ZOMBIE ATTACK on the Berry !!!

Utah Fishing Reports & Discussion Utah Fishing General
1

I purchased a couple of really cheap down-riggers and we tried them out. They appear to be working, but I’ve never used them before. One thing I did notice, however, is that when I lowered them down to 20 feet, I immediatly heard the groan of ZOMBIES !!!

Just imagine the groaning sound that zombies make, and that describes the sound that I heard from my down-riggers.

Can somebody tell me if this sound is normal? Both downriggers make the same sound, and both ar loud.

Does this sound scare, or attrack fish?

Any way to make the sound go away???

Well, all that being said, we got annoyed with the sound and so we reeled up the downriggers and stowed them..

So, we ended up catching just 5 fish between the two of us. I think I need a refresher course on fishing the berry because I haven’t seemed to have much luck the last 3 times I’ve been out..

I don’t have any chub meat, so that might be the problem. I’ve been working with White tube jigs (trolling and jigging) tipped with worm or shrimp.

Anyway, I also didn’t see hardly any fish on the fish finder. I guess they’ve all gone shallow?

Well, enough of my aimless ramblings. Just thought I’d share a bit of info and ask a few questions.

Thanks for enduring my ramblings :slight_smile:

–Curtis

2

That’s probably the cable hum that you’re hearing. Nothing to worry about. Some replace the steel cable with 200# superline. I have heard of a trick a submarine crew used to reduce the drag of the cable connecting the sub to a floating camera. They tied thousands of threads about 1/2" apart and about 1" long throughout the length of the cable. It reduced the parasitic drag and harmonic noise. I have never verified it but it makes sense. The water going around a round pillar will have an eddie current that switches from side to side sometimes. Same principle with downrigger cable.

3

Check the Voltage on the downriggers
this will show you how.
the voltage will tell you if the sound will scare, or attract fish?

Any way to make the sound go away
(google) I have seen some things that will help

worm or shrimp. should work trolling

If you don’t see fish on the fish finder no fish, are they are on top.

look to see where all the boats are maybe they or on top of the fish.

this time of year you should be catching a lot more than 5 fish
so don’t know what to tell you

4

Does cable hum sound have anything to do with the Voltage?

I’ve got voltage control (positive Ion) but the cables still hum.

5

He is saying to check the actual cable. Not the power supply cables.

6

That is some REALLY COOL information. I had no idea that the electrical charge(s) your boat puts out could be repelling fish. That MUST be my problem.. I’m hoping anyway, and in all seriousness. It would be GREAT if I could attract instead of repel fish from my boat by changing its electrical characteristics.

Thank you very much for that information. I’m going to do a bit of reading on it and hopefully improve my fishing.

7

Strawberry in the fall= planer boards and small cranks!

8

Try using a Cannon downrigger ball retrieve. Putting a little tension on the downrigger cable will sometimes reduce if not eliminate the hum - not always but a lot of the time. I think the water temperature has something to do with the amount of hum you hear while the cable is cutting the water - louder when the water is colder. The hum does not seem to affect the bite - in my opinion.

site for the ball retrieve:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cannon-Weight-Retriever/699952.uts?productVariantId=1184276&WT.tsrc=PPC&WT.mc_id=GoogleProductAds&WT.z_mc_id1=00467000&rid=20&gclid=Cj0KEQjw4rbABRD_gfPA2-uQqroBEiQA58MNdPX1MjlOhxaZ6uSVDrN8r8KP4udA0HxlvQh5BswRPXcaAsEU8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

9

Ignore all of the others – they’re just trying to keep you from being scared as the sounds really are Zombies!

But, not to worry as Zombies can’t swim! Isn’t that why we all have boats?

I’ve been fishing Flaming Gorge with the Dacron down rigger lines and hardly heard Zombies at all. If they bother you, switch to Dacron, but know the Zombies are still there!

Particularly as it gets closer to Halloween, you might actually see them, so be ready to cast off and head to deep water!

10

Do you have any photos of the Small Cranks you are using? Also, where do I get them?

Thanks,
Curtis

11

some things that may help the hum
I have cannon elect. I don’t have a lot of hum

and you need this Insulator between the ball and cable.
have not found any in stores around here
have seen the scotty snubber in stores

CANNON DOWNRIGGER PART 2200148 - SNAP AND INSULATOR

Scotty Downrigger Weight Snubber with Swivel and Snap
this is what it looks like

Downrigger-weight-snubbers

I love downriggers and catch a lot more fish with them
last time I was at Strawberry I had the downriggers down 15’

here is how I do a check to see if my boat is “hot”. When on the water I will put riggers down about ten feet.Then I will turn on every electrical device I have on the boat. Then I will slowly let the trolling motor push the boat through the water.I will then hook the positive side of my voltmeter to one of the downrigger wires.

Then connect the neg side of the meter to the neg on the battery.Then I will check the voltage. Now be sure that you have a meter that will read 0-1.0 volts..If memory serves me,I think the ideal zone is around 0.65-0.75 volts.If you have a higher voltage,you could have a “hot boat” The book says that if it is hot to turn off each electrical system (vhf,stereo,bilge pump,etc) one at a time,til the voltage drops into the required zone.

When you have identified the system that is causing the boat to be “hot” then start checking for loose grounds,bare wires.etc. If the boat checks out good on one downrigger,then I will hook up the other one ,and preform the same test.If you have a chance to get a copy of the book,“downrigger fishing techniques”,from pro-troll they have some great info when dealing with a "hot "boat.I think that it is important for those of us that have electric downriggers,with stainless steel line,and aluminum boats to a least make a voltage check every once in awhile.

12

some things that may help the hum
I have cannon elect. I don’t have a lot of hum

and you need this Insulator between the ball and cable.
have not found any in stores around here
have seen the scotty snubber in stores

CANNON DOWNRIGGER PART 2200148 - SNAP AND INSULATOR

http://www.fish307.com/…-snap-and-insulator/

Scotty Downrigger Weight Snubber with Swivel and Snap
this is what it looks like
https://www.walmart.com/…053509&wl13=&veh=sem

Downrigger-weight-snubbers
http://www.kokaneefishingforum.com/…showthread.php?1704-

I love downriggers and catch a lot more fish with them
last time I was at Strawberry I had the downriggers down 15’

here is how I do a check to see if my boat is “hot”. When on the water I will put riggers down about ten feet.Then I will turn on every electrical device I have on the boat. Then I will slowly let the trolling motor push the boat through the water.I will then hook the positive side of my voltmeter to one of the downrigger wires.

Then connect the neg side of the meter to the neg on the battery.Then I will check the voltage. Now be sure that you have a meter that will read 0-1.0 volts..If memory serves me,I think the ideal zone is around 0.65-0.75 volts.If you have a higher voltage,you could have a “hot boat” The book says that if it is hot to turn off each electrical system (vhf,stereo,bilge pump,etc) one at a time,til the voltage drops into the required zone.

When you have identified the system that is causing the boat to be “hot” then start checking for loose grounds,bare wires.etc. If the boat checks out good on one downrigger,then I will hook up the other one ,and preform the same test.If you have a chance to get a copy of the book,“downrigger fishing techniques”,from pro-troll they have some great info when dealing with a "hot "boat.I think that it is important for those of us that have electric downriggers,with stainless steel line,and aluminum boats to a least make a voltage check every once in awhile.

Very good information,and that is how I check my voltage. for those of you with a glass hull ,this might not be as big of a problem. Those of us who own metal boats, should be checking for a hot boat a couple times a year. Humming is caused by speed of the cable through the water. If it wasn’t speed it would hum all the time.
Personally I don’t think a cable humming affects fish all that much. now there be times when it might,but if your not catching fish when the d/r cable is humming,it might be from trolling to fast.