Boat Head Division Blog: Fishing With Your Downriggers
Your Boat's Downrigger Can Help You On Your Next Fishing Trip
Raritan Engineering Company your boat head specialists would like to share with you these topics we thought would be of interest to you this month regarding fishing with your downriggers.
Your boat head experts discuss how a few things frustrate us as much as staring at mark after mark on the fish finder, while our offerings go untouched. We’ve all been there — wondering what we’re doing wrong, why the fish won’t rise to take a bait, and what we could be doing differently to trigger a strike.
We have a number of ways to get baits down beneath the surface: planers, lipped lures and using oodles of lead are all options. But you’ll have a tough time finding someone versed in the use of downriggers who doesn’t believe them to be a superior tool for reaching deep fish in a number of situations.
Thermal Adjustment
“Fish don’t just sit up top, especially when there’s a strong thermocline,” says tournament angler and team captain Mark Henderson of Liquid Fire, who fishes everywhere from the Gulf coast up to his home port in North Carolina.
Henderson says he always runs two downriggers, and mixes up what’s offered on the lines — usually skirted baits, plugs or live baits — to give the fish some options. He’s caught species ranging from sailfish (as deep as 85 feet) to mahi to king mackerel.
Even when there isn’t a strong temperature break beneath the surface, Henderson still utilizes downriggers to give his baits a slightly different look. “Changing the presentation just that much, with a common bait like a cigar minnow or ribbonfish that’s usually placed at the surface, sometimes makes a difference.”
How Many Fish Will Your Downriggers Help You Catch?
Find marine toilets here at Raritan Engineering, where we always take care of your marine sanitation supply needs.
The other downrigger application he advocates — and it’s a popular one — is trolling for wahoo. “A lot of times, they prefer a subsurface bait,” he says. “In that case, a purple-and-black Ilander lure rigged with a ballyhoo is the preferred offering.”
Forgione says this technique makes downriggers very effective for targeting sailfish, and also for blackfin tuna in spring. “They always seem to be swimming right along that temperature barrier,” he explains. “And you have to remember that the temperature and the currents can be completely different down below, sometimes as little as 20 feet down.”
Pay to Play
Effective though they might be at times, downriggers must be properly tended. “When you get a fish on the line, you need to get the downrigger ball up and out of the way fast,” Henderson explains, “or you risk a disaster.”
But will a downrigger expand your options, and allow you to apply the most effective tool possible when the conditions call for it? You bet, and that will help you turn those frustrating sonar marks into fish on the end of your line.
So don't forget these great tips on using your boat's downriggers to help you fish offshore. 1) Downriggers can give bait a different and more appealing look; 2) they help you get your bait to the part of water at the right temperature; and 3) make sure you tend your downriggers properly.
UK government to protect fishing waters from EU with ARMED patrols
The move will be a major signal to the European Union to stay out of British waters.
If EU fishermen fail to do this they will be met with an armed response.
Mr Eustice spoke to the House of Lords’ EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee and said:
“We are ensuring we have the capacities we need on the day we leave the EU.
“We are speaking to the MOD about the fisheries protection unit and what additional capacity many be required there.
“We will need more vessels, particularly when boarding fishing ships.
Jim Portus, chief executive of the South West Fish Producer Organisation, previously said the Navy would have to be intelligence-led.
He said: ”Yes, there are risks of port blockades, especially by the French. They do it so often.
“But we already have technology like satellites, plus CCTV cameras on many vessels.
“There will be 1,000 UK fishing vessels just itching to report any illegal activity.”
French Fishermen complain that ‘life will be hard’ as Britain to FINALLY get its waters BACK
‘Life will be hard’ when the UK takes back control of its waters claims French fishermen.
French fishermen destroyed the UK fishing industry! These are our waters and our fish.
The French are more than welcome to fish in their own waters.
Cry me a river…
SFF chief executive Bertie Armstrong said: “It is clear that there is overwhelming public support for the UK to regain control of what is after all part of its natural capital – the fish stocks around our shores.
“It is pleasing that voters have also been persuaded that it makes sense for us to leave the [EU’s] Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) within the early stages of the transition period.”
Click here to get your boat head and see how we provide you the best products in the marine sanitation industry today.
Comments
Post a Comment