5/5/07 - downriggers

[coralsea]

Thanks to ALL.

[Capt Ahab]

Anyone ever you Z-Wings?  We are thinking about installing those in place of the weights - supposed to work far better

[Tightlines667]

We used to use downriggers alot for Salmon fishing, and transitioned to using them in saltwater (for Wahoo w/Ballyhoo), and Yellowfin Tuna (w/Rapalas), as well as fishing live Bonito.  We've tried the cannon balls, cannon balls w/plate, and Z wings.  The Z wings do get down deeper at speed, and were great for fishimg the great lakes for salmon.  As I recall we occasionally used them when saltwater trolling, but eventually went back to the plain old cannon balls.  I think it may have had something to do with how they behaved after we hooked up, and were clearing lines, or maybe they didn't run as straight when fishing rough seas in the trough.  I seem to remember cutting wire out of the prop more often with them.  They do run deeper though.  Doesn't hurt to try them out for yourself.  Maybe try running one on one rigger, and a ball on the other.  Drop to the same 'depth' setting, and see which one is running deeper, and trackimg straighter in the turns.  You can use a compass, or I think they make an aftermarket dohicky that does the work for you, to tell you the true depth.   I do know we tried alot if fancy spreads the first seversl years of offshore fishing, and eventuslly came to the conclusion that 'simplier is better'.