Salmon downrigger setups

[Loghauler]

I’m a beginner and have only fished on a downrigger twice so having said that have gotten some info from books, a couple store clerks, a few people at boat launch’s
And still remain salmon deficient
So here is some questions
1 how far should flasher be behind the release clip
2 how far should bait/ spoon be from flasher ( different length for bait, spoons size
3 How fast should flasher roll and bait roll
I realize based on previous info all of these questions are subjective to fish sought so let’s stick to chinook
Rig that I have tried are skinny g and herring cut plug and teaser head on one downrigger at fifty to one hundred feet
I’ve put the flasher ten to fifteen feet behind clip and have bait/spoon six feet from that
And I also realize time put in also plays a role and also where followed other boats and copied speed at Newcombe channel outside ukee for six hours two days in a row and swale rock for a couple hours so need to put in much more time
Plan on spending a couple weeks next summer mid august
And yes need some electronics ie fish finder and gps and also plan on another downrigger so two will be better than one
Had a ton of fun met some great people and love the west coast

 

[tinboatrobb]

Flasher for me is 10ft from clip. Bait leader is 4 to 6 feet, spoons, 3 to 7 ft works for us. I like to troll at 2,4 to 2.7 mph. Hope this helps. This is for the South Island .

 

[kingblazer84]

I’m a beginner and have only fished on a downrigger twice so having said that have gotten some info from books, a couple store clerks, a few people at boat launch’s
And still remain salmon deficient
So here is some questions
1 how far should flasher be behind the release clip
2 how far should bait/ spoon be from flasher ( different length for bait, spoons size
3 How fast should flasher roll and bait roll
I realize based on previous info all of these questions are subjective to fish sought so let’s stick to chinook
Rig that I have tried are skinny g and herring cut plug and teaser head on one downrigger at fifty to one hundred feet
I’ve put the flasher ten to fifteen feet behind clip and have bait/spoon six feet from that
And I also realize time put in also plays a role and also where followed other boats and copied speed at Newcombe channel outside ukee for six hours two days in a row and swale rock for a couple hours so need to put in much more time
Plan on spending a couple weeks next summer mid august
And yes need some electronics ie fish finder and gps and also plan on another downrigger so two will be better than one
Had a ton of fun met some great people and love the west coast

Talk to @Rain City or @Stizzla they are slaying machines…

 

[prodjsaig]

You want a nice slow roll typically the longer leader slows the roll down. I run all bait at least 6'. 6 or 7 feet. Slow troll for springs 2.5 mph. Learn how to tie the stinger hook. So you have a treble and a single hook at the tail (the single is free). Ive caught numerous fish just on the stinger. Ill show you how to tie it.

 

[prodjsaig]

 

[Sharphooks]

With all due respects to the above poster...NO need for a treble hook with any kind of bait....my suspicion is that fishermen use treble hooks in the salt chuck out of habit more then as a piece of critical equipment.

I could have filled the back of a pick up truck with all the coho I released over the last two weeks (really) . I used straight spoons..no flasher...straight herring...no flasher .... straight anchovy...no flasher...yes, sometimes a dummy flasher attached to the downrigger ball, but more often then not, no flasher on the ball, especially when I was in a group of boats with everyone else using flashers...it was interesting to see how fast the hook ups happened in that circumstance, like the fish were just waiting for something different to come along

herring and anchovies were rigged on a tandem tie ....two single 3/0 hooks spaced approx. 8 cm apart. Some of the anchovies were fished in a Rhys Davis helmet but most were fished straight no chaser, the bend to make them spin produced by a toothpick or strategically placing the hooks to produce a bend

I wish I had lost more fish then I did using the tandem hook/NO treble set up

It sounds like you were in the right places when you fished the Sound....half of the salmon game is putting in the time at the right time. The time of the day is for the most part immaterial though yes, early AM sometimes can be better then high noon for springs....but what trumps early AM is the tide and what it's doing

If you were to fish two hours a day at both the high slack tide and the low slack tide, that would be more productive then fishing 4 hours a day in between the high and low slack tides

Regarding where to put your money for equipment....I carry two downriggers on my boat for the sole purpose of having a back-up In case one of them craps out. I will say with some conviction that you will catch more fish focusing your attention on one downrigger rather then trying to manage two.

Oh, you want to experiment at different depths? Well that’s what the clutch lever is for or the power-up button. You want to try different gear? Experiment with the different gear on the downrigger in front of you rather then splitting things up and scattering your attention between two downriggers

Put your money in a good sonar rather then a second downrigger. A good fishfinder will show you a picture like this.

Once you have that, it’s just putting the time in

By the way, the transducer I’m using to produce that screen shot I bought on eBay for $ 50






.

 

[ChilliSpoons]

Your leader length will vary with what your using. For spoons I fish 6’ of leader, with hoochies it depends on your preference but 24” to 36” seems somewhat standard. The hoochie relies on the flasher for action while with a spoon the flasher acts more as an attractant.

Speed is current dependant. With a slack tide your speed over land is around 2.5 mph. Watch the “angle of the dangle” or the angle of blowback from the downrigger line during the slack tide. Once your familiar with the angle you’ll pay more attention to that than the actual GPS speed. There are times when speed over land is well over 4 mph or sometimes almost stopped but the current will still give you the proper action.

 

[Stizzla]

Talk to @Rain City or @Stizzla they are slaying machines…

How dare you put me in the same category as him. He, like everyone else who has fished and many people who have never fished before are much, much better than me.
I’m a stupid, fat, ugly loser.
(Can you guess who just got skunked tonight?)

 

[the gambler]

Put your money in a good sonar rather then a second downrigger.

?

With all due respects to the above poster...NO need for a treble hook with any kind of bait....my suspicion is that fishermen use treble hooks in the salt chuck out of habit more then as a piece of critical equipment.

I could have filled the back of a pick up truck with all the coho I released over the last two weeks (really) . I used straight spoons..no flasher...straight herring...no flasher .... straight anchovy...no flasher...yes, sometimes a dummy flasher attached to the downrigger ball, but more often then not, no flasher on the ball, especially when I was in a group of boats with everyone else using flashers...it was interesting to see how fast the hook ups happened in that circumstance, like the fish were just waiting for something different to come along

herring and anchovies were rigged on a tandem tie ....two single 3/0 hooks spaced approx. 8 cm apart. Some of the anchovies were fished in a Rhys Davis helmet but most were fished straight no chaser, the bend to make them spin produced by a toothpick or strategically placing the hooks to produce a bend

I wish I had lost more fish then I did using the tandem hook/NO treble set up

It sounds like you were in the right places when you fished the Sound....half of the salmon game is putting in the time at the right time. The time of the day is for the most part immaterial though yes, early AM sometimes can be better then high noon for springs....but what trumps early AM is the tide and what it's doing

If you were to fish two hours a day at both the high slack tide and the low slack tide, that would be more productive then fishing 4 hours a day in between the high and low slack tides

Regarding where to put your money for equipment....I carry two downriggers on my boat for the sole purpose of having a back-up In case one of them craps out. I will say with some conviction that you will catch more fish focusing your attention on one downrigger rather then trying to manage two.

Oh, you want to experiment at different depths? Well that’s what the clutch lever is for or the power-up button. You want to try different gear? Experiment with the different gear on the downrigger in front of you rather then splitting things up and scattering your attention between two downriggers

Put your money in a good sonar rather then a second downrigger. A good fishfinder will show you a picture like this.

Once you have that, it’s just putting the time in

By the way, the transducer I’m using to produce that screen shot I bought on eBay for $ 50

View attachment 69948




.

What the hell?
No, you will not 'catch more fish focusing your attention on one downrigger rather than trying to manage two'.
With all due respect Sharphooks, this is bad advice for the OP.
And really? Put your money in a good sonar ($50 bucks !!) rather than a 2nd downrigger?
Sorry, but no.


Edit- a good gps/depthsounder is key, but not a $50 ebay one

 

[Loghauler]

?


What the hell?
No, you will not 'catch more fish focusing your attention on one downrigger rather than trying to manage two'.
With all due respect Sharphooks, this is bad advice for the OP.
And really? Put your money in a good sonar ($50 bucks !!) rather than a 2nd downrigger?
Sorry, but no.


Edit- a good gps/depthsounder is key, but not a $50 ebay one

I would think two riggers give twice the chance for a hookup
Ya I believe an eye in the water would make a huge difference
No sonar equals the blind leading the blind
But it was fun being on the big pond till I got the text “ fire season was over get back to work “

 

[Loghauler]

How dare you put me in the same category as him. He, like everyone else who has fished and many people who have never fished before are much, much better than me.
I’m a stupid, fat, ugly loser.
(Can you guess who just got skunked tonight?)

As much fun as it was to play in the salt water I know the feeling
Get in the Boat damn fish !! Lol

 

[Loghauler]

Your leader length will vary with what your using. For spoons I fish 6’ of leader, with hoochies it depends on your preference but 24” to 36” seems somewhat standard. The hoochie relies on the flasher for action while with a spoon the flasher acts more as an attractant.

Speed is current dependant. With a slack tide your speed over land is around 2.5 mph. Watch the “angle of the dangle” or the angle of blowback from the downrigger line during the slack tide. Once your familiar with the angle you’ll pay more attention to that than the actual GPS speed. There are times when speed over land is well over 4 mph or sometimes almost stopped but the current will still give you the proper action.

Couple times the angle was quite extreme lol maybe that accounts for the dimples on the bottom side of canon ball

 

[Loghauler]

Couple times the angle was quite extreme lol maybe that accounts for the dimples on the bottom side of canon ball

Knowing depth might help hmmm

 

[Loghauler]

You want a nice slow roll typically the longer leader slows the roll down. I run all bait at least 6'. 6 or 7 feet. Slow troll for springs 2.5 mph. Learn how to tie the stinger hook. So you have a treble and a single hook at the tail (the single is free). Ive caught numerous fish just on the stinger. Ill show you how to tie it.

Tying ones own would be a bunch cheaper than packaged units, thanks

 

[Loghauler]

Flasher for me is 10ft from clip. Bait leader is 4 to 6 feet, spoons, 3 to 7 ft works for us. I like to troll at 2,4 to 2.7 mph. Hope this helps. This is for the South Island .

Sounds like I was in the ball park, damn fish lol

 

[Loghauler]

Maybe a some scent on hands and rigs might help too as brand new gear might not be preferred flavour anything to help is a plus
Thanks for all the replies
Sucks to see boats all around landing fish but not joining in the reindeer games !

 

[StupidityKills]

Maybe a some scent on hands and rigs might help too as brand new gear might not be preferred flavour anything to help is a plus
Thanks for all the replies
Sucks to see boats all around landing fish but not joining in the reindeer games !

I don't bother with any scents. A lure right out of the box fishes just fine. You definitely want to avoid having any sort of cream or sunscreen on your habds when handling your gear though.

What area are you fishing out of? There's a few setups I'd use almost anywhere, but some places certain gear is key.

 

[CIVANO]

wash your hands after eating potato chips or Doritos. wonder why fishing slows down after lunch

 

[Loghauler]

I don't bother with any scents. A lure right out of the box fishes just fine. You definitely want to avoid having any sort of cream or sunscreen on your habds when handling your gear though.

What area are you fishing out of? There's a few setups I'd use almost anywhere, but some places certain gear is key.

when I come to the west coast I fish Barkley sound areas
I started fishing for salmon in rivers but don’t anymore
Only a couple spoons might crossover maybe

I don't bother with any scents. A lure right out of the box fishes just fine. You definitely want to avoid having any sort of cream or sunscreen on your habds when handling your gear though.

What area are you fishing out of? There's a few setups I'd use almost anywhere, but some places certain gear is ke

 

[jbv]

good stuff in here guys. my buddy and i are fairly new as well and we often get tangled at the deep depths we fish in CR. our boat is 16' and maybe it plays a role as it can be hard to track and sometimes we turn too sharply. is there a minimum spread in depth that we should run our balls? like if one rigger is at 220, the other should be at either 240 or 200? should we also have the flashers spread, so one guy is 10' back, the other 20'? i like the idea of always running a plug (in CR) on the one side, no flasher. i'd like to get away from flashers entirely.