Downriggers

[Little Trophy]

Well I finally bought downriggers

Could someone tell me a good bait to start out with fishing for Walleyes

When I put the ball down at 20' and let line( 20#) back 90ft ,because the plug at 90ft back will go down at 12ft,Does this mean I start at the ball therefore I will be at 32 ft ?
Thanks to all

[Waconia Walleye Guy]

Greetings!
Based upon our experience "yes" you can use the ball as the basis for estimating the running depth of a diving bait. Many baits are speed-dependent so keep the bait speed in mind.
You may want to experiment with the length of line/cable bewteen the ball and your line release as longer release cables i.e. 2 feet of cable from the ball to the release tend to show strikes and bottom action better as these signals transmit up to the rod. When using a longer release cable reel up the line so it is just becoming taut, don't crank it down hard. DON'T SET THE HOOK:-)

Good luck, keep us posted as to your results!
Michael in Waconia MN

[bountyhunters]

90ft behind the ball?? seems like a lot to me .I run 25/40back

[cxtx]

You got to be careful how far back you run baits behind the ball. 90' is a little excessive but it will definitely catch fish. Your biggest problem will be tangles with other lines if you are running them such as dipsies. If you get a nice fish or release the downrigger line while in a turn, with that much downrigger line out, your bait may raise and catch on your dipsy lines. 50' behind the ball is usually adequate for eyes with 20-30' behind the ball a good starting point for steelies, etc. Also, the deeper you fish and the faster you go, the less accurate your counter on your downrigger will be. The deeper and faster you go, the more resistance you get on the ball/steel cable and the bigger the angle in your downrigger cable. If you want to fish an "exact" depth, you'll have to compensate. I usually skip running deep divers on riggers and stick with spoons, harnesses or shallow divers. Nearly all deep divers have an equivalent model in the same pattern with the small lip...

Don't forget about stackers and sliders. You can increase your chances at fish off the riggers this way. Sliders are pretty easy. Tie a 5'-6' leader with 20# mono or fluoro with a small snap on one end and a small snap swivel on the other. Use a light spoon as your slider. Connect the spoon to the snap. When letting the main rigger line down, stop at about 10-12' and then snap the snap swivel on to the main mono line. Throw the bait in the water being careful not to tangle it in other lines. Continue to let the rigger down to its fishing depth, say 45'. Water resistance on the heavier snap swivel will usually keep the slider about 10-15' above the downrigger ball so now you have 2 lures running on one line; one at 45' and one at 30-35'. You can also attach the same slider to the mainline after you have reached your main fishing depth (say 45' again) and the slider will slide down the water column on the mainline to about 20-25' and stop where the bow in the mainline bulges due to water resistance. In this example you have a lure at 45' and one at approx. 20-25'. When you get a fish or release the line, the slider will slide all the way to the main bait and the snap swivel will keep it from sliding off. The only bad thing is when there is lots of small junk in the water (water fleas, etc.) that stick to the line. This will cause tangles as it prevents the slider from sliding. I'll not run sliders if the water is like that. Sorry for the rant but I figured you could use a few tips to get you started in downrigging. Also, it will be a blast when you get that 10-15# steelie hooked up to a slider that hasn't yet released the mainline but you'll see him jumping like crazy 20-30' in back of the boat. Then the race is on to figure which line he is on, pop the rigger rod, and reel like mad to catch up to the fish to keep the slack out of the line and prevent the hooks from pulling.

[bountyhunters]

cxtx ,said it all read and reread his notes .you;ll get the feel .