[Red Neckersom]

I am getting ready to replace my old steel cable on my Cannon mini mag downriggers with new downrigger braid. What I would like to know is if anyone uses any type of backing in front of the braid to fill up the downrigger spool to get a faster retrieve rate on the downriggers. They are old and a little slow bring up the 10 lb balls, but still better then hand cranking, lol. Those of you that have went to braid on your downriggers, how do you like the braid compared to cable?

Thanks,

Clay

 

[Slabby20]

I'm on my third season with Power Pro 200lb. I love it and have never regretted switching over from cable. I don't have any backing behind my Power Pro. I put on 400 feet.

 

[Red Neckersom]

Thanks Slabby. I also have the 200 lb Power pro. I have two spools of 300 feet each. I can't wait to try it this weekend. I'm glad to hear good things about it. Tup:

 

[Slabby20]

If you have Scotty downriggers and need stoppers, buy a pack of the new Scotty (Red) stoppers made special for braid. They stay put much better than the old yellow or black ones. You can also put a drop of super glue on the stopper to be sure it doesn't slide.

 

[nascarrich]

I use the 250 FTLB PowerPro Braid. The odds are that you will eventually wrap up in a crab pot cable and as I found out my scotty and the braid were able to pull the whole mess up not losing anything.
The braid is quiet, wraps around the drum better and easier to knot up to your ball clips. Once I get it all wrapped, the first lowering out on the water is all the way down to a couple wraps then back up to tighten the line up. No problems. clap:

 

[Echo Mules]

Might also consider doubling the first 4-5 feet next to the ball clip. This way when the ball up, and swinging, on the most worn part of your line, because its the same place every time, the line will be doubled and be able to last longer. I extend the doubled line one wrap on the reel from the clip. I understand that with different brands of riggers this may work better with some than with others. I have the Cabelas brand of spectra downrigger line on my manual Penns. No problems, great stuff!

 

[CommanderX]

Doubling up the wear portion of the line sounds like a great idea. How do you recommend creating the doubled portion? I can't invision the knot that you would use up the line that wouldn't be too bulky and get abused on the pulley.

 

[Cornfed]

Where are you guys buying your Power Pro from? I would like to put at least 300 ft of 250lb test on 4 Scotty 1106's. I have heard about his whole ebay fake power pro fiasco so any good sources would be greatly appreciated!

 

[codliveroil]

What I like about braid is You can tie a knot if it breaksor use temp fixes , As apposed to cable , if you don't have the cable kit you arr done for the day , AND you don't have to worry about Cable kinks !! It's not kinky

 

[Noplunkin]

I think that you will have a hard time running braid on a Cannon because of how the Auto stop works, The cable is the grownd to the motor on the up swing

 

[Slabby20]

This is just my opinion, but I wouldn't recommend using the 250lb Power Pro. It's no doubt strong and you could pull up the bottom with it. However, the extra diameter of the 250lb makes quite a difference in the blow back angle compared to the 200lb. When I had one of my Scotty's serviced a couple years ago I asked him to go ahead and change out my cable and put 200lb Power Pro on it to match up with my other rigger that already had 200lb on it. He put 250lb on it by mistake but didn't notice until I was out fishing. There was a BIG, BIG difference in the blow back angle of the ball. I took it back the next day and asked him change it to the 200lb I orginally wanted. I think the 200lb is plenty strong.I pulled up a lost crab pot off Langley with the 200lb last winter. It's strong stuff. I've never lost a ball with since switching to 200 lb Power Pro and I bounce the ball on the bottom all day when Blackmouth fishing. However, I do use the green bungies which take a lot of stress off the line.

Slabby

 

[cat fisher]

http://www.alltackle.com/power_pro.htm
cornfed
this is the place I got my line,500yd for $130

 

[Echo Mules]

How do you recommend creating the doubled portion? I can't invision the knot that you would use up the line that wouldn't be too bulky and get abused on the pulley.

I just doubled back creating a big loop and used a simple overhand knot with both lines. Haven't had any problems with knot on the penns. When attaching the clip I believe I used a palomar.

 

[Slabby20]

http://www.alltackle.com/power_pro.htm
cornfed
this is the place I got my line,500yd for $130

Any thought on the Hi Vis Yellow vs. the Moss Green? Do you see any advantages / disadvantages to the Hi Vis Yellow?

 

[The_Rook]

NIce post Red, I just bought the Scotty brand 150 lbd braid today. looking for the same info. Thanks guys. One question I have ( not trying to steal you thread) I pull a 15 pound ball around most the time. Does that braid ever get pulled back into the spool from the weight? Kinda like a bad snag on a rod & reel when the line embeds itself? Will it be fine or do i need to break out the 10 & 12's?

Rook

 

[Cornfed]

This is just my opinion, but I wouldn't recommend using the 250lb Power Pro. It's no doubt strong and you could pull up the bottom with it. However, the extra diameter of the 250lb makes quite a difference in the blow back angle compared to the 200lb. When I had one of my Scotty's serviced a couple years ago I asked him to go ahead and change out my cable and put 200lb Power Pro on it to match up with my other rigger that already had 200lb on it. He put 250lb on it by mistake but didn't notice until I was out fishing. There was a BIG, BIG difference in the blow back angle of the ball. I took it back the next day and asked him change it to the 200lb I orginally wanted. I think the 200lb is plenty strong.I pulled up a lost crab pot off Langley with the 200lb last winter. It's strong stuff. I've never lost a ball with since switching to 200 lb Power Pro and I bounce the ball on the bottom all day when Blackmouth fishing. However, I do use the green bungies which take a lot of stress off the line.

Slabby

I routinely run 15 lb. balls for Ocean Kings, but I occasionally run 20 lb. balls to get down deep. That was why I was thinking 250 lb test, but it is probably not necessary. Do you see any problem running 20 lb balls with 200 lb Power Pro? I will be using the greeen bungies as well. For the cost of the downrigger ball, I will be doubling up the bungies. I am tired of wire. We lost 2 balls last year and the wire was only a year old. Tdown:

 

[Cornfed]

http://www.alltackle.com/power_pro.htm
cornfed
this is the place I got my line,500yd for $130

Any thought on the Hi Vis Yellow vs. the Moss Green? Do you see any advantages / disadvantages to the Hi Vis Yellow?

At depth, there would be no difference in line color as far as what the fish sees. i think yellow fades to dark at around 40'. Don't quote me on this, but I know red "disappears" first, followed by orange and yellow. Hi-Vis Yellow would be nice because you can always see your downrigger line when it comes up and get a better idea of what kind of angle you are getting. Heaven forbid you get your downrigger lines crossed, but if you had one downrigger hi vis yellow and one DR moss green...it would be easier to untangle.

 

[Slabby20]

NIce post Red, I just bought the Scotty brand 150 lbd braid today. looking for the same info. Thanks guys. One question I have ( not trying to steal you thread) I pull a 15 pound ball around most the time. Does that braid ever get pulled back into the spool from the weight? Kinda like a bad snag on a rod & reel when the line embeds itself? Will it be fine or do i need to break out the 10 & 12's?

Rook

No, the Power Pro doesn't bind up like cable can. It doesn't kink and always lays nice and flat on the spool.

 

[Slabby20]

This is just my opinion, but I wouldn't recommend using the 250lb Power Pro. It's no doubt strong and you could pull up the bottom with it. However, the extra diameter of the 250lb makes quite a difference in the blow back angle compared to the 200lb. When I had one of my Scotty's serviced a couple years ago I asked him to go ahead and change out my cable and put 200lb Power Pro on it to match up with my other rigger that already had 200lb on it. He put 250lb on it by mistake but didn't notice until I was out fishing. There was a BIG, BIG difference in the blow back angle of the ball. I took it back the next day and asked him change it to the 200lb I orginally wanted. I think the 200lb is plenty strong.I pulled up a lost crab pot off Langley with the 200lb last winter. It's strong stuff. I've never lost a ball with since switching to 200 lb Power Pro and I bounce the ball on the bottom all day when Blackmouth fishing. However, I do use the green bungies which take a lot of stress off the line.

Slabby

I routinely run 15 lb. balls for Ocean Kings, but I occasionally run 20 lb. balls to get down deep. That was why I was thinking 250 lb test, but it is probably not necessary. Do you see any problem running 20 lb balls with 200 lb Power Pro? I will be using the greeen bungies as well. For the cost of the downrigger ball, I will be doubling up the bungies. I am tired of wire. We lost 2 balls last year and the wire was only a year old. Tdown:

I have never run 20lbers. However, I think you would be fine but you'd have to give it a try. It's strong stuff. It doesn't fray or come apart.

 

[The_Rook]

Thanks slabby20. Ill be putting it on tommorrow.