Downrigger Balls.

[Rockfish]

I am curious about peoples preference for downrigger balls. Personally I have been using 12 lb pancakes with a large stainless steel fin. The 2 lbs extra weight is nice in the current, however, as we are still using manual riggers, 12 lbs is about all I want to crank up and down all day long, especially when I am stacking a couple of rods on one rigger. I understand the pancake profile give you a little less drag and with the fin, less twisting and ware on the cable. I also like being able to put a slight bend in the fin which causes the ball to plane out to the side giving me a little better separation than I would normally get with our short arm Scottys. With the recent discussions about new glow coated balls for additional fish attraction, I am thinking about adding some glow tape to the fin. You can buy it by the foot for adding to flashers at most fishing supply stores.
On the down side I am wondering about possible negative electrolysis effect between the lead and the stainless fin.

 

[scott craven]

I've been using those same weights for several years now, no negative
effects.
i also but a bend in the fin to make the weights track apart from each other.
as for the glow effect, i think it's more important to have your
terminal gear working properly, the weight is simply to get it down there.

 

[walleyes]

I have been running the pancake weights for a few years now. I started out with the plain lead and SS fin but 2 years ago I switched over to the rubber coated style. They are a little more expensive but man do they save on the paint on the side of the boat. I was starting to see some nicks in the paint from the balls. This coming from swinging the riggers in to keep them out of the way when fighting a nice fish. Like I said they are a little more expensive but cheap in comparison to a new paint job on the boat.