Fishhawk X4D ball weight help

[Greenhead]

So I have walker downriggers with 12 lb round balls.  I bought and installed the Fishhawk X4D. Can I just run the 12 lbs balls or do I need two different weights with heavier on the probe side?  Really didn’t want to spend $200 on shark cannonballs for nothing.  Thanks!

[Sk8man]

Some folks have gone to heavier weights in general which may help with frequent strong current on Lake O etc, but they can also put a significant strain on older equipment and some downrigger motors. The shark type weights do help control blowback to some degree because of the shape regardless of weight. If you don't do a lot of downrigging below 100 ft. the 12's should be OK at normal speeds. I normally use 10 lb shark type weights and they create less blowback than 12 lb round weights I tried out.  If you do decide to switch shapes check out the weights from bikinibottom here on LOU or troutman87 torpedo weights less expensive but in my view just as effective as more expensive brands.

[Greenhead]

I will mainly be fishing Lake Erie and the deepest would be 100’ for lakers in the summer.  

[jerryriggin]

Your 12 lbers will be fine. The fish hawk will only add a little bit of blow back.

 

[greenboatluke]

I run 13 lbs torpedoes from troutman87 with my probe. Blowback is gonna happen, but with the X4D you’ll get running depth and can figure out blowback on your other rigger. You shouldn’t have a problem, should be fine.


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[Xxx]

The hawk tells you how deep you are with a pressure switch, just let out cable to reach desired depth, "within reason" adjust other rigger if thats where your getting bit and go with it.

[Sk8man]

14 hours ago, greenboatluke said:

. "Blowback is gonna happen",

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And it will happen no matter what the weight if the current is strong and/or your boat speed provides substantial resistance. It is just that some weight designs give less resistance than others.

[Fishnut]

blow back doesn't affect the pressure switch in the fish hawk, what it reads is where you are. 

[mr 580]

If most of your fishing is Lake Erie, the 12lb ball will be fine with a probe.  For non probe rigger might not be bad idea to drop to a 10lb.  On Erie most people are trolling slower especially if running crawler harness and same goes for cowbells for lakers.

[Greenhead]

Thanks for the info guys.  Do you guys calibrate your probe or are they accurate out of the box?

[greenboatluke]

You can check it. Go slow and drop it down so it shows up on your sonar. I was fishing the other day and the rigger counter was on 20’ while trolling and the graph was showing it at 19ish, FishHawk was reading 19ish. Few tenths off at times, but close enough. I never calibrated it out of the box.

 

 

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[Greenhead]

I wasn’t sure if it should be calibrated to match my SOG on the gps.

[greenboatluke]

My SOG doesn’t match my gps, due to the water flowing faster under the hull. I didn’t calibrate mine, downspeed and temp are more important.


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[Greenhead]

Good to know!  Ty!

[TyeeTanic]

Already said, but here's more support!

 

12 lb's will be fine down to 100 ft, but you will be surprised if there's enough of a current just how much cable you'll have to have out to deal with the blow back ... think 140 to 150 ft.

 

If ever you want to get another weight, go to a torpedo probably 13 lb, 15 lb even better if your rigger and gunwale can handle it.  The torpedo is streamlined, so you don't have as near the drag as a ball, which helps reduce blowback.

 

As for calibrating the SOG, don't bother, unless you know there is no current (in a marina with a large enough break wall?).  The reality is you don't necessarily need to know the exact downspeed, but what works best ... on each morning you'll start at a number (say 2.2 mph) then bump it up for a bit, and then down.  All of sudden you'll hit a million fish (haha), and you'll know what speed works.  It's about repeating that condition, and each new day, repeating that same procedure.