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PostPosted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 6:01 pm 
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Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:17 pm
Posts: 97
Location: Jerrabomberra, New South Wales, Australia
G'day all....thought it was time to join the site. My wait is over, I pick up my AI tomorrow. I had my 4m Dunbier boat trailer modified to put the cradles on. I've got the day off tomorrow, (sweet), so I'll be in my shed with the fire going sipping Tooheys Red (beer) tinkering with my purchase. Hmmmmm, (note to self.....don't drill into AI if too much beer has been consumed!)

I was wondering if any one has installed a down rigger on an AI, (I have a Scotty Lake Troller from my old tinny.) and, if so, where is it positioned.

Feed back very much appreciated.

Regards and thanks, xdcammer. :D


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 4:25 pm 
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Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:32 am
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Location: Terrigal NSW, Australia
Don't know anything about downriggers xd, but welcome to the forum. Where do you sail - Lake Burley-Griffin?, Lake Eucumbene?

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 5:05 pm 
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Location: Jerrabomberra, New South Wales, Australia
Thanks Chrisj, mate, I wouldn't put my yak in Burley Griffin it's filthy. Tend to sail at Googong dam, or did last Sunday. I want to get this sailing thing worked out first before putting the rod in. Plus have to pimp up the yak first, rod holders and sounder.
Probably fish at Batemans Bay and down that way in the briney stuff and Eucumbene, Pejar, Jindabyne for the fresh, however, it will have to warm up first. Planning another sail on Sunday at Googong if the winds are favorable and weather is good. I have been trout fishing since I was a young bloke (fly, bait,and lures) so I would like to broarden my horizons with some salt water species (tuna and the like). I tried to post some pix of the setup but I think you have to ask special permission to post pix on this forum. I tried the img thing but it didn't work.

Cheers, XD.


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PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 5:58 am 
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Joined: Sun Jul 20, 2008 5:05 pm
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I have a down rigger that I use with my AI - but I did not attach it to the boat. I laid across and attached a board to the akas. I attached the down rigger to the board within arms reach so that I could adjust as necessary. I have used it a couple of times and did not have any problem. Sorry - but no pics. I also attached my depth finder to that board - and I like it there. I have set up my AI to do lots of different kinds of fishing/crabbing without drilling any holes.


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 6:58 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jun 05, 2010 2:19 am
Posts: 214
Location: Victoria, Australia
How did you go with your downrigger ?
I have also mounted one, I used a 1.5" Philmac ag, irrigation pipe clamp, then I made the rest from PVC fittings and an Alvey reel running 80 kg braid. I mostly used it clamped to the right side aka brace, as it was to awkward from behind the seat.
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bits and pieces used including Philmac
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roller in tip
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hole cut for rod to run through
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reel fitted to rod
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fitted of aka behind seat
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fitted with rod holders and off right side aka

I have since slid the rod and reel section further back so only about 6" sticks out the back with the reel further forward and easier to reach from my seated position (still off the aka brace).
(Edit; Images added)
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Image
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The weight, I made from lead I have found when scuba diving, I glued a piece of wood to a tennis ball, then made a plaster cast mould of it, couldn't believe it when the weight came out dead on 2.5 kg and it works a treat. Caution lead spits quite bad when pouring in the mould, also breathing gasses put off from the molten lead are not healthy.
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mould ready to be filled
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mould and weight after pour
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finished bomb weight

I have my sounder transducer wet mounted off the rudder and can see the downrigger bomb up to speeds of around 2.5 to 3.5 knots (depends on depth) before it disappears out of the cone, really good for monitoring the depth.
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Image

I have found snapper are very shy of the bomb and lures need to be trolled at least 3 meters lower again the the bomb weight to have any real success.

Good luck with yours, love to see and here how you go with it.


Last edited by ELM on Wed Jul 13, 2011 1:43 am, edited 2 times in total.

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 11:41 pm 
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Joined: Tue May 18, 2010 2:31 pm
Posts: 3068
Location: Kailua 96734
How about a simple approach like this? Anyone tried it?
http://www.flwoutdoors.com/fishing-articles/146342/deadly-divers/

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 6:47 am 
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Joined: Sat Jun 05, 2010 2:19 am
Posts: 214
Location: Victoria, Australia
I have used paravane's which are similar to divers off boats, not the AI, biggest problem I found with them is, you need to run very long leaders or the paravane can scare the fish, some species anyway. Longer leaders can make it harder to handle the rods and fish once up close. Two people on a boat, not such an issue but on a kayak on my own, don't think they would be as easy to manage compared to the downrigger, once the trip is fired on the down rigger, I don't have the extra's hanging off the line and can wind leader onto the reel.

Downrigger I can also use lighter tackle where with a paravane you need to use heavier gear.


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PostPosted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 12:17 pm 
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Joined: Tue Mar 16, 2010 9:12 pm
Posts: 195
Location: Hilo, Hawaii
Had similar issues as ELM mentioned when using divers and planers from the boat and found using a downrigger easier and more precise when you start marking fish on the FF. But there's a few posts of kayakers using them with success on the Aquahunters forum.

I'm working on a downrigger for my TI. So far I mounted the Scotty Long Arm (30" arm; 2' per turn) to the base of my TI's rear storage well using a Scotty downrigger base plate and reinforced it using a cutting board underneath.

Took it out for several run but havent run bait on it yet. When slow trolling (1-2mph of the FF) an 8lb ball with 200lb spectra, the storage well's base seem to be flexing a bit more than I'm comfortable with. My mistake was matching the reinforcing cutting board shape to that of the mounting plate. It should be much bigger to provide more support.

I plan to cut out a bigger reinforcing plate this weekend and post some pics.

Aloha,

c2y


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PostPosted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 3:44 am 
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Joined: Sat Jun 05, 2010 2:19 am
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Location: Victoria, Australia
There is a lot of pressure, more then I thought there would be when using one, more importantly though is if it snags under strong winds and at around 5 knots (now have one reef marked quite well :oops: ).

With mine the mount starts to spin on the aka first then the brake releases as it starts to pull you up, and that's with the brake just tight enough to lift the bomb weight. In fact some times I still have to grip the reel edge for leverage as the brake slips when trying to wind it in.

Glad its not mounted off the plastic hull as I think it would pull eventually and something to be very aware of.


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PostPosted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 11:40 am 
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Joined: Tue Mar 16, 2010 9:12 pm
Posts: 195
Location: Hilo, Hawaii
I totally agree with ELM, there's a lot of pressure that's placed on the downrigger's mounting. I also have my downrigger's drag set to close to downrigger's ball weight and usually have my rig set to 100 - 150' down in over 300' of water. And so snagging the bottom is not probable. But on the boat, we do experience an occassional snag of a flotsam or strike on the downrigger ball :shock: so good to have your knife ready. Downriggers definitely poses a danger when mounting to a plastic hull.

I'm planning on installing a bigger under mount that will extend rail to rail.

cliffs2yak


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PostPosted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 7:41 pm 
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Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:17 pm
Posts: 97
Location: Jerrabomberra, New South Wales, Australia
Thanks fellas for some feed back. The Scotty lake troller that I have has the clamp attachment to attach it to the boat. At the moment I'm setting up the rod holders, 2 RAM 117 swu with 9 1/2 inch extender arm on the starboard side. The port side RAM I will leave as is, it will be mounted on a c size ball strap mount off the port side ama, which will be ok for the down rigger to be mounted next to. (btw Marine Direct sold me the two holders for $150.98 AUS delivered. Only took 4 days to get here and very happy with the price. Price each in AUS $110 + delivery "ouch". Marine Direct $40 each $70 delivery, mmmmmmm like it.) Oh and, I have no affiliation with Marine Direct either.

At this stage (with a lot of thought and a few beers) I will see how stable and strong the RAM ball and strap mount is for the holder, and if ok, I will purchase another 2 and mount them on the port ama. All going well I will then clamp the down rigger onto the two ball strap mounts. I'll have to bodgie up something on the clamp.

After all that, on to a shark shield 7. Boy they were right when they said Rome wasn't built in a day.

Well, well, just as I was writing this the 9 1/2 inch Ram extender arm turned up from Johnny Appleseed GPS in Brisbane (no affiliation). Looks like I mount my starboard side rod holder tomorrow.

I'll try and get some pix up next week so you guys can have a look.
Have a good weekend fellas. XD


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PostPosted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 2:25 pm 
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Joined: Tue May 18, 2010 2:31 pm
Posts: 3068
Location: Kailua 96734
xdcammer -if you are really going to stress the balls w big fish and outriggers, best to use these mounts.
Image
http://www.gpscity.com/ram-mount-rail-clamp-base-1.5-inch-with-1.5-inch-ball.html

I just bit the bullet and ordered them along with the lightspeed holders for my Akas.
(There is a stronger 4 bolt version as well).

The RAM-271U-12 is a crazy expensive mount (more than the holder!), but worth it to me. I just didn't think the straps would perform and survive the conditions I will put them through. Let us know how the straps do, though.

Think about it - a few more beers will help ease the pain.

Cheers!

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PostPosted: Sat Sep 11, 2010 11:33 am 
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Joined: Wed Dec 10, 2008 8:53 pm
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doyle wrote:
I have a down rigger that I use with my AI - but I did not attach it to the boat. I laid across and attached a board to the akas. I attached the down rigger to the board within arms reach so that I could adjust as necessary. I have used it a couple of times and did not have any problem. Sorry - but no pics. I also attached my depth finder to that board - and I like it there. I have set up my AI to do lots of different kinds of fishing/crabbing without drilling any holes.


Hey Doyle,

Sounds like an interesting idea, do you have any pics?


Also, since we are going slower, I'm not sure we need an 8lb ball, has anyone tried a lighter one?


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PostPosted: Sat Sep 11, 2010 8:02 pm 
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Location: Victoria, Australia
JollyGreen wrote:
Also, since we are going slower, I'm not sure we need an 8lb ball, has anyone tried a lighter one?

I thought the same thing when I started with my 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs) so I tried a section of stainless steel rod that weighed in at 982 grams (2.16 lbs) and found it way to light, became to much of a guessing game as to true running depth which defeated the purpose (for me) of fitting the downrigger in the first place.
Then got my hands on some scrap steel rod to try, it weighed in at 1.6 kg (3.5 lbs) and was still unhappy with the result, it was just ok at around the 2 to 3 knot range but once I got above 3 and up to the 5 knot range (preferred speeds) it didn't cut the mustard. I find I can judge the 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs) pretty good in 21 meters (69 feet) and doubt my home made downrigger break could handle much more weight.

I plan on trying a spreader bar on one of my two 2.5 kg (5.5) balls so I can run two lures at once, but I am guessing the extra drag of the bar will make it harder again to judge true depth and may be the bag of sand that breaks the camels back as far as my downrigger break is concerned. Time will tell.

So how far behind is it traveling, well I have my transducer mounted off my rudder, I work on the idea that for every 1 meter of depth I have 1 meter of floor coverage (cone) from my sounder, the downrigger is about 1.75 meters in front of the transducer and in 21 meters I loose sight of the downdrigger line about the 16 meter mark (depending on speed) I am hopeless at math so jump in and correct me if I am wrong;
first halve the cone size, 21/2 = 10.5
add distance from trany to downrigger, 10.5+1.75 = 12.25
rate of curve per meter, 16/12.25 = 1.3
distance behind in 21 meters, 1.3x21 27 meters :shock: seems a lot when it's in writing :roll: .

I like using Rapala magnum in size 20 & 30, & deep divers in TDD11 TDD09 set my weight at about the 16 meter mark (so I can see it) and adjust line length so my lures are at around 20 meters so I don't spook the fish with the ball.

The deeper you go, you probably need a bigger ball, and if you are like cliffs2yak and fishing in 150' to 300' with all that extra line drag, then I would say you may need that 8 pounder (glad it's you winding it back up) :lol: .


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PostPosted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 4:28 pm 
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Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:17 pm
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Location: Jerrabomberra, New South Wales, Australia
NOHUHU, mate that's a much better and stronger solution. Ive already ordered the ball and strap c ball so I'll use that for the rod mount and I'll order mount rail balls for the rigger, many thanks.
ELM when I bought my Scotty rigger I also purchased a ball that was shaped like a torpedo with a fin on the end to stop it spinning. It's more streamline and works a treat it might be worth looking around.
Cheers, XD. :)


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