Anyone tried the on-line downrigger 'black box'?
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one side (with the DEFG) was a bloody nose anchovy special with about a 4 foot leader, behind a newer purple flasher with the sort of fractured pattern. the hook is in good shape, but it does have some rust. I'll change that when I'm out there this afternoon.
The other side (without the Downrigger Electric Field Generator or DEFG) is a green glo (also anchovy special I think) on about a 7 foot leader, behind a green flasher with the thick orange stripe.
I'm hoping to conduct some more research this afternoon. My buddy has tasked me with getting him a salmon to take back east, and I'm down to a couple days!
The other side (without the Downrigger Electric Field Generator or DEFG) is a green glo (also anchovy special I think) on about a 7 foot leader, behind a green flasher with the thick orange stripe.
I'm hoping to conduct some more research this afternoon. My buddy has tasked me with getting him a salmon to take back east, and I'm down to a couple days!
I see you have a scientific mind. Those are valid points - I will try to be more disciplined with my control. With that in mind the, the packaging for this thing says that it puts out this voltage over hundreds of feet. So, in theory, there shouldn't be an impact on one side vs the other.
After rereading it, they also avoid terminology that says it actually brings fish it. They say fish 'like' it, rather than it attracts fish.
After rereading it, they also avoid terminology that says it actually brings fish it. They say fish 'like' it, rather than it attracts fish.
Seafever
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't waste my time with that charger thing......
you don't need it at all...
Go longer leaders from flasher to teaser head......(7ft)
Get the right roll on the chovy (or herring )........Purple haze teaser head is pretty good....
Change flashers .........
What do you see on your fish finder when you are out there?.....marking any fish...marking any baitballs etc ?
I don't know exactly where you are fishing off there..........but some place are better than others....
I don't think it's a voltage issue at all.......
#1 rule of fishing:- be where the fish are......
IMO 4ft (as you described) is too short for a bait leader behind a flasher generally.
you don't need it at all...
Go longer leaders from flasher to teaser head......(7ft)
Get the right roll on the chovy (or herring )........Purple haze teaser head is pretty good....
Change flashers .........
What do you see on your fish finder when you are out there?.....marking any fish...marking any baitballs etc ?
I don't know exactly where you are fishing off there..........but some place are better than others....
I don't think it's a voltage issue at all.......
#1 rule of fishing:- be where the fish are......
IMO 4ft (as you described) is too short for a bait leader behind a flasher generally.
It had been tea coloured all weekend, but cleared up yesterday. I had a pretty good day using the longer leaders. Landed a 11 lb'r and lost a 12 or 14 lb'r after a great fight and a half dozen leaps and a couple runs. How would you fish water with the tea-coloured algae bloom? I have a theory that it might be an irritating algae chaetoceros, which a biologist friend suggested. The stomach on the salmon i boated was 100% empty, which has been rare in my experience. I'm going to post more on this on the Sooke fishing reports section.
Seafever
Well-Known Member
Colors for "tea stained" or brownish water:-
Pink
Red
Chartreuse
Brown
Gold (flashers with gold on them)....red/gold flashers.....purple/gold
I have caught fish before with nothing in them even though there's food for them around....
Glad to hear you are catching fish.......
Pink
Red
Chartreuse
Brown
Gold (flashers with gold on them)....red/gold flashers.....purple/gold
I have caught fish before with nothing in them even though there's food for them around....
Glad to hear you are catching fish.......
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Funny you mention that as last time out as soon as the stereo was turned on we had a fish on.
I don't think this works with country music tho
only when you play it backwards!
Iwannagofishin
Member
Are salmon attracted to electrical fields?
Here is some info about how Lurecharge got started as well as info on fish and electroreception.
One of the first bits of information that I read on the subject was I believe made available by Malcolm or Bill Russell (original black box). It was of a university study done on the Columbia river where they inserted 2 large metal pipes and charged one with positive and the other with a negative field. The returning salmon would only go through the positive pipe. This was the start of my learning after finding out that I couldn't catch sockeye to save my life off of the Fraser River (1981 commercial trolling). I did fix this the next year with a combination of bonding as well as black box. I am also the first to admit that some boats didn't need a black box as long as they had trolling line voltage naturally.
During my research I built a 30 ft test trough to work with. Voltage generated on lures in fresh water would drop 30% for every 10 ft of separation. In sea water the voltage did not drop 5% over the entire 30 ft. A shark can supposedly detect voltages as low as 1/10,000 of a volt miles away. No, I am not fishing for sharks either, and I luckily I don't see an increased by-catch of them with my spoons.
Test fishing results in Nootka last summer resulted in 10 out of 13 springs taking a 'tuned' lure as opposed to a plain, identical lure. I always fish with identical lures, identical depth and distance from boat, no bait or scents, no flashers except with hoochies, deep six divers instead of downriggers and lures 16 ft apart ( spread between rod tips). During this test period I used a variety of spoon, plugs and hoochies with anodes attached to get the right range of voltage. It took a while to dial the voltage in. I was going by what I used to use for wire line voltage, .5 to .6. Perhaps it was a strength of field or amperage level, but my results did not significantly improve until my lure voltage got closer to .8 volts. My trolling spoon packaging says .65, but that is only for the closed minded who would refuse to try one because ("that's too high for springs!!!"). I have also done lots of trout testing and so far it is hit and miss. Some cutthroat in some lakes have given me as high as 7 to 1 catch/strike ratio. Other lakes seems to be a bust and so far I haven't done well with rainbows.....yet. No fish seem to be adversely effected by 'tuned' lures and they don't go crazy once they are hooked, just normal. I've had one nice fish strike and miss twice before hooking it on the third try. It wanted that lure!
Some folks don't like Gamakatsu hooks on my spoons??? You can change them out with stainless which will give a slightly higher voltage. With springs, I never did find the high end voltage where they were spooked off. You can also use my anodes on virtually any lure as long as the metal components are right. I find that normal nickel plated brass swivels will drop the voltage slightly as well. I use stainless swivels on my spoons for that reason. None of this should effect the fishing negatively. You should be able to mix and match nickel and stainless hooks and brass and stainless swivels and still be in the range. You will just have to stay away from any galvanized components. My anodes are designed basically to work with nickel and stainless.
**** Here is a link to a UBC student's master's thesis based on springs and sockeye attraction to electrical fields. If you get headaches easily, skip to page 105 for his conclusion which basically says that springs are best attracted to .5 volts, sockeye are attracted to 1.0 volt and all salmon are repelled by a negative voltage field. I personally feel that the findings are flawed because a voltage originating on one side of the boat will effect the fish on the other side. Regardless, this is a valuable study.
https://circle.ubc.ca/bitstream/handle/2429/21785/UBC_1979_A6_7 N65.pdf?sequence=1
**** Here is another link to : Electroreception and Communication in fishes by Berndt Kramer
One quote from this study is: "Being electroreceptive enables a fish to lead a secret, nocturnal life, undetected by diurnal predators. As no living organism is able to prevent weak electric currents leaking from it's body, it is of great selective advantage to detect these signals from a distance, even when the prey is buried under sand",
http://epub.uni-regensburg.de/2108/1/ubr00728.pdf
Hi guys
Here is some info about how Lurecharge got started as well as info on fish and electroreception.
One of the first bits of information that I read on the subject was I believe made available by Malcolm or Bill Russell (original black box). It was of a university study done on the Columbia river where they inserted 2 large metal pipes and charged one with positive and the other with a negative field. The returning salmon would only go through the positive pipe. This was the start of my learning after finding out that I couldn't catch sockeye to save my life off of the Fraser River (1981 commercial trolling). I did fix this the next year with a combination of bonding as well as black box. I am also the first to admit that some boats didn't need a black box as long as they had trolling line voltage naturally.
During my research I built a 30 ft test trough to work with. Voltage generated on lures in fresh water would drop 30% for every 10 ft of separation. In sea water the voltage did not drop 5% over the entire 30 ft. A shark can supposedly detect voltages as low as 1/10,000 of a volt miles away. No, I am not fishing for sharks either, and I luckily I don't see an increased by-catch of them with my spoons.
Test fishing results in Nootka last summer resulted in 10 out of 13 springs taking a 'tuned' lure as opposed to a plain, identical lure. I always fish with identical lures, identical depth and distance from boat, no bait or scents, no flashers except with hoochies, deep six divers instead of downriggers and lures 16 ft apart ( spread between rod tips). During this test period I used a variety of spoon, plugs and hoochies with anodes attached to get the right range of voltage. It took a while to dial the voltage in. I was going by what I used to use for wire line voltage, .5 to .6. Perhaps it was a strength of field or amperage level, but my results did not significantly improve until my lure voltage got closer to .8 volts. My trolling spoon packaging says .65, but that is only for the closed minded who would refuse to try one because ("that's too high for springs!!!"). I have also done lots of trout testing and so far it is hit and miss. Some cutthroat in some lakes have given me as high as 7 to 1 catch/strike ratio. Other lakes seems to be a bust and so far I haven't done well with rainbows.....yet. No fish seem to be adversely effected by 'tuned' lures and they don't go crazy once they are hooked, just normal. I've had one nice fish strike and miss twice before hooking it on the third try. It wanted that lure!
Some folks don't like Gamakatsu hooks on my spoons??? You can change them out with stainless which will give a slightly higher voltage. With springs, I never did find the high end voltage where they were spooked off. You can also use my anodes on virtually any lure as long as the metal components are right. I find that normal nickel plated brass swivels will drop the voltage slightly as well. I use stainless swivels on my spoons for that reason. None of this should effect the fishing negatively. You should be able to mix and match nickel and stainless hooks and brass and stainless swivels and still be in the range. You will just have to stay away from any galvanized components. My anodes are designed basically to work with nickel and stainless.
**** Here is a link to a UBC student's master's thesis based on springs and sockeye attraction to electrical fields. If you get headaches easily, skip to page 105 for his conclusion which basically says that springs are best attracted to .5 volts, sockeye are attracted to 1.0 volt and all salmon are repelled by a negative voltage field. I personally feel that the findings are flawed because a voltage originating on one side of the boat will effect the fish on the other side. Regardless, this is a valuable study.
https://circle.ubc.ca/bitstream/handle/2429/21785/UBC_1979_A6_7 N65.pdf?sequence=1
**** Here is another link to : Electroreception and Communication in fishes by Berndt Kramer
One quote from this study is: "Being electroreceptive enables a fish to lead a secret, nocturnal life, undetected by diurnal predators. As no living organism is able to prevent weak electric currents leaking from it's body, it is of great selective advantage to detect these signals from a distance, even when the prey is buried under sand",
http://epub.uni-regensburg.de/2108/1/ubr00728.pdf
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Iwannagofishin
Member
Hi
The gadget (Downrigger Electric Field Generator) is actually intended to be attached close to your downrigger weight. It can be used on your release tether like in the picture or on a dummy flasher setup. It is designed for the stainless tube end to be pointed toward the lures. I believe closer is better, but the voltage field will go a long way, especially in sea water.
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