Distance behind ball?

[domvaleri9]

How far behind the downrigger ball are you guys running ? Thanks

[Sk8man]

That is a very good question.... but it very much depends on what you are running and what you are trying to catch, what water you are on, and what equipment you are referring to  for starters...seriously....

[domvaleri9]

Lake Ontario trolling for salmon using spindoctors/ flies, meat and spoons

[Chas0218]

I run spoons and flasher flies 40'to 50' being the ball.

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[KilliansRed]

I run Spoons 30 ft behind. Spin Doctors I use a shorter lead of 20 feet.

[pete277]

On my deepest rigger I always run an E-Chip flasher/ fly 14 ft..behind the ball and it always gets action.

[FishinFinnlander]

my assumption was always longer leads were a less disturbing presentation ; assuming the canon ball itself would be a scare to weary Kings. Why do most of you recommend short leads? Snags with other gear perhaps? 

[sabonation]

The currents down there are pretty nasty at times. Longer leads are affected by currents more. With spin docs I usually set 8-15 ft. Spoons 2-15 ft. Meat rigs I send back farther to get a nice slow roll. Salmon and steelies are actually attracted to all that commotion.

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[Sk8man]

6-12 ft. fr F/F and Spin Docs and 15-50 for spoons/sticks usually - Deeper short  -Higher longer - sliders 7-8 ft. for downriggers  If not successful...distance changes made may be drastically different until a connection is made along with changes - and then changes in lures and speeds

Edited August 14, 2013 by Sk8man

[domvaleri9]

You don't think running 2-8 behind has any affect on the salmon hitting it being that close to the ball

[sabonation]

Every day is different. Sometimes they like it close, sometimes they don't. I can tell you that I have caught both salmon and steelies as close as 2 ft from the ball.

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[Sk8man]

Regarding the closeness to the ball....just a hunch but I think the fact that it can be a couple feet from the ball suggests that they see it as one unit with whatever you are presenting.....at longer distances they may see the ball and the attractor as separate objects and think that the attractor is "chasing" the ball and that the lure is something smaller that may be vulnerable in some way. ....just armchair analysis not scientific fact.

[TOP SECRET]

When I put my camera down on my downrigger I put the lure within a foot and still get hits. Unless you're fishing shallow, I'm really not sure it matters. Experiment and find what works for you though.

[FishinFinnlander]

makes sense the way you guys now describe it ... my intuition was opposite. This detail will save me setup times and snags in the future . Thanks

[sabonation]

Used to do a lot of walleye fishing on the big E and we always used long leads on them. 50 or 100 ft from the ball bc they were more spooky and there is less current to deal with. Until some old timer up here told us about short leads we had no idea.

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[Adk1]

so my plan is to start of running spoons on the riggers at 30' and my sd/flashers at 20'. Does this sound like a good first plan?

[sabonation]

Yea but if that's not working try shorter!

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[Adk1]

that would be my plan!

[sabonation]

Even when I run ff on dipsys I only have a 2 or 3 ft leader from dipsy to the spin doc and a 20 inch leader to the fly. the whole rig ends up being about 6-7 ft. Makes netting fish a lot easier!

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[domvaleri9]

Do you usually have good luck with the dipseys ?

[Chas0218]

Generally speaking with a spin doctor on the most action setting, how big of a loop will it make? I am concerned it will get into the other rigger line with short leads

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[Adk1]

there are some pretty cool dr videos of spin doctors..I am planning on running one with the tighter loop and one with the wider loop to start out. whichever one produces, will change the other to match.

[reeldilemma33]

interesting topic

[Tim Bromund]

Generally speaking with a spin doctor on the most action setting, how big of a loop will it make? I am concerned it will get into the other rigger line with short leads

Sent from my thinking chair...

actually it's just he opposite, the rotation is tighter on a short lead, the loop gets bigger the longer the stretch behind the ball.

 

Tim

[Chas0218]

actually it's just he opposite, the rotation is tighter on a short lead, the loop gets bigger the longer the stretch behind the ball.

Tim

Thanks Tim I get that but I was wondering if anyone knew the size of loop in relation to the length of the leader. I guess I didn't really word it right.

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