Cable to 200lb Tuna Cord

[BigBadBrad]

Good evening ladies and gents:

What are your techniques for attaching Tuna cord to the cable? I had a swivel blow open last year going through the wheel and I want to avoid using a swivel to attach.....was thinking of just doing a loop with crimps in the cable and then looping the tuna cord through it....however maybe that’s too much pressure with a 18lb ball and the steel cable will saw through the 200lb tuna cord.

Appreciate the advice!

ps not interested in using braid for the riggers.
Thanks.

BBB

 

[sly_karma]

You could try using a small thimble in the loop in the wire so that the cord isn't damaged.

 

[brutus]

Swivel do fail once in a while, just re tie and fish, I tie to a swivel and keep an eye on it every couple trips out and replace when I see damage, beats dealing with stoppers, but the swivel going through the wheel is a bit sketchy, not too sure if there is a better way. Let the pros chime in

 

[scott craven]

Can you crimp the cable to the Tuna cord ?
(don't know, just a thought)

 

[brutus]

Can you crimp the cable to the Tuna cord ?
(don't know, just a thought)

It would slide out

 

[scott craven]

Knot the cord and then crimp ?

 

[brutus]

Knot the cord and then crimp ?

Not 100% sure but I think he is using ss cable, so not too sure how knot the cord would help him

 

[N2013]

Run a rubber sleeve over it. Smooths out the transition. Rite Angle used to make the surestops and it came with a piece of 4” soft rubber tube that would protect the swivel once crimped or tied. Lube up rubber with some WD-40 then run it down the wire over the crimp & swivel. I always re-crimp each season. Never had a fail but I am running 12&15lbs balls.

 

[BigBadBrad]

Thanks for the input fellas. I run 18 and 20lb balls. Decided to give the swivel one more chance! See what happens.

 

[Rockfish]

Most of what we use for terminal gear on riggers will wear out and fail given enough time and abuse. The heavier the ball and the heavier the blow back over time and the lower the quality of the components, the faster it reaches the failure point. Wear (roughness) on the pully wheel can also increase the failure rate. We use the swivel connection method and have it double as the auto stop trigger. The main thing we have found to reduce rigger terminal gear failure, is the frequency by which you strip off a section of the cable or braid, replace the swivel and re-tie everything. As N2013 pointed out, smoothing connections with tubing does seem to help as does a snubber for reducing bottom hang up failures and reducing shock to gear and connections from fast stops.

 

[jim morrow]

As a wire user, I hope you do all of the downrigger operations yourself, and save your guests from the stainless steel jaggers that pass by on the spool.

 

[Rockfish]

As a wire user, I hope you do all of the downrigger operations yourself, and save your guests from the stainless steel jaggers that pass by on the spool.

If you have steel jaggies (broken cable strands) that is a sure sign that it is time to remove x feet of cable and redo connections or replace the cable all together. As someone who uses both braid and cable, I view a broken cable strand as an early warning system that it is time to take action before you reach complete cable failure. Braid has its own advantages and a lot of people swear by it. It is kind of a Ford versus Chevy argument. There are lots of previous threads debating as to which is best. When braid fails there is no early warning of failure coming like you often get with steel, your ball and terminal gear are just gone.