How To Use Cannon Downriggers

Savvy fishermen know downrigging is one of the best ways to control the depth of their fishing lure-short of dropping anchor.Preferably you want to try to keep your bait at the same depth that you fish finder shows the fish are located.  It will take a little trial and error, patience, and a bit of record keeping, but you can become adept at doing this.

I like to use the the best.I have used other brands but was never satisfied with thier performance or durability.Most of them fell apart tto soon or rusted out prematurally, so I didn't think that I received fair value for the dollars spent.

However, some really great downrigging system are made by Cannon.They have more sufisticated systems, but I like to work with something a little simpler, like the Mag 10TS, for example.  Experienced boaters and fishermen trust the Magnum because it has been proven to be extremely durable and dependable.  It offers a speedy retrieval rate of 250 feet per minute, includes a short-stop feature to protect their boat so that a swinging weight won't put a hole in the side, and it is really tough and can handle a lot.  In particular, the Mag 10TS has a spool constructed of stainless steel that can deal with the "super lines" popular these days or monofilament.It has a stylish appearance with a nice white finish and includes Positive Ion Control which creates an electronic field around the ball making your boat a fish finding machine.

To begin you want to decide how deep you want to be and at what speed you will troll.When trolling faster or going deeper, more weight will be needed.The reason is that you have to compensate for the extra drag produced by the water as you speed increases.One example is most Great Lakes fishermen trolling for salmon set a speed of 1.5 up to 3 miles per hour and aim for a depth of 15 to 30 feet down, so they don't have a significant drag and can use a 5lb ball.But deep sea anglers fishing for grouper-which often are at 60 feet deep or even deeper-troll at around 5 knots.With water depth like that and a higher speed you get a lot more drag.So they likely will need a 20lb ball weight.

After you have determined the weight ball you need you will still need to experiment some to be sure you're on track.  Head out on the water to a depth similar to the depth at which you plan to fish.Set the boat speed to the desired trolling speed based on the fish you are trying to land.  Now drop the ball all the way to the bottom at which point you will you see the cable start to slack up.Then stop it quickly and retrieve some of the cable to tighten it up.Now check the line counter on your downrigger.  Here's where the record keeping comes in.  Write down that depth along with your trolling speed, the ball weight, and the water depth.

Then try changing a bit.Each time you adjust your speed make a note of the information aquired.Adjust the ball depth at the various speed setttings and make a note of that.What you want to determine is how many feet of cable to let out for a particular depth and speed to get to the fish you are trying to catch.  Using a percentage of the total length of cable required to reach the bottom-or some simple subtraction-you should then be able to calculate how much cable to let out if you want to run at 20 feet from the bottom-or 10 feet or 5 feet above or wherever you want to be.

My personal prefference is to stay about 10' above the bottom.For one thing, I'm sure fish will chase the right bait at that distance.They will swim up for it.I also don't care for the idea of getting hung up on something on the bottom and being forced to cut loose my cable.

Another recommendation is to keep your lead line at 10' or less from the ball to your bait so that you get the benifit of the negative Ion field that surrouds the ball.It has to be that close to use it.  If you've got too much lead line in between there, it won't work.

In addition to the Cannon downrigger Mag 10TS, you'll need some basics to get started.Using a good sturdy 7' rod with a conventioal reel attached and the proper strenght line for the fish you are targeting, a well made line release attached to your ball, the right bait and a decent boat, you'llsoon be downrigging like a pro.  Downrigging is an enjoyable way to fish and a skill you'll soon master.

For more information about Cannon Downriggers and Accessories plus all types of other fishing and boating electroncs visit us at eFishBox.com.com website.

You will find great fishing and boating articles at MyTackleSpace as well as advise from your peers.  There are also forums and blogs to help generate lots of ideas and great fishing discussions!  Check it out.

Tags: cannon downrigger parts, cannon downriggers, downrigger weight, electric downriggers, fishing downrigger