TACTICS
Scotty downrigger and a variety of weights.
By Jono Booysen
A
NYONE who has spent time on the water behind the steering wheel of a boat, watching the sounder, would have seen that on some days the fish are holding right down close to the reef. These are also normally the days that the current is f lying and even though you have tried using the trusty bottom sinker and elastic band, you just can’t get your lines deep enough to entice a strike. This is when a downrigger is worth its weight in gold. The basic concept behind a downrigger is a large reel loaded with wire connected to a heavy lead weight. This weight has a release clip that the fishing line is attached to. When the ball is lowered to the desired depth, it takes the line and bait with it. Whether you have a manual or electric, both have built in line counters which indicate how deep the weight is. This helps put the bait/lure at the exact depth of the
strike zone. When there is a strike, the line releases from the downrigger and the angler can fight the fish without any weight attached. There are two types of downriggers — manual and electric. The advantage of the electric ’rigger is that when there is a strike, all you need to do is press a button and the weight is retrieved and automatically stops when it reaches the surface. This means that you have an extra person available to clear other lines. This luxury does, however, come with a hefty price tag. had downriggers.This was a bit of a problem when fishing in tournaments if all the fish were down deep in heavy current. One couldn’t simply bring a downrigger with and use it on any boat, as they have specialised bases fixed onto the gunwales which need to be sturdy enough to hold the weight of the lead while trolling. To overcome this hurdle, I made a very crude portable downrigger. It consisted of an old scarborough reel loaded
10 • SKI-BOAT November/December 2020
with heavy leader, and a shortened fibreglass bottom rod.A short section of rope was looped over the handle to prevent the reel from backwinding.This ’rigger could be put into a flat rod holder on any boat and worked just as well as the permanently mounted versions. In fact, I still use it on the odd occasion. BUT WEIGHT, THERE’S MORE ... When it comes to deciding which downrigger weight to use, there are many different options available. What you are trying to achieve with a downrigger is to get the most vertical angle you can get, especially at a relatively fast speed, with the least amount of weight. To achieve this, you need something that is hydrodynamic. By this I mean the weight has as little resistance in the water as possible. It might seem strange, but at 5 knots, a 5kg lead ball will often track higher in the water column than a 4kg weight of a different shape, just because of the resistance
