New line on a Scotty downrigger

[ruttinbuck]

I am replacing the line on my new to me,first owned or fished with 1085 downrigger.
Doing some reading on the harmonic and electrolosis in the stainless line that is on downrigger{how harmonics and electrolosis actually can repel fish}.
Some of the articles I have read claim you can control or eliminate these conditions using the braided line instead of the stainless.
What say ye Scotty owners?
Is it worth the almost double cost for braided over stainless?RB

[tomahawk]

The braided line is of benefit when it comes to controlling the electric current around your lure. I am considering this as well, I replaced my stainless with stainless 2 yrs ago and its getting rotten and fraying already.

[Salty]

Some boats do have stray current that can cause this problem. A simple test will tell if yours does. Bring a ampmeter along next trip and clip onto the downrigger line, and ground to the grounding system or battery. Any measureable current isn't good.

[blindguy]

Stainless all the way stays deeper and fishes better if your boat is electricaly tuned.ie no bad grounds or broken wires.Bonding your boat helps the whole deal as well. If your boat is tuned rite you will attract fish to you.With the braid you dont have to worry about anything like that it lasts a long time and is easy to deal with.I run 2 boats on the west coast .last year i had 1 with wire and 1 with braid both caught fish but the boat with wire caught much larger fish time and time again..

hope this helps if you have anymore questions pm me .

[SAVAGE300]

If your boat is properly zinced ( anodes) you should not have this problem as for an under zinced boat, stray electricity will attack the downrigger wire, zincs are designed to attract voltage and erode away in time saving props, gearcases and so on, hope this makes sense

[blindguy]

Salty not all current is bad in fact current is good if it's not to high somewhere between .5 and .7 will help you fish.Thats why fish have lateral lines .

[Salty]

Salty not all current is bad in fact current is good if it's not to high somewhere between .5 and .7 will help you fish.Thats why fish have lateral lines .

Ya I've heard that but have not played with the magic amount of current mumbo jumo. lol. I just aim for none - totally closed electrical circuits - no chance for leak. ..

[ruttinbuck]

Sounds like from what Salty and Blindguys comments are I should do some more research on this phenomenom {sp?}.
My boat probably won't see any salt water but big lake fishing is where I will be from early april-late march until the deer rut next fall.
THX for the comments RB

[Salty]

RB search electrolysis boat or something like that. Much less of an issue in fresh water but good for any boater to understand.

[M.Dean]

Off topic, but what do you guys pay for down rigger 2lb canon balls? I bought a mold and have been making them for my son, he said he'd try to sell a few for me down there, was just wondering what there worth.

[BlacktailStalker]

Yes its worth it, for the inconvenience/cost of fixing frays on the water, losing cannon balls and all the junk rigging thats required with stainless and the potential CHANCE of running too great a current POSSIBLY detering fish (sometimes more is good)

[Sitkaspruce]

I switched to the braid two years ago and will not go back. I have a weilded aluminum boat and just did not feel like playing with the Black Box anymore.

I fish 130 lbs TUFF XT in neon yellow. The is less blowback, no kinks, no painfull small strand sticking in your fingers, easier to see and when using the scotty red clips can stack no problem.

A couple things to do if you do switch.
- Wrap ~100" of heavy dacron around your drum before placing the braid. This will act as a shock and bind buffer between your plastic drum and the braid. There is some reports of Scotty voiding your warranty if you warp your drum and are not using scotty braid.
- Get yourself a couple rubber snubbers to attach the ball to the braid. They take up any shock of a ball decending too fast and stopping and they have a 75 lbs break limit so they will break before anything else if you get hung up.
- Get the Red Scotty clips for braid and if you find they still slide, attach them with a small dab of crazy glue.

One thing to watch for is small nicks in your braid. if you find them cut them off as you will soon find your line training out behind you with no weight. Been the, done that:-D

Cheers

SS

[M@B]

Braid sux. it's just terrible stuff, do your self a favor and don't do it. if you're seriously worried about running a hot rigger, fish your gear 40-50 feet back before clipping it in. Problem solved.