I just recently bought a scotty downrigger and rail mount for my 17’ boston whaler montauk in anticipation of the upcoming fishing season. Now all i need is the downrigger ball, but i want to use the lightest option possible, as i am mounting all this on the siderail and do not want to put any unnecesary weight on it. The max speed I will be trolling is around 7 miles per hour. I know they make 4 pound balls and am curious if that will be heavy enough to use at 7 miles per hour, or if I need to go with a 5 or 6 pound ball. Thanks ahead for any helpful input.
I use an 8 pound ball(i think)and when im trolling at 4-5 mph the weight will be about 10-15’ behind the boat and the ball will be down to about 20-50’ in depth.
im trolling in 30-40 feet of water, definitely want something less than 8 lbs. Just wondering if a 4 or 5 lb pound ball would stay vertical to the boat at 7 mph.
use a 6lb fish shaped downrigger weight for a depth of 40’ or less and then go with a 10lb fish for 40’ and over depths. they tract straight and put allot less stress on your downrigger than a ball. With the fish shape it eliminates the blow back effect like with a standard downrigger ball. Fishizzle Tackle makes them its what I use. Pull them once and you will never pull a standard downrigger ball again.
trolling in 30-40 feet of water not putting the ball at 30-40 feet obviously probably 10 feet max. But i will get a heavier option thanks for the opinions.
17" War Eagle 25 Mercury
17" Boston Whaler Montauk 90 yamaha
Tprice is right I hope you are not pulling live bait that fast no matter the size or the make of the downrigger weight? Live bait is supposed to look like live bait and stay in the water going that fast will pull them out of the water. bump troll or run 2mph or less just fast enough in gear that the baits dont pass your boat. And if you plan on pulling any bait from a downrigger going that fast it better be hard mounted to the gunal not the railing! With that amount of stress you are going to rip the downrigger off the rail and the rail also!
