BEST CANNON BALLS/SET UP to REDUCE BLOWBACK

[gpearce]

Hi, Hopefully the pros out there can help. I have 2 cannon electric mini mags. The weights I am using are the cannon 10lb pancake and I am having huge blowback issues at anything deeper that 50ft. Speed is 2.5-3mph-have wire cable on riggers-have blowback in any trolling direction-My setup is spoon with 6ft leader spin dr then 15ft to the ball. My total distance from ball to spoon is 18-22 ft. My estimate would be if I want my bait down 50 ft I would need to set them down at 65ft which seems a bit excessive

 

 Question is.... What are you guys running or what would you run in my case? Change balls,setup,rigger cable?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Don Supon]

Blowback happens.

To reduce how far: increase ball weight, change shape to torpedoe or fish shape, troll slower, uncoated cable less than coated.

 

For your post conditions, first thing I'd do is change the ball shape. Then increase the weight to your rigger's highest capacity. The faster you troll, the more weight you need to keep it down; so you may want to reduce boat speed some.

 

Lake currents (this is where ball speed devices come into play) have an effect also. When blowback is excessive, try trolling in different direction to reduce amount (watch cable angle).

 

Fine tune your transducer angle on stearn to enable seeing the ball tracking on the FF. Knowing where the fish are in relation to your cannonball weights will be a big help. IMO, this is the MOST IMPORTANT variable excepting lure speed.

[John E Powell]

2.5-3.0 mph may be unnecessarily fast. I have no idea how you are measuring this, but 2.2 or so will help a lot at no cost. I'd start there first before spending money chasing downrigger weights.

[spoonfed-1]

Shark weights are great for reduced blowback.

Atomic 13 lb Torpedos will do the trick for a lot less money.

 

Good luck

Glen

[Rich D]

Look at your Manual, but I think the max weight you can pull with the mini mag is 12lbs. This will help slightly to increase to the 12lb weight, but if you are fishing below 100', then you will want to go bigger. So you may have to look at going with a diff rigger. Good Luck.

 

Capt. Rich

[apb]

Harvey O'hara in Watkins Glen (Troutman 87 on L.O.U.... I think)makes 12.5 lb torpedoes that work really nice but you would be really maxing out that litte mini.  I ran one of those in my first boat with a 8lb torpedo and it worked pretty well.  Like they say,  lowering your speed would be the biggest help.  If you run Suttons you can run 1.8 mph  gps.  That would be a happy combination! 

[gpearce]

Thanks for the input. I'll try to slow down a bit, might  have to throw a sock out the back- only have the 120hp .

[apb]

120 hp...ouch....nevermind the sock you better try a parachute!

[Meals-On-Reels]

Plenty of good info here- especially about the currents below the surface. There are days when you'll be seeing 1.5 surface speed (or speed over ground if you're just using GPS) and the speed at the ball is pushing 3 or higher. If you're doing 3 at the surface then your lures down 50' could really be flying.

Sounds like your biggest issue is troll speed. Get that sock out there to slow you down. Heavier weights will reduce blowback, but you'll still be going too fast till you get your speed down. Plenty of us still run 10lb balls and don't see the need to change. Before we had a down speed/temp probe we did better gauging our down speed off blowback angle alone.

I'd save the heavier rigger ball money towards a used kicker motor (classifieds here or Craigslist- I've seen motors go for under $300), and get that sock out right away and you'll be better off.

[gpearce]

Thanks Guys. Been looking for a newer boat that's why I haven't picked up a kicker yet. Guess a have to be nice to the wife eh?

[sea yea 2]

For now slowing down will help but i find some days you have to kick up the speed to 3.5+ to start getting hits so i might suggest running extra dipseys. We have also had blowback issues and we just kept letting them down till we felt they were near where we wanted them. Gl

[steelfire]

You should be able to slow your boat down to at least 2.0 mph. I run a 2006 19.5 starcraft islander with a 130hp I/O. When I put her into drive we are at 2.0 mph. Confirmed by my sub troll and sonar. i have 9.9 kicker on the back but rarely use it. Its easier to control the boat with the big motor, especially in rough seas. Maybe try  changing the motor angle or a drift sock. My motor straight down gets me the slowest speed 2.0. If I angle the motor up a little bit the speed increases to 2.8. Mess around with that before you try any of the expensive ideas.

Love this site for all the info and ideas everybody shares!! I have learned a ton here over the years!!

[gpearce]

Thanks, I am going to try the motor angle-trim up/down. I remember an older guy at the launch talking about that one day on an outboard-didn't think of trying that on mine.

[BAZOOKAJOE]

12 lbs sharks go almost straight down in calmer seas. Trout mans 12 lbs torpedos get the job done for half the price. I run 2.5 to 3.0 sog mostly.

Edited June 15, 2013 by BAZOOKAJOE

[Mortigan]

We started running Harvey's (Troutman87) 12 lb torpedos this season and the blowback is so much less, we can finally see them on the fishfinder!  Now we just need more time to fish...