How big are your balls? 15 vs 18 vs 20 with Scotty 1106 Riggers

Pineapple Express

Pineapple Express

Well-Known Member
I'm looking to get some new coated downrigger cannonballs. I currently use bare 15lb balls (with stubby fins) with my Scotty 1106s. It seems that in heavy current or fast speeds there's quite a bit of blowback.

I was thinking about buying some 18lb finned balls. Will these be OK with my 1106s? Are finned 20s OK?

I'm based out of the Vancouver area, so fishing the Straight of Georgia, Howe Sound, English Bay, etc.
 
I have used them all, 15lb finned, 20lb round and 18lb pancakes and have come to settle on the 18lb pancakes, less blowback then the 20's and no more then the 15's and they are tunable to your likings.
my buddy makes them all and coated to your liking
pm me for his#
 
Redfisher said:
Round balls fish deeper than finned. I run 18's on my 1106's and they work fine.
Click to expand...

Why do round balls fish deeper (ie less blowback) than finned? That doesn't make any sense to me, since the ball portion of the non-finned ball must be larger...the weight of the fin portion has to be incorporated in to the main ball.
 
Surface tension. A round ball goes though water better then a pancake weight.
 
Pineapple Express said:
Why do round balls fish deeper (ie less blowback) than finned? That doesn't make any sense to me, since the ball portion of the non-finned ball must be larger...the weight of the fin portion has to be incorporated in to the main ball.
Click to expand...

A flat airplane creates lifting force through pressure change. Flat pancake weights create drag the same way. Usually used to send a weight to the left or right.
 
Pineapple Express said:
Why do round balls fish deeper (ie less blowback) than finned? That doesn't make any sense to me, since the ball portion of the non-finned ball must be larger...the weight of the fin portion has to be incorporated in to the main ball.
Click to expand...

Not an engineer or physicist but as I understand it, a sphere is the most efficient shape in nature. When a non sphere is dragged through the water it tends to have more surface area and water pressure against it on one side and it will get pushed out sideways. This is the principal as to how side planing weights work which trade increased drag and less depth for sideways separation. Some times it seems the weight will twist to one side until water pressure pushes it back the other way until it gets sideways again and then water pressure pushes it back so that it swings back and forth. A big flat surface like on a disk weight may also get twisted by water current coming from an angle. My impression is that because of these factors the non sphere can end up with more surface area smashing into the water when it is pulled through it which results in increased drag.
Not sure about how surface tension, (as Casper suggests), would effect it, like how it helps a bug walk on water, but I do wonder about friction and if it can add significantly to drag on our non sphere weights with greater surface area, but I suspect not. I have an expensive high power/speed, high tech blender that uses dull rounded blades and it can smash seeds into powder. In fact there is so much friction between the blade and the water molecules that you can add stock and whole vegetables to the blender and it will heat up and cook it all into steaming hot soup without the application of any heat other than from water friction.

I guess it is not hard to test, put a 15lb sphere on one side and 15lb pancake with a large non curved fin on the other and with all other factors the same, measure the angle of the cables through out the day under different conditions.

I have sometimes seen very small stainless fins on round balls. I have always assumed that the reason was to decrease/stop the ball from spinning, in trade off for a little extra drag so as to slow down wear on terminal rigger gear such as swivels.
 
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I have done the actual tests myself and for what it is worth ....at 200' the round balls fish 5' deeper for me here in the gulf.

I am not an engineer but like Casper mentioned it has something to do with fluid physics.
 
I guess surface tension is not the right term, surface area witch causes drag is probably better. The best shape is teardrop, witch is why fish and birds are shaped the way they are. I do know though that round balls produce less drag then pancakes weights.
 
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Bill Nye woul use a example

Tie a string to a flat piece of paper and it will fly around, crunch that paper into a ball and it will drag on the floor.
 
Pineapple Express said:
Why do round balls fish deeper (ie less blowback) than finned? That doesn't make any sense to me, since the ball portion of the non-finned ball must be larger...the weight of the fin portion has to be incorporated in to the main ball.
Click to expand...

I have run a 15 pound ball and a 14 pound pancake side by side many times - no difference in blow back and depth.
 
i run 18's on a 1106 non coated, work great out in open water. i run 12's when fishing shallow and tighter to structure. losing a 12 over the 18 on structure is easier on my wallet
 
I run 12's and 15's in Lake Okanagan down deepest 200' sometimes a little lower without issues. My rigger balls are round non finned and track well.
 
I run 15’s but will be upgrading riggers to run 20’s soon.
 
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