to determine how fast I'm trolling. That's the way I learned from my dad who use to be a commercial troller back in the 70's and 80's. I have always used 15-18lbs rounds lead. I have been trolling into a flood tide and my SOG has bounced between 0.3-0.7 kts and was doubling up!
 
Well as a retired engineer geek I would suggest that surface area creates drag and blow back. A sphere has the least possible surface area by volume (and therefore weight). At least that's what the book says. All those years in school are really starting to pay off now!
 
Well as a retired engineer geek I would suggest that surface area creates drag and blow back. A sphere has the least possible surface area by volume (and therefore weight). At least that's what the book says. All those years in school are really starting to pay off now!
That ignores the effects of turbulence which reduce drag. Think of the dimples on a golf ball. Looks like this design is using dimples to create turbulence and thus reduce drag. It also likely produces vibrations in the water that the fish pick up on. But I would never buy these because, as already suggested, way too expensive and the fact that I rely on the angle of the dangle to judge my speed.
https://www.papertrell.com/apps/pre...tent/SC/52caff9682fad14abfa5c2e0_default.html
 
Ive always thought the same as you regarding the sphere shape, Disco. Ive have been meaning to conduct a test since a few years ago on here there was a debate and Rollie said he uses finned balls because theres less blowback, which struck me as counterintuitive. The turbulence argument makes some sense but Im not sure how much difference the shape would matter at salmon trolling speeds. Maybe ill try dimpling a 15lb finned, although I usually troll a bit slower than I hit a golf ball.
 
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