# pro troll 11"



## 71nova (Jan 9, 2008)

I bought one of those pro troll 11" e-chip flashers from cabelas a couple weeks ago. I finally got out to try it last weekend at strawberry. I didn't fish it with my downrigger cause it would just trip the release and float up, so I used my copper line. I tried to let out as much line as I could to get it to sink but it wouldn't. Even when I held the end of my rod tip under water I couild eventually force it to sink but then wouldn't spin. wtf? I thought it is supposed to spin, and that's the thing about it. anyway I wonder if this one is defective or if I should just drop it down with my downrigger and hope it is spinning. Can someone help me with this? Also I have another release that is way tighter than the one I was using, so that's not an issue, I was using this one because it would release with the normal size fish. I've dragged 2.5 lbers around the lake with my tighter release before and didn't know they were there till I reeled in.


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

The reason the dodger is snapping you out of the release is because you are either going too fast, your line isn't far enough back in the release, or your release isn't tight enough to hold it. Those big 11' pro troll dodgers create a lot of water pressure as they go through the water, usually pulling harder on the release than the release is able to hold. That's why it snaps out every time. 

The other problem with the pro troll dodgers is that they are plastic and don't sink very well, as you found out. It's nearly impossible to run them without having them on the down rigger because they just won't sink. 

But, with lead line or copper line, I would think it would go down. Is it possible that you had the dodger tied on backwards? The spooned part of the dodger should tie to your lure. 

It isn't defective but it is really really big, especially for a place like Strawberry. I was using the 00 (5 or 6") Lhur Jensen dodgers last weekend and catching fish like crazy. 11" is probably too big for anything but large lake trout at Flaming Gorge/Fish Lake/Bear Lake.

If you want to run the 11", I would suggest you slow down, set the line all the way back in the release and/or use the tightest release you have. If you are waterskiing fish, your rod is too stiff for the downrigger. You need to get a lot of bend in the rod to be able to see light hits. My rods look like an upside down "U" when I have them set in the riggers.

Hope that helps.


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## 71nova (Jan 9, 2008)

Yes I had it rigged right, I wasn't sure it would catch anything either since it is big, but I wanted to try it out. I tried different speeds, different leaders, blah blah blah. I just think if it won't spin it's not worth taking to fish lake or anything. I did see some pretty big fish on the finder, few and far between. I also tried using a couple smaller flashers but no luck with those either. The copper line would sink it but after it tightened up it would rise, but it just seemed like it was planing(since it would always float up flat like an airplane wing) up rather than floating, if you know what I mean. 
I'm more or less wondering if it should just spin all the time like my smaller ones or not. I'll give it another shot thi weekend and see if I can't make it work. If not its going back to the store. Thanks by the way.


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

I think it is designed to spin all the time. But, I've never pushed mine fast enough to do that. I just let it wobble when I use it.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.


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