 Outfitter Doug Komrosky, PO Box 1057, Havre, MT 59501 Home: (406) 262-2195, Cell: (406) 390-6892 Email: Hi-Line Charter Fishing
I knew there must be a significant amount of swing-back on the downrigger ball that was making the bait run much higher than the depth gauge on the downrigger indicated. This question needed to be answered before I could say I was effectively putting the baits in the strike zone. I started loosening up my transom transducer, allowing me to set the transducer at angles away from the boat. Instead of trying to track bottom, I wanted to track the downrigger balls. Presto. After experimenting with different angles on the transducer, I found that I could now track those downrigger balls and observe where they were running in relation to the fish I was targeting. If the baits were running even with or below the marked fish, I could simply raise the downrigger balls to get them to run 10 to 20 feet above the fish. (Salmon and Lake Trout will both come up to the bait, but not down to it). So where is the bottom if the transducer is set back at an angle to view the downrigger balls? WHO CARES!! As long as you can track the baits at a given depth, that is to say at the depth where the fish are, who cares where the bottom is. We need to be concerned where our baits are in relation to the fish. If those downrigger balls happen to run too close to the bottom, keep in mind there is still an amount of swing-back that allows the baits to actually disappear on your electronics before the balls hit the bottom. The amount of this swing-back depends on speed of the boat and weight of your downrigger balls. I use 12-pound cannon balls and usually run at a speed between 2.4 and 2.8 miles per hour. I have found I usually have about 8-10 feet to play with, after the baits disappear on my electronics, before I need to be concerned about the bottom. If you want a more detailed explanation on this tilting of the transducer method of tracking baits and fish, email me and I'll try to help you out. Don't Forget - Take a Kid Fishing! -- Doug and Carol Outfitter Doug Komrosky PO Box 1057, 6820 Hiway 2 East Havre, MT 59501 Home Phone (406) 262-2195 Cell Phone (406) 390-6892 Email: Hi-Line Charter Fishing |