06-13-2004, 04:09 AM
Hi Kent,
I use downriggers a lot and I always run a minimum of 75 feet behind the ball. The deeper you're trolling the less line I feel you need out behind the ball. Why so much line? Well the ball is almost directly under your boat. That means the lure is only behind your boat the number of feet you let out your line out behind the ball. In shallow water fish tend to avoid boats due to noise from the motors. So I try to run as far back as I would as if I was trolling. My suggestion of 75 or more feet goes out the window when you're trolling in water deeper than 80 feet or so. You can get away with running closer to the ball since the lure is so deep. The last two weekends here at Bear Lake I was running riggers down 12-14 feet in water only 15-20 feet deep. I had two poles stacked on the riggers and one was back 125 feet and the other 100 feet. I probably caught more fish than the average person since they were running so short behind the ball. In that depth of water fish avoid the boat. I wish I would have had side planer boards to to get the lures away from the boat. I'm sure this would have worked here at Bear Lake last weekend in the shallow water. I've used side planers a lot for walleye back in Michigan on Lake Erie.
Scott
[signature]
I use downriggers a lot and I always run a minimum of 75 feet behind the ball. The deeper you're trolling the less line I feel you need out behind the ball. Why so much line? Well the ball is almost directly under your boat. That means the lure is only behind your boat the number of feet you let out your line out behind the ball. In shallow water fish tend to avoid boats due to noise from the motors. So I try to run as far back as I would as if I was trolling. My suggestion of 75 or more feet goes out the window when you're trolling in water deeper than 80 feet or so. You can get away with running closer to the ball since the lure is so deep. The last two weekends here at Bear Lake I was running riggers down 12-14 feet in water only 15-20 feet deep. I had two poles stacked on the riggers and one was back 125 feet and the other 100 feet. I probably caught more fish than the average person since they were running so short behind the ball. In that depth of water fish avoid the boat. I wish I would have had side planer boards to to get the lures away from the boat. I'm sure this would have worked here at Bear Lake last weekend in the shallow water. I've used side planers a lot for walleye back in Michigan on Lake Erie.
Scott
[signature]