Down rigger ball from boat to water

[opto55]

Had my first experience putting the ball into the water and almost lost my finger. 15 lb. is there a gaff like tool available to protect fingers from the wire. You could easily cut your finger off doing this.
All ideas welcome!
Thanks guys

 

[scott craven]

why don't you tilt the boom up, hook on the ball, and then lower the boom ?

 

[kevind]

If you have swivel bases i turn them tight to the boat put ball on then swing it back out. Or a scotty weight retriever.

 

[gungadin]

Because I fish from an open boat with low gunnels, I swing the boom to the stern and grap the shock cord, and then just gently lower the cannonball.

 

[Olde School]

attach enough of a thicker line (rope) that the joint to the main cable acts as a stopper, the thicker line is much easier on your fingers

 

[aheny]

The blue snubber is great for grabbing with your hand

 

[bentley]

X2 on the blue snubber

 

[RageWelding]

Use a gangen or tuna chord leader on your downriggers. I use 9 ft of gangen on mine as well as swivel the boom to the boat to aid in dropping the balls into the water.

 

[Fisherman Rob]

x3 Blue snubber. I also use a boat hook to avoid reaching out if the boat is rolling around.

 

[N2013]

I just added a couple Riteangle sure stops (gangen cord) from Trotac here in Vic. I got the 30's as I don't extend my booms and it's perfect. I also use Scotty retrievers to pull the release clip in closer as I don't have much freeboard. Easy to grab, holds well. It's the cats butt. Not sure where you are located but pop into your local tackle store. I'm sure they'll have something.

 

[advTHXance]

I run mine with braided line, tied using a palomar knot to a small loop (2-3") in a length of paracord (usually about 2x the length of the downrigger boom), with a larger loop (12-18") at the bottom. The bottom loop gets threaded through the cannonball eye and back around. The loop that joins to the braid acts as a stopper, and you can put the release clip anywhere along the bottom half of the length of paracord depending on preference. No terminal tackle needed, easy on the hands, and very forgiving when you bounce bottom. The only caveat is that you should use finned cannonballs, since theres no swivel.

Using this method I lose about 10% as much lead as with stainless wire, and catch just as many if not more fish! Now that Ive said that though Im all but guaranteed to lose about 45lbs of lead this weekend...

edit: as mentioned above the downrigger weight retrievers are pretty handy if you dont like leaning out of the boat. a gaff and long release clips also does the trick.

 

[ericl]

Been using the plastic blue/green snubbers for over 25 years. Used with 90 lb wire with no break-offs as the snubbers have lot's of stretch to absorb shock. They are expensive, but way cheaper than a lost ball or injury's.