Downriggers for stripers

I am considering buying a couple of downriggers for striper fishing. Do you guys have any suggestions that aren't super expensive? I am thinking trolling is the better solution instead of dodging spoons and jigs when I take my teenage daughters and their friends out. I almost needed medication after the last trip.

On a funny note though, I took 5 of them out on Lake Whitney this last weekend while the high school tournament (100 boats) was going on. It was pretty funny watching those young fellas forget they were there fishing. LOL.

I like to downrig. What’s your budget?

Could I get a decent pair for $300 - $400...or less?

You are going to want an electric unit so that you can send it down and retrieve it quickly. I use the Cannon Digi-Ttroll 5 and it runs $700 new. Buy all the parts and pieces and the electric to wire it and you are a $900 or so for one complete setup. It will allow you to run two rods at the same time.

If you were to consider a manual rig, you could certainly only run one with a single rod. But it is more time consuming to crank it down and crank it up all the while controlling the boat and the rod or fisherman. If you would like to discuss it, PM me a phone number and I will give you a call. I do like running one and it has been very successful at putting fish in the boat.

What do you think about the "bottom tracking" feature? Worth it. BTW - I just purchased a Nautic Star 215 XTS. Please feel free to pass along any boat tips.:)

You are gonna love the 215 XTS! I am updating into a 2019 215 XTS Shallow Bay in November. I love the way Nautic Stars perform.

I don't use the bottom tracking feature. I prefer to control it myself based on what is on sonar. Modern technology is excellent, but some of it requires a lot of attention to operate. You spend more time programming than fishing. I want technology to assist me, but I don't want to it require more than a few seconds of attention and then back to fishing.

Went fish the Chesapeake last year with a buddy. He had 30’ and 40’ planers. Any reason planers wouldn’t work. Much cheaper and it seems like they would accomplish the same thing with less hassle.

What advantages would a downrigger provide?

I run 2 manual down riggers and 1 dipsy diver off of a tracker bass boat. I get to the depth I want without issues and we catch tons of striper. The manual down riggers are a whole lot cheaper and easy to work once you get use to them. If my boat was big enough I would run 4 of them but it's to small.

I fish alone or with a guest every now and then. Since I run the boat, run the downrigger,and handoff the rod, it is nice to have a single button retrieve. Depending on where I am fishing, the running depth of the bait is 16 to 65 feet. I don’t enjoy extra work, so electric is the only way to go for me. I’m on the water 4-6 days a week up to 8 hours a day. That’s a lot of cranking to get the ball up.

While I agree with Craig on the need to control the cannonball depth based on what you're seeing on your screen, bottom tracking is a very useful feature when you are fishing shallower lakes or when crossing humps from deeper water. Especially if you don't have a helper aboard

I have both the small Offshore planer boards that connect to your fishing line, and also a pair of big boards that I run off my Big Jon tower. Planers position the lure out away from the boat but they don't have anything to do with precision depth control. The depth is going to be set by the lure you run, line size, speed, etc. I mostly use the boards to "bird dog" out to the sides to cover more water and they are also useful if you want to send a shallow running bait close to a shoreline or up in a cove where you don't want your boat to be.

But side planers can be a real issue with other boats, especially weekends on a lake like Texoma. . A lot of people have seen me coming from a long ways off and still want to pass close to my boat, especially if they see a fish being landed. And I won't run the planers near a shoreline where there are bank anglers; obviously that's their water while they're fishing. Planer boards were built for big water fishing and will work on stripers and sandies, but sometimes aren't worth the hassle.

I made a short YouTube video of everything a guy would need to get started that would meet your budget. I absolutely love my downriggers and setup! Especially for the price.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pCeIxxMR2bk

Excellent video, I enjoyed watching it again. Have you been out on FPH this year?

Great video. Thanks

I have been out about three or four times this year but just can't seem to figure out where those white bass and hybrids hide in winter and where they "run" at in spring. The night bite is about to get good till June then summer mornings get predictable. I still have so much to learn about that lake. Have you been out lately or have any luck? I've heard northeast corner of dam gets good about this year.

Haven't been to FPH this year. Fished Millers Creek 3 times and got skunked the last 2 times. You are right that the wipers and whites are not in their pattern. I'm going to open another thread about MC to avoid highjacking this one and will try to post some sonar screenshots from MC.

I must be using the wrong terminology. What we used made the lures dive straight down behind the boat like a crank bait. Was thinking about investing in a couple of rods and trying them out on our stripers here.


Did a quick search, this is what we used:

http://www.seastriker.com/ss_files/planers.htm

Like dipsy divers or pink lady’s. They will take a lure down to the desired depth up to 60 or 80 ft deep. It takes some experimenting to figure out what depth they are and how to get deeper or shallower to get the bait where you want it. Downriggers are much more accurate. IMHO

I used dipsy divers for two years. They take lots of practice to use on a regular basis. That is why I went to manual downriggers. I still run one dipsy diver on my boat only because my boat is to small for any more than two downriggers. I only use the dipsy divers in deep water. In shallow water less tha 30 feet you stand a good chance of getting hung up and having more problems. Capt. Craig is correct in that the electric downriggers are so much easier, but I'm on a budget and can't afford them. Manual downriggers are easy to use with a little practice. I fish with a couple of buddies on a regular basis and it's easy when everyone knows how to operate the downriggers and we help each other out. I have learned from watching guides use them and trust me they make it look easy because they are doing it every day to earn a living. I was lucky enough one day to help an older gentleman out at PK that was having boat issues and was a retired guide and he gave me the in's and out's, what to buy and how to use the downriggers. With a little practice and patience they are a great tool and will help you catch a ton of fish.

Ahh, I see. You say tomato, I say tomahto. Attached photo is a pic of an Offshore brand side planer board that I ran up close to a brush line where I could see some hybrids were chasing Shad. ILook close, you can see the line pointing to the yellow board and orange flag out there.

I didn't want to put the boat on top of the fish so I tied on a Rapala minnow about 20 feet behind the board, ran the line out about prolly 100 feet, and then just made a few passes parallel to the brush line. It worked ok but I don't like reeling in a good fish with an attached planer board. It kinda deadens the action and definitely increases the drag. I don't have any pics using my big boards that run off a Big Jon tower. You rig these more like a downrigger so that when you get a strike, the line is completely released from the main line to the board..but takes one guy almost full time to watch the boards especially in close quarters. Or weekend crowds on Texoma

I just purchased a pair of Cannon Uni Trolls with swivel bases. Looking forward to trying them out. Thank you all of the input.

I used a set of Cannons like that before I bought my current boat. The Uni-Trolls are good rigs and will give you many years of service. Be sure to keep a set of diagonal cutters handy in case the ball hangs up and things get out of control

Thanks for the advice on the side cutters. I didn't think about what a mess that would be. Not to mention losing a $50 ball.

Troll long enough and you will loose a ball. Side cutters are a good idea so you don’t loose the downrigger also.

Like bobo said, you'll prolly lose a ball sooner or later. What I'm talking about is if the ball gets hung up and the cable gets tangled up in the downrigger spool or on a cleat...something's gonna give. Have some cutters ready and sacrifice the ball as a last resort

I made a short YouTube video of everything a guy would need to get started that would meet your budget. I absolutely love my downriggers and setup! Especially for the price.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pCeIxxMR2bk

- I have a question for you sir. I bought the churchtackle.com line releases that you showed in your youtube video but I either don't know how to use them (they look different than any other release clip I have seen) or either maybe they are for planer boards? Do you use the exact kind shown in your video and if so, how do you do so?

Thanks.