TOPIC:

Hi guys,
What line weight would you guys recommend for spooling up downrigger rods? Thanks.

I use Blood Run 25lb Tournament Mono. Big Game is also good IMO.

Thanks Dirty.

I switched to 30lb braid (ended up with Power Pro Super 8 Slick 1500 yd spool for $100) last year with 25 or so foot of 25lb flurocarbon leader. Also switched to Chamberlain releases. Among other advantages over my old pinch style releases, they work well with braid.

This thread was a pretty good discussion:
www.thesouthend.org/index.php/forum/tackle/3597-braid-question

The only reason I dont like braid on riggers is because of free sliders. No stretch and small diameter mean very little bow in the line. While I cant be sure, I would guess that slider aint doing what we hope. Do you use a fixed slider Sean?

I had that same concern initially Jeff but free sliders ran just fine and caught fish.

In thinking about it, you send main line / lure down to depth without ever actually setting / loading the rod up as it would be fished in the holder. So you are attaching that free slider and tossing it in the water while there will almost certainly be a decent bow to the line. When you put the rod in the holder and load it up, I think there's enough resistance / pull from that slider to maintain a decent bow in the main line while still being able to load up the rod in the holder.

I almost always run super slims as free sliders with a 6ft lead, so it probably doesn't require that much resistance to create and maintain an adequate bow in the line.

I have ran my riggers up as high as 20 ft with a free slider on and was able to see the slider flashing around in the water and running as it should with the rod loaded up in the holder. I would guess if you were to run riggers shallower than 20ft there wouldn't be enough bow in the line to get them to run correctly, but that is probably true regardless of what type of main line you use.

ok cool - definitely always been a concern of mine since we have to mostly guess at what is going on down there.

I use 20 pound line, both mono and braid. I use strictly mono when fishing no deeper than 30 - 40 feet (which is a lot of the time). I use 20 pound braid when fishing deeper, to eliminate the blow-back and to get better releases. The only time I go heavier is when there are lots of fish hook fleas in July. Actually, I used to use Fireline, which was horrible with Fleas - but the slicker braids still collect them, but the fleas are easier to remove.
I ALWAYS have hi-vis line on my reels - ALWAYS. Bright orange (some call it tangerine), bright yellow and anti-freeze yellow/green are my favorites in mono. In braid, I like the sky-blue colors. Unless I'm going to be fishing with a dodger or flasher, there will always be a fluorocarbon leader. You will find fishing with hi-vis line easier, there will be fewer tangles, easier to detect when tangles occur - easier to disassemble a tangle when it occurs and in the end, more fish in the boat.

I do use sliders and have found they work just fine on both braid and mono.

What is the preferred downrigger weight size to run? My boat runs at 2.0-2.3 most of the time. I was thinking 8-10 pound balls.

I run 10's.