There are a few offshore setups that just have to go out every trip. They don't always produce but they have saved many slow days. Often they are the only lines hit. What are they? The deep line and the WAY WAY Back lines. This thread is dedicated to the deep lines. There are lots of ways to get your lines deep, and here is the place to post them. We'll post our go-to deep rig, but its by no means the only way to get a line deep.
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We use a set of Penn downriggers with the 48 inch boom. They sit in the aft rod holders on a 360 degree swivel base. They can be easily reeled up, pulled and moved forward when we need to clear the gunnal.
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The reason we use the downrigger, is depth control. When on the hunt, trolling at 5 to 7 kts, we have about 25 feet out, keeping our lures down around 8 feet. While this works just fine and had often produced Tuna & Mahi along with teasing in a white here an there, its not where the downrigger shines.
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The downrigger earns its money when you mark those stubborn tuna down deep and just cannot get them to come up! How many times have you been there! If you can't get them to come to you then you have to go to them. My team has produced a hooked Sport Dredge (Six arm 12" diameter). The small diameter produces, less drag as compared to the big 36" dredges. We also have no trouble adding a stinger to it. We get it deep by using a 13# Ball and replacing the downrigger cable with 250# Power Pro Spectra.
When we mark those stubborn tuna down in the deep we don't endlessly troll over the marks hoping to bring them up, we spring to action:
> mark the plotter
> come around to hit the marks on the same course
> as we approach we slow the boat and lower the dredge on the downrigger
Using the fish finder in split screen with 200/50 kHz we are able to watch the downrigger descend, sometimes we can see it past 100 feet. The target is to get the dredge about 5 feet above the marks, before you get the boat back on top. If your timing is right, you drag the dredge right over them and draw a bite. This tactic has been so consistent, on our boat the downrigger is send deep on the second pass every time.
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Often we slow the boat to less than 3 KTS, the trick is to get the dredge to the fish. If we pass over without a hit, we pull back to all stop for about 5 seconds and then kick it up to 3, then 4 then 5 kts. That sends the dredge even deeper, then when ya kick it up the dredge comes racing for the surface, action no tuna can ignore!
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I am sure I left out a few things, but its a start. Here are a few shots from last year:
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We use a set of Penn downriggers with the 48 inch boom. They sit in the aft rod holders on a 360 degree swivel base. They can be easily reeled up, pulled and moved forward when we need to clear the gunnal.
-
The reason we use the downrigger, is depth control. When on the hunt, trolling at 5 to 7 kts, we have about 25 feet out, keeping our lures down around 8 feet. While this works just fine and had often produced Tuna & Mahi along with teasing in a white here an there, its not where the downrigger shines.
-
The downrigger earns its money when you mark those stubborn tuna down deep and just cannot get them to come up! How many times have you been there! If you can't get them to come to you then you have to go to them. My team has produced a hooked Sport Dredge (Six arm 12" diameter). The small diameter produces, less drag as compared to the big 36" dredges. We also have no trouble adding a stinger to it. We get it deep by using a 13# Ball and replacing the downrigger cable with 250# Power Pro Spectra.
When we mark those stubborn tuna down in the deep we don't endlessly troll over the marks hoping to bring them up, we spring to action:
> mark the plotter
> come around to hit the marks on the same course
> as we approach we slow the boat and lower the dredge on the downrigger
Using the fish finder in split screen with 200/50 kHz we are able to watch the downrigger descend, sometimes we can see it past 100 feet. The target is to get the dredge about 5 feet above the marks, before you get the boat back on top. If your timing is right, you drag the dredge right over them and draw a bite. This tactic has been so consistent, on our boat the downrigger is send deep on the second pass every time.
-
Often we slow the boat to less than 3 KTS, the trick is to get the dredge to the fish. If we pass over without a hit, we pull back to all stop for about 5 seconds and then kick it up to 3, then 4 then 5 kts. That sends the dredge even deeper, then when ya kick it up the dredge comes racing for the surface, action no tuna can ignore!
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I am sure I left out a few things, but its a start. Here are a few shots from last year:
