Cannon Downrigger Tips

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Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010 Subscribe To Our Feed

Savvy fishermen know downrigging is one of the best ways to control the depth of their fishing lure-short of dropping anchor.Preferably you want to try to keep your bait at the same depth that you fish finder shows the fish are located. It will take a little trial and error, patience, and a bit of record keeping, but you can become adept at doing this.

I like to use the the best. I’ve tried some other brands but have never really been satisfied with them. They generally fell apart too soon or rusted long before they should have, and I didn’t feel I got a real value for my money.

But Cannon produces some really great downrigging systems. They have more complex systems, but I like to work with something a little simpler, like the Mag 10TS, for example.The Magmun has long been trusted by experienced fishermen and boaters because it has proven to be dependable and durable.It includes a fast retreival rate of 250 feet per minute, also has a short stop feature to stop the motor after the ball leaves the water so as to not hit the boat and can handle the work load of a deep sea fisherman.The Mag 10ST has a stainless stell spool constructed to withstand the rigors of the new super lines now popular. It looks stylish with an attractive metallic white finish, and it features Positive Ion Control designed to make your boat a fish-finding magnet by creating an electrical field fish are drawn into.

To begin you want to decide how deep you want to be and at what speed you will troll. The faster you go, and the deeper you want to be, the heavier the weight you will need. This is because you must compensate for the drag of the water that increases with your trolling speed.One example is most Great Lakes fishermen trolling for salmon set a speed of 1.5 up to 3 miles per hour and aim for a depth of 15 to 30 feet down, so they don’t have a significant drag and can use a 5lb ball.However deep sea fishermen trying to catch grouper-which often are at 60 feet deep or even deeper-troll at around 5 knots.There is a lot moe drag with deep water and higher speeds. So they probably need to use a 20lb weight.

Once you have an idea of the size of weight you want to use, you’ll still need to experiment a bit to be sure you’re on track. Head out on the water to a depth similar to the depth at which you plan to fish. Adjust your boat speed to troll at the rate you plan to use based on the kind of fish you plan to catch.Now lower the ball all the way to the bottom were you will notice the cable becoming slack. Then quickly stop it and retrieve a bit of cable to tighten it back up.Now check the line counter on your downrigger. Here’s where the record keeping comes in.Record that depth, your speed, ball weight and the depth of the water.

Then try experimenting a bit. Adjust your speed and repeat, making note of the new information.Adjust the cable depth at the various speeds and take note of that.What you want to determine is how many feet of cable to let out for a particular depth and speed to get to the fish you are trying to catch.By using some simple math like a percentage of cable needed to reach a certain depth or bottom you will be able to calculate how much cable to let out to be in the depth you desire.

Personally, I like to stay right around 10 feet above the bottom.For one thing, I’m sure fish will chase the right bait at that distance.They will swim up for it. But also, I don’t like the idea of getting hooked on something lying on the bottom and having to cut my cable.

I also recommend keeping the lead line at ten feet or less-from the ball to the lure or bait you’re using-so you can get the advantage of the negative Ion field that surrounds the ball itself. You need to be this close to utilize that.When there is too long a lenght of leader in between it will not work.

Beside the Cannon Mag 10TS there are some other basic needs to get started.Using a good sturdy 7′ rod with a conventioal reel attached and the proper strenght line for the fish you are targeting, a well made line release attached to your ball, the right bait and a decent boat, you’llsoon be downrigging like a pro. Downrigging is an enjoyable way to fish and a skill you’ll soon master.

You can get more information about all of the Cannon downriggers plus accessories-and all kinds of other fishing and boating electroncs-at the eFishBox.com website.

You will find great fishing and boating articles at MyTackleSpace as well as advise from your peers.There are some blogs and discussion forums on fishing and equipment ideas! Check it out.

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