Irvine Lake report
 

Went out to irvine again today lookn for some more of those pesky trout! Day started out with super thick fog, thank god for gps...and the crowd today was relatively light. Weather today was in the low 70s, with a little light breeze making it an awsome day to be out on the water.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...3DADAC0BDD.jpg

I just bought a downrigger this week and was really excited to try it out. I was worried that it might turn into a cluster fuck...but actually depolying and retriving the whole setup is pretty simple, the only time i needed to use 2 hands while deploying was to attach the line to the release clip. Heres a picture of the setup...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...3D9DE8FA94.jpg

Ive been trolling for hours and hours and hours, without a single bite....so I yell out loud "this fkn sucks!!!!" with emphasis on sucks. Finally about 11:30 I get bit, first trout of the day. Usually im done by now, so im a little frustrated...ok back to trolling....soon after I caught the first one I get bit again, I get that sucker close, he starts acting like a dorado and going nuts, he ends up shaking the hook....of course....man im having a bad day...so i end up hangn another one soon after, this time hes in the net, i unhook this bad boy and try to throw him into my bait tank...and he goes over the side...this is gettn better and better! So at this point all 3 of my hookups have come on the surface and none on the downrigger, obviously they are on top, i should troll both lines on top but im hell bent on catching something on this downrigger! So after another hour of limits of nothing...i see a little tap tap on the downrigger line....


Oh its just about the biggest crappie ive ever caught!
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...3DC7EB1442.jpg

So now its about 1:30 still no trout on the downrigger....im really dissapointed. I get another bite and its on the surface troll line, ok fish in the boat. After I unhook the fish tap tap on the downrigger line...the fish couldnt pull the line off of the release...could it be? Yep, first trout on the downrigger. Deployed the rigger again, about 15 feet deep, bang another bite this time i got the release dialed in and it releases perfect, fish in the boat. So now im stoked! Gotta take another pass! Drop the troll rigs out after awhile no bite, checked the downrigger line out, and its twisted all to hell! Well looks like that rods done...so i grab the other rod on the surface snap it on the release clip...and send it down, i couldnt have gone 20 feet before it got inhaled! Fish in the boat, thats my limit finally!

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...3DD8897E73.jpg

That downriver setup on the yak-attack gear trac is pretty clean. Nice trout limit :cheers1:

Nice limit Tony. What the hell took you soo long?:rolleyes:



That down rigger set up looks pretty tight.

I have one of those thingy now i just need to set it up.... thanks tony

Trout makes some good eating. Great report.

The downrigger looks clean and easy to use. Hmmmm, maybe on the Outfitter....

Good job sticking with the plan. There's nothing like getting bit trying a new method with some new gear.

nice report, congrats on the success! That downrigger is pretty sweet, i bought one a while ago and i accidentally broke the mount so now i have to gerry rig it :o

hoping to get to irvine by the end of the week

EDIT:
mind positing a pic of your downrigger rigging? (The weight and release)

So did you bring the fish up with the rigger when the clip didn't release the line? I wish I had more time to fish the lakes...good job!

No, just a quick swift pull will release the line from the rigger.

The weight and release is nothing fancy, just standard. I'm running a 2lb weight with a scotty release looks like this. I am thinking of going with a 3lber, next time, the 2lber worked fine but a little extra weight would keep it more strait up and down.

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/i...j2aTZYaTlFW_zT

http://www.protroll.com/res/online_books/salmon_3.jpg

I'd like to see that thing in action while fishing for hali's

it just seams like a tangled nightmare ... all though i have never seen one until now.

Thanks i've been trying to figure out how to rig this thing on the cheap, i personally think the price of the finned downrigger weights is ridiculous. I'd imagine that you could even replace the scotty release with a modified clothespin. (maybe add some electrical tape where it clamps down, and put a piece of plastic on the end you squeeze to round it off to prevent some spin. idk just random ideas :D)

I've always wondered how well you could use something like this to present lures / bait to hali-s. i'd imagine kelp that you can't see would be an issue

im still playing with my down rigger setup.
i use a 3lb cannon ball and it stays pretty much straight down at walking speed trolling at 80ft or so. easy to track on the sonar
cannon ball weights are much cheaper than the finned down rigger weights.
i did pick up some two pound weights at the sd anglers swap meet. 3-2lb cannon balls for $5.00 couldnt pass it up. i havent used them yet. i hope dont need to. ;)

i also use the stock scotty release. seems work well.

Nice work

Nice job Tony! Next time maybe start out lowering your rig down about 3 feet. :D

Nice job. I used to have a similar set up on my ocean kayak. I use the Scotty 1050 on my Outback. Mounted on the livewell. I can stack two lines with an 8# ball, killer for trout & salmon.

Steve

http://www.bigwatersedge.com/bwevb/p...pictureid=1201

It's always people who say things like this who end up killin' em...lol...usually while he is napping....:D

Thanks for the report and THANK YOU for the downrigger inspiration. Your setup is awesome, added to my todo list! :you_rock:

Noticed pic looks like you were on a Hobie PA at Irvine Lake. I thought they don't allow sit on top kayaks. Has this changed?

Thanks for sharing report and downrigger setup. Pretty cool!

You must be confused with another lake...as far as I know they have always allowed sit on tops.

I love the set up, that would be perfect to pick up some striper as well.

I use the same downrigger setup for salmon on Lake Ontario. If you ever need to run that setup deeper its best to swap out that 150 lb cable. ( They spool it with the same cable they do on the big downriggers where they run 15 lb weights).

With a 6 lb ball I could get down about 70 feet with the original cable (100 feet long) while trolling at 2.5mph.. Only issue is I had to keep up a really fast cadence to keep moving at that speed due to the drag.

I would recommend a 6 lb ball and spool the thing with either power pro or 7 strand fishing wire. This will reduce the drag and blowback a lot. I prefer wire because the hum of the wire seems to attract salmon but the powerpro is more stealthy depending on what your target species wants.

Cheers

Yeah your not kidding about that huuuummmmmmmmmmm almost sounds like a motor at low idle

Another trick ( depending on regs where you are) is to run another lure with a 6 foot length of flouro to a snap swivel.

When you have your first lure all set up and before you put your rod in the rodholder clip the 2nd setup to your line and it will sink to the apex in your fishing line. This works great just be sure not to have too long a lead off the cannonball otherwise when it gets hit you have a lot of slack to take up before catching up to the fish.

Cheers

i know this late but.. hey, Tony thanks a lot for helping me out cleaning the fish! :D :you_rock: