# trolling



## Bhilly81 (Oct 18, 2009)

i have a smallish fiberglass boat and there is no way to put a down rigger on it i also have a trolling rod with the lead core line on it and i was thinking to try to get it down a bit lower as i am trolling to attach a sinker or two right to the swivel before my flashers to add weight to get it down a bit lower or would that tangle up or cause problems with my line does anyone have any experience with this?


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

You may still be able to use down riggers.
Attach the riggers to a 2x6 and clamp the board to the rear of the boat.
Take it all back off when you are done fishing for the day.


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## orvis1 (Sep 7, 2007)

Several portable downriggers are available that clamp on clamp off to be portable from boat to boat that should work well. The only bad thing about lead core is it flattens out at about 50 ft with a portable rigger you can get it down 80-90 feet because of only a 4-6lb weight. If you can find a way to mount a full size rigger on you can get down to the depths over 100 feet. Good luck!


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## Troll (Oct 21, 2008)

Yes, you can put more weight on the lead line set-up. Yes it will get you deeper. It should not tangle things up. The amount of weight you can put on is relative to what weight the rod can handle. You can put a downrigger weight on it if you want. That will get you down, but you won't know if you have a fish on until you retrieve the whole set-up.
A couple of ounce keel sinker will help, but a stated above there are limits due to the flattening out of leadcore line at deeper depths due to resistance of the line in the water. Boat speed is also a factor, sit still and it will go straight down, sart moving and it will flatten out.
All that said, I have never seen a boat I could not make a Downrigger mount of some workable sort for. Pics will give me an idea of what I am up against.


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## Bhilly81 (Oct 18, 2009)

ok thanks for all the thoughts and replys i will put pictures up soon then and see what may come of it i appreciate it


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## 1morecast (Dec 6, 2007)

I have the same problem, i'm gonna set up one mini downrigger to see if its gonna do the job and ill let you know.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

The more crap you have on your line, the more leverage the fish will have against it and you will loose more fish. You want the absolute minimum weight / drag on the line with a fish on. 

This is where downriggers shine as they release the line from the weight on a strike.


-DallanC


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## Troll (Oct 21, 2008)

Bigboybob,
I am assuming you already have a depth sounder to tell you what your target depth is, correct?

You need to know that no matter what. From there I can teach you how to hit that target depth using several methods. If you do not have a depth sounder, spend your money on that before downriggers.


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## Bhilly81 (Oct 18, 2009)

ok here are some pictures of the rear of the boat it is a bit thicker than i remembered it being as i have yet to have it out this year 

troll,

i do have a fish finder with the depth and sonar its the hummingbird 570 series all wired in and ready to go that i have used all through last year pretty much


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## Troll (Oct 21, 2008)

Plenty of places. I would glue/screw a wood block to each side of the middle seat and mount the riggers there. You can build up the block to clear the gunnelsif you have to. By being just in front of you they will be easier to work, crank, ect, ect. Just lean forward to work them. It will also be easier to see releases and with the weight off they can be used to run planer boards from in the spring when you want to be shallow. If you have get swivel mounts they can be piveted into the boat for transport.

If you have access under the seat put a 3/4 piece of wood under there so you have a fiberglass sandwich with the seat as the meat. This, when screwed together will be very strong and not tear the down rigger mount out of the fiberglass of the seat. Yuo can use a silicone caulk for adhesive between the block and the seat. A nice piece of 2x6 about 8" long on top, 2 1/2" grabbers, predrilled to start easy should be plenty. 6 screws each block.


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## Bhilly81 (Oct 18, 2009)

Ok I see what your getting at there. I can get into the middle seat there that actually is a live well which has a good sized lid to give access into it


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## Troll (Oct 21, 2008)

Don't block getting into the livewell. You'll want that filled with ice.


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## Bhilly81 (Oct 18, 2009)

ok so i thank you all for the thoughts and comments i think i figured out what i am going to do with putting down riggers on the boat but it may take a few weeks to get the time to get it done


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