Voltage tuning your boat.

[MadJigga]

Go to the docks in Sooke. Every guide runs wire mostly.

I run braid myself. I only did it because I found is easier to work with, but I still think the wire performed better.

Just went guided fishing in Campbell River last weekend. All the guides ran braid. But we were fishing between 230’ to 290’

 

[Iwannagofishin]

Many guys claimed to catch more fish of different species with different voltages, but I never did. That was with all 3 boats. Like I said in the previous post, a mediocre boat may have improved catches with by using a black box. They were helpful in one sense, so you could see changes in the hull readings with the box in the off position. They also had a pulse mode, but I never had much luck with it. The isolation of downriggers (trolling gurdies) never came into play until the black box came out. This was so you didn't end up inadvertently applying voltage into your hull metals and anodes from the black box. Before black boxes, there were lots of highliner boats, but I don't think they knew why. It all depended on having all the boat metals interconnected (bonded). Even with sporties today. Ask a guy who catches lots of fish, what his secret is, and he most likely doesn't know why. They all have an answer, but not the right one. The opposite stands for a poor fisherman. It is probably not his fault.
Commercial trollers will never go to braid because we require sets of stoppers, usually every 9 ft for stacking gear. We would run 6 lines for sockeye etc. with 20 or more flashers on each. Our cannonballs were also from 40 to 70 lbs.

 

[Iwannagofishin]

Just went guided fishing in Campbell River last weekend. All the guides ran braid. But we were fishing between 230’ to 290’

Same thing off Comox, down to 300 feet. Apparently a couple of transient KWhale pods went through. When I first trolled out here commercially, and the KWhales went through, I would dump out over 400 ft, and still catch enough to make a living. The effect usually lasts for a couple of days, and then back to 200 ft???

 

[SpringVelocity]

Just went guided fishing in Campbell River last weekend. All the guides ran braid. But we were fishing between 230’ to 290’

Yep inside is like that. Cause their fishing ridiculously deep. Sooke isn't like that. It's a structure and shallow fishery. I noticed it a lot since moving up here.

 

[Aces]

Go to the docks in Sooke. Every guide runs wire mostly.

I run braid myself. I only did it because I found is easier to work with, but I still think the wire performed better.

I still run wire on my 1991 Scotty 1106’s, lol.

I have experimented with zincs for 20 years and it seems to make a difference

 

[Iwannagofishin]

Even though most commercial trollers follow the bonding guidelines, I think that one of the biggest mistakes was not including the stabilisers. For those that don't what they are, they help to slow the roll of the boat. These were heavy triangle shaped plates that were hung off of the trolling poles about halfway out, 15 to 20 ft away from the boat. These were usually suspended by braided nylon down to just above the water, and then chain down 20 - 30 ft underwater to the stabilisers. These were towed while trolling or at running speed. A lot of the stabilisers were galvanised plate with a 25 pound half-round lead attached to the front. The chain was also most often galvanised. So, if you did not have this assembly wired to your bonding system, you had a totally negative signature that was independent of your boat's signature. It was negative because everything was galvanised (zinc plated). Zinc has a Jekyll & Hyde personality. When it is connected to larger amounts of exposed boat metals, it is your best friend. When there is too much zinc, it is an anglers enemy. This will be true for all anodes, and to some degree, all metals that don't have a sacrificial element that makes it a galvanic corrosion cell, essentially what your boat's bonding system is. If you have other signatures like that, there is no way of seeing that on a meter. That is why a thoughtful visual check is important. Look for things like galvanised bow protectors.
It has been said for decades to watch out for cannonballs that were made from battery lead. I have yet to find any that seem to repel fish. Even though lead is soft and you might think it to be in the same category as zinc, it is not. It actually sits quite high on the galvanic scale. It has less chance of repelling fish as does bare steel, which is not significant.
If any of you fish while anchored, look at your anchor and chain. If everything is galvanised, you limit the chances of catching anything. If everything is stainless, try adding a nice fat galvanised shackle where the rope is connected. The coating on the shackle will be the sacrificial element, and your assembly will now have a positive, fish attracting voltage field.