Downrigging for reefies

[Wazzup]

I am intereted in trying out a downrigger for fishing on the reefs out from Gladstone. My main thought was to troll livies very slowly around the deeper reefs. Has anyone tried fishing like this and if so what gear would you suggest I use.

Wazzup

[nofrills]

hey wazzup

yea the deepest ive trolled is around 240 ft.a couple of things you will need.
1. a pancake bomb to cut down the drag.i use a 10lb tru trac bomb from the states.
2.use braid on your main line for the same reason as above.
3.use a rubber band and not a pressure clip.all the drag on your line at big depths will keep popping your clips.also the braid will wreck the pads
4.keep an eye on how much blow back you are getting when running against the current and set the rigger deeper to allow for it.also be aware when you tern and go with the current your gear will hang vertical and may snag up.
5.also dont use to much drop back.a good reffie will have you bricked before you can get the L out of your line.
6.make sure your dr has enough cable most smaller cannons only have 170ft.
7.ive gone the hole hog and use a cannon digi troll which has its own transducer and tracks the bomb a preset distance from the bottom ,its a pearler but a bit expensive

i hope you like sweetlip
cheers scott

[Dendrobe]

How much drop-back would you ordinarily set Scott? Does it vary if you're using livies, lures, squid?

[nofrills]

i dont guess the dropback so much because of what im using for bait as what im trying to catch with it.if its reefies i'll use a small amount around 20ft,if its pelagics ill sometimes use up to 1ooft.
the reason is the reefies will hit the bait and go for the bottom so you need to be straight onto the rod and get that slack out so you can get their head up.
with pelagics they will pull the slack out themselves and wont try to brick you so a heap of drop back wount hurt.the bigger amount of dropback also gives them a little longer to get the bait down.

just be careful with a short dropback that you lower your gear slowly.i will usually stop for a few seconds every 15ft or so.Bucause your bait is much lighter than your bomb it will want to tangle on your cable if you drop everything quick with a short dropback.

cheers scott

[webby]

Scott has vertuially summed it all up, with trolling.
I use mine a lot at anchor reef fishing, where u can have a longer drop back, what u do is depending on the clip your using and i use cannon's, u get to know what tension you can put on the clip before the line pulls, braid will slip a look quicker under tension, whereas mono will hold a lot tighter.
To compensate the longer drop back when at anchor, and the bait is out, load the rod up, what i mean is wind the line in as tight as you can from the rod to the release clip till the rod is actualy bending under load, you find the further you clip the line back in the clip the harder it holds.
What happens when you get a strike, because the rod is loaded it springs up and takes a fair bit of the slack out of the drop back which give the fish less line to play with to head for cover, it also usually sets the hook, but this depends on the amount of drop back.
What i also do at anchor is instead of having the release clip off the bomb i have a connections 1m and 2m up the wire from the bomb where i clip the release clip too, so your bait is highter up in the water flow then the bomb.
Just remember also to get the bomb and wire out of the way on hookup as the last thing you want is the fish taking your line around the wire.
Hope you understood that.
regards #

[Ratman]

Guys,

Can anyone explain how you attached a rubber band to braid and disgard the cannon clip?

Mick

[nofrills]

hey ratman
a picture paints a thousand words.

this first pic is if you want to use braid and still use your clip.when it getts hit either the band will break,or if the clip is set very light it will slip out of the clip.

[nofrills]

just loop it round the braid and wack it in the clip

[nofrills]

this is if you dont want to use a clip

[nofrills]

close up

cheers scott

[Ratman]

Scott,

And I thought it would be something complicated. Thanks for going to all that trouble mate.

Mick

[Cheech]

After reading this, I want to build a downrigger. Webby, was it on here or B & B that you gave details?


Cheech

[Brooksy]

Scotty how far off the bottom are you trolling?

Steve

[nofrills]

hey brooksy hows it goin

depends on what im after.if its reefies on a flat reef prolly as low as 5ft,but if there is lots of pinnacles and stuff prolly up to 15ft off the bottom.if its macs ill run a couple of flat lines and start with one downrigger prolly a third of the way down and the other 2/3 of the way down.once i find what is getting the fish i leave the other lines in and concentrate on that depth.
some days i dont use the downriggers at all but some days i would'nt get a fish without one.
cheers scott

[craigie]

Scotty,

What kind of dollars are you paying for your "Pancake" bombs from the states ??
Do they sting you on the postage due to the weight ??

Have noticed we could all save a fortune by buying our DR'S from Uncle Sam, bit like poison when purchased locally !!

Finally got mine all rigged up and ready to go. Looking for a Spaniard on it this season
I'll be watching your posts for the good oil

Thanks also for all the above information, it will be very usefull

Cheers
Craigie.