Downrigger/ stacker questions

[Gman315]

I'm pretty new to trolling on Lake O and only go deep for salmon a few times a year and never really get much when I go. I have 2 riggers and 4 rods. No wire and no copper. I typically run one off the ball and one off a stacker on each side of the boat. My tackle consists of spoons, a couple flashers and dreamweavers and some flies.

My question is what's my best chance for actually catching something the next couple weekends when I give it a try? I've been reading all the reports and have an idea of where on the lake to start but what's my best set-up to throw at them? I fish out of Sodus and Rochester.

Also, does anyone use J-Plugs anymore?

Thanks for the help.

[GAMBLER]

Your chances are good. The Rochester and Sodus areas have been going good since last weekend. The thermalcline is not totally set up yet so fish are still all over the water column. Don't be afraid to run your rigs spread out in the water column.

[LongLine]

Try 3 spoons & 1 flasher'fly. 1 of the spoons on other rigger 15-20 ft behind and 6-12 ft deeper than the flasher/fly.

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[FSNmachine]

In answer ot "does anyone still use J plugs?"

Yes but only in the late fall.

[rail bird]

I used to run stackers but I got tangled up so much I think it hurt my fishing. I now run 2 riggers with free sliders and do much better. Just take a 5 foot length of mono and put A swivel at each end. I like to use a smaller lighter spoon on the slider after you have set the depth of your down rigger snap the swivel onto the line and toss the spoon in the water. Make sure it does not tangle. It will slide down to the bow of your main line. Do the same for the other side at a little different depth and you are all set.

[Gill-T]

Try this one to start. Bottom rigger set on 100' with a flasher/fly set-up and a SHORT lead approx. 8' off the ball. Then stack a spoon approx. 8' above with a longer lead...say 20-50' back. Second rigger do the same with the rigger at 80' w/flasher/fly and stacked spoon above. The idea is the flasher/fly sucks them in and if they get there late the spoon will be right there bringing up the rear. Expect to get tangles when a fish hits the bottom line and just deal with it......hey you caught a fish! If you want to get crazy you can add a free-slider to the top line, giving you 6 lures in the water. You can avoid tangles if you have your rods set in holders at different angles to each other so when a fish hits the bottom line, the slack is pulled away from the stacked rod. However, a big fish will go where it wants, so tangles are often unavoidable with stackers. Two deep lines with extra rods torqued down mean more blow back, so before your trip consider the #15 lb torpedo weights sold by A-Tom-Mik.

PS GET SOME DIPSIES!!!!!!!

[YodaMage]

I run as follows and stack almost exclusively and have not had a tangle in years. Honestly. Using side mounted 48" booms and seldom dipseys because frankly all that crap gets in my way and I don't clear gear for any fish that isn't willing to make me chase it to Canada to net it.

Similar to above, but with a tweak or two. This time of year it looks like this:

Rigger 1

Down 110

-Spin Doctor just above ball, 15' Back'ish

-Spoon running 12' up from ball, 25' Back'ish

-Spoon slider as described above (I have better luck with 'light weight' spoons on sliders, like J&L, Sutton, Stingers than NK heavy spoons..)

Rigger 2

Down 85

-Spin Doctor just above ball, 15' Back'ish

-Spoon running 12' up from ball, 25' Back'ish

-Spoon slider as described above (I have better luck with 'light weight' spoons on sliders, like J&L, Sutton, Stingers than NK heavy spoons..)

*ALWAYS RUN SLIDERS ON TOP RIGGER LINE

This in theory gives me lures at 110, 98, 85, 73, ~47, ~36. Considering the boat moving at trolling pace when fish hits and lines separated by 12' of depth and with 10' in distance plus the compulsion of a hooked fish to try to pull away you will not see a tangle here. It is a good starter setup for stacking especially if you do not have a probe and are hunting them. Now say you find the 85' line is the 'right depth'. Then I move to something like this:

Rigger 1

Down 88

-Hot Lure/Color just above ball, 10' Back'ish

-Hot Lure/Color 5' above ball, 10' Back'ish

-Spoon slider as described above (I have better luck with 'light weight' spoons on sliders, like J&L, Sutton, Stingers than NK heavy spoons..)

Rigger 2

Down 85

-Hot Lure/Color just above ball, 10' Back'ish

-Hot Lure/Color 5' above ball, 10' Back'ish

I leave one slider, because it is free, but getting things tight I don't need two of them slopping around at a similar depth. Notice, tighter the group, shorter the leads. I'm now at 88, 85, 82, 80 and ~ 42. I'm alternating depth side to side now and using geometry of the span of the riggers plus beam of the boat to create separation. I have 16' of width, so 10' of lead on alternate sides allows everything to stay clear unless I decide to do something insane at the wheel.

Side benefit is that I'm not dragging anything 200yds behind me. You can actually turn fairly tight with this setup and keep everything running correctly. In fact I highly advise zig zagging course when first dropping lines to help zero in on hot speed of the day while looking for right depth.

Hope this helps.

[rail bird]

That's A nice post YodaMage, and it got me thinking that when I did run stackers I was running lines way too far behind the boat. I was pretty new at it then and made the rookie mistake of thinking that salmon would be scared off by the ball or the boat.

[Gman315]

Thanks for all the great info! I'll let you know how it works out this weekend.

BTW- I ordered a Dipsy rig and I'm praying it shows up before Friday!

[Mickey Finn]

It's been so long since I've done this that I can't remember the exact setup but we used to put two rods on one downrigger using a size 0 dipsy without the ring on one of the rods. I think we called it the miracle rig. We used the dipsy to keep that line off to the side to help avoid tangles. Seems like we let it out 25 or 30 feet before putting it in the release. I remember I ran a NK28 behind the dipsy. Someone refresh my memory here. Don't recall if the dipsy was the bottom rod or the top. I remember you had to let it down slowly, so that the dipsy didn't roll over. Anyone?

[Gill-T]

Yes, but except you might be better off with a big jon mini disk as opposed to a heavy pulling dipsy as the high line.

[Mickey Finn]

I had too much trouble with the mini disc rolling over as I lowered the rigger. Plus I don't think it pulled out to the side as much to give me that seperation.

[ifishy]

back when I was a kid my dad use to run small dipseys off of each side rigger called them down and outs would like the line back 50 feet or more and than set it that way he could park the rigger at 70' and still have a lure down 100 used to get a lot of fish that way but that was many years ago i'm just getting back into trolling now and things have changed

[Mickey Finn]

It will definately still work.

[Gman315]

Thanks to everyone for the great tips! We fished Sat. morning for 3 hours in front of Chimney Bluffs and went 2 for 4. Started out with a double on but only landed one which was the first ever salmon in the boat. We'll be at it again next weekend.

[Mickey Finn]

Awesome! It's so great to have a site like this to go to for help pointing you in the right direction. Both beginners and seasoned anglers benefit greatly from this site. This is my 21st year of fishing the big lake and I learn things just about every time I get on here.

[Broadhorizons]

It will definately still work.

For sure

The down & outs account for a few fish each trip. I set up 2 rods with mono #1 slide divers on downrigger rods just for this. I put the spoon back 20 to 30 feet, lock the diver and then 35 feet out on a 4 setting from the ball. Then stack a flasher/fly about 10 feet above the ball and 15 feet back. Yesterday it was a Nuclear green echip/green hammer glow over the diver/NK Mag NBK out of Oswego.

If you want to change lures on the diver, bring it up with the downrigger, if you trip it from the rigger release you will probably not be able to trip the diver at depth and it will get under the wire diver on that side, so I've heard...

Oh yeah, steelhead will hit the diver while you are putting it in the release also if you're too slow at sending it down or have to reset the flasher/fly.

[keithg]

when i stack riggers,often this year ,i do very similar to yadamirage''s set-up except i put a clean(no attractor) spoon on the bottom anywhere from 50ft to 75 ft back,then a spin doc fly combo stacked above 15-25 back,with a min. separation of 10 ft.free slide a spoon or sometimes a jitter fly on the top line.theory is fish drawn in to the spread by the flasher who reject it will swim back and down and find the spoon.i usually use similar colors for the flasher/fly and spoons.