Downrigger bars?

[rendraW]

I was watching an episode of the tv show "angler west" yesterday and saw a guy fishing for kokanee and he was using custom made weights for his downrigger that were bars, not balls. The idea was that the 16" long bars of stainless steel coated with plastic didn't snag as much when bottom bouncing or dragging the bottom. What do you guys think? this fellow said he got made fun of but would never go back to cannonballs. any pros/cons? I guess you cant easily run a dummy flasher...

 

[Theb55]

A 12 to 15 lb. hunk of vinyl coated stainless. Do you have any idea hoe much that would cost? You would have to mortgage your house for a replacement. You certainly would loose the negative ion benefit.

 

[scott craven]

We tried 20inch of heavy boom chain once.
It worked, but the bottom bounces transmitted a weird vibration to the rod tip.

 

[adrianna3]

Stainles is cheaper than lead right now.

Dave

 

[markfarley]

I got mad a couple years ago when I lost most of my lead and could not find any localy that I could afford, so I cut a old 2 1/2" mild steel shaft into 8" chunks (about 12 lbs)
Welded a SS lock washer to one end and a piece of 2''x4" flat bar to the side for a fin. I sprayed them with pickup truck box liner in a spray can from china tire so they would be insulated and not rust all over my boat.
I dont know if they snagged less but they were close to free and they caught lots of springs.

 

[hooktender68]

Hali Wrecking Bars

I have a pair of 24" by 2" diam. SS bars with an eye welded on them. I guess by the way they bog the riggers down to be high teen low twentys in weight. They clang along bottom well for hali in 200' when conditions dont allow for anchoring. They work well!!

 

[Steelhead S2]

I think when commies troll for lings they use bars instead of balls, so maybe the reason is less snagging?

 

[searun]

Very interesting concept - lead is getting too expensive. Bet money the bars hang up less. Anyone got an idea how much a 15 pound bar would cost??

 

[DHA]

The bars are not new...there are lots of old timers that used to use 10 to 12 lbs cast iron window weights, which are long like a bar with a molded eye to attach to.

I like this idea better http://makingtackle.com/members/admin/activity/58

DHA.

 

[Finished Business]

At last check with one of my steel suppliers, soft lead was $2.40 per pound. Non recycled, pure lead.

Stainless can be expensive depending on your grade. Last year we needed a 4x8' sheet of 1/4" (0.250") Inconel at the shop, (space shuttle stainless) and it ran about $11,000 for the one sheet.

pure lead is pure lead.

Stainless is not just stainless. I haven't priced lower end stainless in awhile but it could be cheaper than lead.

If its vinyl coated, i'd just use some 1018 cold roll bar (basic mild steel) or if you want to go cheaper use hot roll steel (about 30% less cost). Solid mild steel bar with an eyebolt you could probably do for less than 10 bucks. So long as you can tap or weld the eyebolt to the bar yourself.

 

[searun]

Will look around for some steel bars. Anyone know where you can buy that vinyl coating in large enough quantity to be able to dip a steel bar or cannon ball?

 

[2xeagle16]

I used 2 x 12 stainless steel tube filled with lead for many years on my downriggers. They worked well for bottom dragging but the cylindrical shape caused more blowback. Stainless or regular steel weighs about 25 - 30 percent less than lead which means even more blowback.

 

[searun]

Interesting on the blow back...too bad. I'm looking for cheaper alternative to lead cannon balls.

 

[nedarb2]

Interesting on the blow back...too bad. I'm looking for cheaper alternative to lead cannon balls.

what if you riggedthe cylinders up to be horizontal in the water similar to the fish shaped lead weights now available?

 

[Shepnoir]

Searun, ask DHA about vinyl coatings. He does a very good job dipping weights and is knowledgeable.

 

[Fisher_dude]

what is this "blow back" that you talk about?

 

[searun]

Tx, can do next time I'm in the shop. Blow back is simply how much resistance the cannon ball and rigger line creates causing the line to pull back on an angle. Not a big deal if you are fishing shallow, but if you fish the banks in the mud like I do it's a problem. Playing around with different shapes etc may help. Generally round objects create less drag and hang up less on bottom.

 

[Fisher_dude]

ahhh. kinda figured so. thanks for the confirmation.

 

[Fisher_dude]

what if you riggedthe cylinders up to be horizontal in the water similar to the fish shaped lead weights now available?

so you are thinking about running one like this?

 

[hooktender68]

so you are thinking about running one like this?

Whoa!!............... let me know how that set up goes for you.