manually downrigging

[William Novotny]

Hi all, I'm interested in bumpballing for hali but the thought of adding a downrigger to an already tippy cobra xl worries me. My thought was of taking 80lb mono leader with a 1lb ball, attaching a clip and rubberband and just manually hand lowering it and tieing off. Has anyone ever done this? Any other ideas that may work better?

[GregAndrew]

Are you going to use a regular downrigger ball with it's own line and a clip to your fishing line? Most bounce ball rigs for Halibut have the weight attached directly to the rod. I would recommend braided line in either case rather than mono. It will get you to the bottom at a steeper angle (less line out), and is more sensitive (less stretch). The hardest/most frustrating thing for me has been getting the setup down without wraps and/or tangles. You need to be constantly moving forward when you lower your line slowly to deter this.

[William Novotny]

Originally Posted by GregAndrew

Are you going to use a regular downrigger ball with it's own line and a clip to your fishing line? Most bounce ball rigs for Halibut have the weight attached directly to the rod. I would recommend braided line in either case rather than mono. It will get you to the bottom at a steeper angle (less line out), and is more sensitive (less stretch). The hardest/most frustrating thing for me has been getting the setup down without wraps and/or tangles. You need to be constantly moving forward when you lower your line slowly to deter this.

I honestly have no experience with downrigging so any advise is great. I have a general understanding of the concept of a downrigger but that's about it. I also must add that I donot plan on using it in that deep of water. Probably 60' max. I'm assuming the lowering process would be a lot easier on a peddle yak since its hands free. Am I bitting off more then I can chew here?

[GregAndrew]

If you have the materials to do it, give it a try. There are a few things that a downrigger setup can do better than a bounce ball setup. You will not have to fight the weight up when you have a fish on either. Google "Bounce Ball Rigs" too for some alternatives.

[Dave k]

When I bounce ball i use 1 rig. I run a 3-way swivel. The mainline, straight 50# braid is tied to one end of the swivel. Off the other end i run anywhere from 1' - 3' of 15# mono to a sinker. The weight of the sinker depends on the depth I'm fishing. Off the 3rd end of the swivel I run 30# flouro to my bait. Sometimes I run a dodger, sometimes just a straight lure. I've had similar luck both ways. The length of line between the swivel to the bait/lure will vary depending on whether you use a dodger or not. You'll want to experiment a bit with this.

I like to use a lever drag reel for bounce balling. This lets you drop the rig at a more steady pace and avoid tangles.

For the lure, I personally like to use a hollow belly swimbait, rigged weedless with an Owner Twistlock Beast hook (size depends on the swimbait size). This is virtually weedless so you don't have to worry about wasting your time dragging around a bunch of eel grass you didn't know about.

Bounceballing can get pretty tiring though, and you'll get a mean case of gorilla arm if you don't switch which side you troll on every now and then.

Good luck! hope this helps a bit.

[dgax65]

If you want some ideas on installing and using a downrigger on your yak you might want to search the Australian Kayak Fishing Forum. I've seen quite a few downrigger installations from our friends down under. Check in both the "rigged kayaks" and "do it yourself" forums.