15 replies to this topic

[CMD]

Hello everyone,

 

I have been fishing for lake trout for years, downrigging with 2 lines on each downrigger with a stacker clip. I ran into some salmon last year and want to try targeting them. I found the stacker to be a pain in the ass and have got some bad tangles. I spoke to a few people about running a combanation rigger diver and lead/copper core lines.

 

I was wondering if anyone has a recomondation on how to run 6 lines without them getting tangled. Also do i have to reel in the other lines when we get a fish on if so which ones.

 

Thanks for the help

[FrequentFlyer]

well for one i beleive to have 6 lines you need to have 3 people with a license in the  boat, 2 lines per person, whenever we go we used 4 lines, 2 riggers and 2 dipsy lines off either side, depending on which line the fish was hooked on we reeled in the port or starboard lines and made a looping circle around the fish so it would come in to the side of the boat rather then from the back.

 

we also ran a slider system on the downriggers as well

[Captain Barty]

Run 1 rigger , one dipsey, and one leadcore/copper off a planer board per side. If you get a crazy king on though you can get a nasty mess whatever you do...

[IR4J]

^ thats how we do it but we run 1 rigger deep, 1 mid dipsy and a flat line on a dipsy. That being said we only troll for them in late summer. Always pull up one side of lines and make a slow sweeping turn to the side of the rod as FF mentioned

[CMD]

Thanks alot for the help!

So no matter which line the fish is on you have to reel up all the others on that side? Even if you get one on the downrigger you have to real in all that lead core?

Also any recomondations on planar boards flashers and spoons hoochies or body baits? Also recomondations on rods and reels for each style of fishing. Not looking for specific just rod length and action.

Again thanks for the help

[FrequentFlyer]

you want to eliminate all lines that will get in the way, this is the setup we use on the boat

 

 

the 2 outside rods are dipsy lines, if we get a fish on either of those 2 lines we bring in all lines on that side of the boat and make a big slow turn to try and keep the fish out of the  other 2 lines, by doing this you increase your chances of getting a double or triple header as well. same goes with the down rigger lines, we bring in the dipsy line on that side of the boat 

 

also as you can see, it gets quite crowded at the back on the boat with 4 rods down, thats on a 21ft boat, so you could imagine the chaos with 6 rods like you mentioned

 

on a side note, this was the flattest i've ever seen lake ontario

[Slickrick]

we just ran down riggers last year and ran cheater lines on them as opposed to stackers.  picked up a lot of bows on the cheaters. 

[CMD]

What is the difference between a cheater and a stacker? I have always use those terms interchangably. Any suggestions on "dipsy divers"? The walker ones look pretty good.

[FrequentFlyer]

for dipsy divers, pick one depending on what you want it to do, i know there'd several types out there, we use the disc shaped ones, you can get them for various depths.  just don;t forget which one dives which way or you;ll run into problems lol  since you set them to dive down and out, but if you forget they'll dive down and in.

 

i believe that cheater, stacker and slider are all terms for the same thing, sending a bait down the line on a snap swivel to sit on the release clip

[CMD]

The dipsys are left and righ? you can't adjust them? And that was my understanding about cheater/ Stacker clips and a slider just slides freely along the rigger cable

[FrequentFlyer]

yes, the dipsy rigs can swing left and right depending on the angle you put on them, its to keep them from free swinging into your other lines

[Slickrick]

my definition of a cheater is a sliding line attached to the main line of the rod/reel.  it usually settles in the arch of the mainline connected to the cannonball.  you never truly know where its at depthwise. but as I said it hit a lot of bows for us. when a fish hits, you release the line from the clip and reel like crazy until it slides down the the swivel on the mainline. its a hell of a thing watching a steelie jumping at the surface and the rigger is still set. no secondary connection to the cable whatsoever.

[FrequentFlyer]

cheater/stacker/slider its all the same thing just a different name, we had quite a few chinooks clearing the water before the downrigger would pop, it was great

[Slickrick]

he was using a stacker, where 2 release clips are securely attached to the cable 10 ft apart usually, and you can run 2 separate rods on the same rigger. more accurate but a pain in the a@# to deal with.

 

cheater & stacker

 

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[CMD]

Thanks everyone. I see these fishing shows where they run 12 lines. They get a fish on any of the lines and bring it to the back of the boat and real it in without clearing any of the lines. I don't understand how they don't get tangled. I only want to run 6.

[Slickrick]

that's usually on a charter where you have a deckhand to help.  aside from experience in not tangling lines, they keep the boat going straight and reel the fish in that way.  its usually half dead by then and easy to net, but charters are in the fish killing business anyway.  we usually bring up one side of lines and circle in on the fish until it can be netted or released at the side of the boat without removing it from the water.