Hello everyone.

I struggled for a long time learning to use a downrigger until I went with a guide (Bob Maindelle of Holdingthelineguide service). I made a short slide show over the things I wish somebody had shown when I first started and luckily he taught me.

Check it out if interested....

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

I plan on making one over what hybrids look like on sonar in the next few weeks.

Cool video! Good info!

Thanks for the feedback! I hope people starting out or even have been downrigging for a little while find it helpful. One thing that really seemed to be lacking on the web is how sonar plays, or rather should play, a strong role in downrigging and I hope I introduced that in slideshow form adequately.

I hope to make more short instructional videos soon!

Good tips. Thanks for sharing!

have been Down rigging since 1985 on Texoma, and have always done real well. No Time for live bait, for I cant put a bait box in the boat. but then again, never needed it.
Electronics are a Major part for Depth, etc.

Nice catches! I agree, no live bait and hassle is a huge perk! More time looking for fish and covering water!

Hey thanks for the video. I've been trailing my lures 75-100 feet behind the cannonball which does make for long wide turns and I also have been using lighter weights. Gonna switch to shorter trailing lines and heavier ringer balls this weekend and see what happens. Nicely done video, good pics.

Man, I have been studying downriggers this past week to help me decide what gear to get. I can't believe my good fortune to come across your post. Thank you very much!

Thank you for sharing!

I highly recommend the Cannon Digi-Troll 5. Excellent electric downrigger. While an angler might think that the handcranks are most economical, they are also the most aggravating. The electronic units precisely lower the ball weight and automatically bring it to the surface so the user can fish without having to work the manual downrigger too. Hideandseekfish, you aren't far away, if you have questions, you can come out and take a look at my setup.

Yep one day I might get an electric one but hard to justify because of the $188 vs $800-900 price difference. Its nice having the stored depth features and the "auto up" is helpful. The easy troll ones I have use a great gear ratio and lifts probably 2-3 feet or so per turn with little effort and couldn't be easier to descend the ball by just pushing handle backwards and slipping the clutch. Seems like Cannon really has brought their manual crank downriggers along in recent years (they use to be a pain in the butt from what I have heard with 1 turn equals 1 foot). Not sure from my experience with these vs the electric downriggers I've used if its worth spending four times the money unless you have a jacked up arm/shoulder or are a guide.

Love my DigiTroll. The best feature is the bottom tracking. You can set it to keep the cannonball a specified distance off the bottom. so if you move from say 35 feet of water over a 20 foot hump, it will raise the ball up and will then lower it back down when you move back into deeper water. Worth the money if you do a lot of trolling.

Im glad my video was of some help or spur on some new ideas!!

I learned that trick form Bob Maindelle of Holdingtheline guide service and applied the shortened distance to my home lake (Fort Phantom) and have had great luck even in fish in 14 foot of water with cannon ball only 10 feet deep!! He fishes Stillhouse Hollow and Belton which are very clear vs my muddiest of lakes.

I so very confused when I asked him one our trip how far the bait would be behind the ball and I said "what, like a hundred feet" he looked at me and said no way!! Just to prove a point he hooked it 6 feet behind his ball and we doubled up on white bass time and time again from the same school. He even uses his cannon ball without bait attached (he calls it the wrecking ball technique) to get the active fish to shoot up off the bottom so he knows they are active fish and then spot locks on them to slab them knowing they are active and ready to bite. His point to me is that the fish are not scared of the ball or boat and should clip close to the ball which seems to attract them anyways.

My method is to clip it as close to the ball as possible without having to fight your bait from tangling as it rides the waves before descending with the ball....which seems to be hassle free work at about 12 feet or so.

That's awesome!!! I did not know they did that and now I am way more interested! There have been a lot of fish on a point with a drop off and its tricky fishing for those fish hugging that sharper contour line. I guess it plugs into your helix or what? That's the strongest sales pitch for electric downriggers in my opinion!!

Clohse, I use downriggers for salmon fishing up in Alaska. Cranking manual downriggers from 80 to 120 feet deep (or as deep as 300 feet) does get to be a real pain, and I love electrics for such applications.

But, typical striper/hybrid/sandbass trolling is usually going to be alot shallower, so cranking shouldn't be a big problem. How heavy are the downrigger weights that you use?