Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/3607
Sometimes the fish we seek demand that the baits anglers use to fool them be presented at a precise depth. Usually, that means at the depth the fish are found, using sonar, but not always (see sidebar). Putting live bait and lures in the face of fish while vertically fishing from an an- chored or moored houseboat, or even a slowly drifting craft, is simple, using sliding bobbers set to hold the bait at a particular depth. This time of year, however, fish can be scattered as waters cool, and trolling may be the best way to locate pods of active, feeding fish. The most precise way of getting baits to a particular depth while trolling is practi- cally an art in itself, revolving around the use of fishing tools called downriggers and usually used at depths exceeding 50 feet. At their simplest, downriggers are giant reels mounted on the boat's transom and spooled with cable attached to a heavy "ball" that may weigh several pounds. When fish are located below the boat, the line from the rod and reel is clipped to the cable and the ball is dropped down to the desired depth. The lure or bait, trailing 20 to 100 feet or more behind the snap, is pulled through the water and remains at the desired depth, kept there by the weight of the downrigger ball. When a fish strikes the bait, the line snaps free of the clip and the angler fights his quarry to the surface while the cable and ball remain below. The ball is cranked back to the surface when it's time to attach another line, and lowered back down. If it sounds complicated, it is. My wife refuses to go out on our boat if she sees my portable downrigger in the gear-bag. She's witnessed the monster I can become when I accidentally drag a downrigger ball down 50 feet deep across a rock-pile 30 feet below. Ditto turning too quickly when using multiple downriggers, or allowing the downrigger ball to descend—and then stop—too quickly, creating a backlash of stainless steel cable. All it requires are a few of those episodes to put any spouse on full alert. Besides that, downriggers are expensive, especially the electric-powered, fully automatic models. Go Deep. Fish such as walleye are often found deep and can be finicky about their feeding depth. Snap weights are an easy way to get baits such as spoons down to the level where gamefish will see—and eat—them. hooked 20 Houseboatmagazine.com