down riggers for trolling for tuna??

[shaunp1280]

Do any of you guys troll with down riggers for tuna out on the bank? If so manual or electric...Also is it complicated?

[hotreels jr]

Yes, both manual and electric. Trolling planer boards rather than a downrigger ball.

[mzajac]

Not hard at all. Best to use a planer board on a planer rod. Planers can be tough to trip when you first start off but once you figure it out they are a breeze. They help get your presentations down to a specified depth to where the fish are holding. 3:1 scope I believe with a 32 oz. planer.

[Wayward Sun]

Yes, both manual and electric. Trolling planer boards rather than a downrigger ball.

You guy think the vibration from planner improves the bite?

[hotreels jr]

I have got bit on downrigger balls too, so im not sure if it matters. Planer boards just get down better at tuna trolling speeds, downrigger balls dont dig like a planer does, and requires much more line out than a planer.

[stew]

I hate planers.... Or maybe I should say I don't fish them enough. Capt. Eric

[dunn6253]

Where have you marked most of your fish? On the surface, or feeding down in 60 feet of water? It may be obvious, and I am not trying to sound like a dick or an expert tuna killer(have only killed five), but if I see fish on top I am not putting out the planer. If it is the opposite, then the planer will get deployed.

As to downriggers vs planer rods, that is another discussion. Have seen both in action, and used a planer rod myself. Seems pretty easy to me to use and deploy. There was a good video a while back that WAHOONBOX did deploying a planer rod, maybe I can dig it up.......

[pitch bait]

I prefer the Cannon electric downrigger. It has a cable system that automaticly stops the ball right before it breaks the surface of the water.

[Big Fish Billy]

I'm not much for having a lot of gear in the water that has to be gotten out of the way when you get a hit on something else. 4 spreaders on the surface with the proper action will move fish from wherever they are to your gear, if they're hungry, and it's splashing properly. Kind of learned the adage "if you see a hooker a 175' away, and you're interested, you'll find a way to get to her, right?" A tuna fish will cover that distance in a flash and beat you every time...keep it simple...

[FullStrikeAngler]

When trolling, I usually run a planer along with surface baits...cover more of the spectrum that way