Pancake weights

[sjk984]

I just bought a pair of these and was wondering how they work. I am hoping to reduce blowback. I was using 10lbs balls.

Thanks Steve

[1mainiac]

They will work great one day and drive you nuts the next LOL. However you will know exactly which way the current is under your boat. First make sure that if the tail fins are bent they are oppisite of each other. The reason to bend the tail fins is to get them to track wider however put them on the wrong sides and they will swim together. I have a 15 that I use on my probe rigger and it will swim into my other rigger on turns so I don't use it much. You will love the reduced blowback but the first time you get them tied together under your boat and odds are you will most of us have at least once you will like me wonder if they are worth the money.

[sjk984]

I have a 12' space between my rigger tips do you think this will be enough from getting them tangled.

[Line Dancin]

go to 14 lb round finned if you can return them. i HATED pancakes

[1mainiac]

Personally I went back to finned round balls the problem is what helps make them track well and reduce blowback is what gives you the most problems. I know for a fact that lots of guys love them. Most put a 5 degree bend in the tail to make them kick out and this helps a lot but you have to make sure you put them on the right side. However the first time you turn in a strong current and they get tied together under your boat you will know why many of us dislike them round balls are less affected by under water currents. My other issue with them is they don't fit in my ball cradles so I can't run with them on. I have forgotten to remove my 15lb round balls and drove home with them still in the cradles not something I would recomend but I routinely pull lines and run with them in the cradles with zero issues with the pancakes I have to remove them.

[CAPT HEAVY]

All I did was bend the fins on my pancakes and they worked great. Run them on the 1 and 4 riggers with no tangles.

[Hotdog71]

I run mine on my outside riggers. Had the same problem Jim was talking about. When I ran them inside, but nothing since I moved them ouside. Make sure you bend the fins.

[GLF]

I have a 12' space between my rigger tips do you think this will be enough from getting them tangled.

I have been running the pancakes on the outside for 2 years without an issue. I have a 10' beam and run 3 riggers. Put a 3-5 degree bend in the tail and you will be all set. It seems like the guys with the lighter boats are the ones that have issues with the pancakes.

[Legacy]

I run them also on my outside riggers. All it takes is a slight bend (very slight, few degrees) to get them to track away from the boat. Anything more than that they start to swim and flutter in the water. They arent the best option to reduce blowback but what you do get is a little bit more separation and a wider spread with your riggers.

[Daybreak]

Do you really want a ball that tracks straight reguardless of current, and had less blowback than ANY other ball??

Simple as that! Atomic Torpedeos. Top 2 are 13lb. and the bottom 2 are 15.5 lb. With 200' of cable out, they have less blowback than a 12lb. round ball with 125' out, and are completely unaffected by side currents. The 15lb version has less "frontal area" than a 8lb. round ball, and they are very nice on your probe riggers. Once you try this style you'll never run a round ball or pancake again.

Just something for you to check out!

[MY2SONS]

Where did you find these? Can you get them with the plastic coating?

[Daybreak]

http://www.atommiktrollingflies.com/misc.htm

Scroll to the bottom of the page.

I am not affiliated with them at all. I just really love these weights for how well they perform. I dont think you can buy them coated but I spent 5 bucks on a can of "Rubberized Tool Coating" from Lowes to coat them with and it worked great.

This style weight is very popular with the Lake O crowd, especially on the East end where they are always fishing really deep.

[Boltman]

I have 2 12's and I love them haven't got them tangled yet, but when I do I can see them resting on the bottom of the pond.. my temper might get the best me then.....I also have 14 feet between them and have them bent outwards as Mike Does..also have them clearly marked on what side they should run on...as well.... Now if I can just remember which side is port side.. I'll be fine.

[A-Fishy-Anado]

John

What is the rough size of these weights?

[Priority1]

I run them without issues. I bend the fins on my out and downs also. There is no in between with Pancake weights, ya love them or hate em.

[Just Hook'n]

What Frank said about sums it up. Love em or hate em.

I love my pancakes.

They run very clean and true.

This is one of those things that can vary based on your boat. Your engines (1 or 2 or MORE) your length and location of downriggers, etc. I think these all have an effect on hwo your weights (especially pancakes) track.

[N II Deep]

I loved mine - just a net loved them more... so they left me...

[HitMan]

We use two pancakes on our corner/outdown downriggers. We use a round/finned on the chute downrigger. I have used them on all different sized boats, anywhere from 16 foot to 37 foot boats. The smaller the boat and beam, the more you have to adjust the bend in the fin. We fish with around a 30 degree bend in ours, no matter what the boat size is.

[Line Dancin]

http://www.atommiktrollingflies.com/misc.htm

Scroll to the bottom of the page.

I am not affiliated with them at all. I just really love these weights for how well they perform. I dont think you can buy them coated but I spent 5 bucks on a can of "Rubberized Tool Coating" from Lowes to coat them with and it worked great.

This style weight is very popular with the Lake O crowd, especially on the East end where they are always fishing really deep.

thanks for the info when i was in the market a couple years ago all they were making at the time is a lighter one and i was gonna go with sharks but holy crap did the price go up on those things. i might just have to order four of those.

[Line Dancin]

thanks for the info when i was in the market a couple years ago all they were making at the time is a lighter one and i was gonna go with sharks but holy crap did the price go up on those things. i might just have to order four of those.

well after looking at the price i may just go with the black 15 pound sharks for 8 bucks a piece more when ready. wow did their prices go up. this year it will just be finned 14 lb balls though.