Preferred shape of downrigger weight

[Sly Selea]

I'm considering buying molds to pour my own downrigger weights. What's your preference of form for them, traditional cannonball style or the fish shaped ones? Does it matter much?

[Twill23]

Hey John,

In my opinion, either the fish shaped or the tradition canon ball molds are the best option. Pancake and flat style cannon balls don't preform well while fishing deep, and in strong currents. Right now out of holland current is pushing up to 1.3mph in comparison to surface speed. That can cause havoc for a flat weight, especially fishing as deep as we have been fishing(taking bites as far down as 200). The sheer surface area of the pancake weights will cause the water to push them in more(possibly causing crossed cables) For a boat your sized, the fish shaped cannon ball may be the way to go, especially if you decide you want to bend that tail section to plane then SLIGHTLY away from the boat. They have much less surface area, and you can still bend them to track off to the side if you wish to.

Atomik makes an AWESOME cannon ball. The torpedo weight which not only cuts through the water better than any other weight, but has a much smaller surface area for current to push on them. The one down side of these weights is the price... about $75 ea.

[sherman51]

i guess alot of it is just personal preference. but i have used them all at one time or another over the last 35 yrs or so. i started using the pancake weights about 3 yrs ago. i started with the 10 lb weights and i just loved them. and you can bend the back fin alittle and get them to run out to the side of the boat if you want to spread them out alittle. myself i just run them like they are, and have never had any kind of problem. and didnt get near as much blowback with the pancake weights.

then a couple of years ago i upgraded to electric riggers after using manual riggers for 30+ yrs. so i decided to try the 13 lb pancake weights. i wouldnt ever go back to anything elce. they track true and very little blowback. this is just my opinion and im sure you will get more.

sherman

[Sly Selea]

youch, $75. I dunno man, I'm going thru cannonballs faster then I went through your planer boards. Hence my desire to maybe make my own.

Hey John,

In my opinion, either the fish shaped or the tradition canon ball molds are the best option. Pancake and flat style cannon balls don't preform well while fishing deep, and in strong currents. Right now out of holland current is pushing up to 1.3mph in comparison to surface speed. That can cause havoc for a flat weight, especially fishing as deep as we have been fishing(taking bites as far down as 200). The sheer surface area of the pancake weights will cause the water to push them in more(possibly causing crossed cables) For a boat your sized, the fish shaped cannon ball may be the way to go, especially if you decide you want to bend that tail section to plane then SLIGHTLY away from the boat. They have much less surface area, and you can still bend them to track off to the side if you wish to.

Atomik makes an AWESOME cannon ball. The torpedo weight which not only cuts through the water better than any other weight, but has a much smaller surface area for current to push on them. The one down side of these weights is the price... about $75 ea.

[Twill23]

youch, $75. I dunno man, I'm going thru cannonballs faster then I went through your planer boards. Hence my desire to maybe make my own.

LOL! For you, i think the 10# or 12# fish weights would be best. The fish weight molds are easy to find at garage sales and what not.... Stop breaking weights off! lol

[mriversinco]

While i run the typical finned ball i REALLY like the looks of those Atomic Torpedo weights. There's a guy on lakeontariounited.com selling them at reasonable prices too so there must be some molds for them around.

[Nailer]

These work very well.

Mold from Cabelas

go with at least a 12# ball.

[Sly Selea]

Hey John,......

Atomik makes an AWESOME cannon ball. The torpedo weight which not only cuts through the water better than any other weight, but has a much smaller surface area for current to push on them. The one down side of these weights is the price... about $75 ea.

I just looked these up and realized what they were. As it turns out my boat came with 3 of them. 1 left.

[Rascal Trophy Fishing]

Then there was a True Trac ball, now discontinued due to business closed, but a novel idea I thought, with a magnet built into the fin. The ions in the water created by a magnetic force field can also attract quite a few fish to the boat, jmo. Some had all riggers with it, I just ran one and found them to work well too, still have it too after over 10 years. Usually, the bigger the wt. the less blowback too.

[sherman51]

Hey John,

In my opinion, either the fish shaped or the tradition canon ball molds are the best option. Pancake and flat style cannon balls don't preform well while fishing deep, and in strong currents. Right now out of holland current is pushing up to 1.3mph in comparison to surface speed. That can cause havoc for a flat weight, especially fishing as deep as we have been fishing(taking bites as far down as 200). The sheer surface area of the pancake weights will cause the water to push them in more(possibly causing crossed cables) For a boat your sized, the fish shaped cannon ball may be the way to go, especially if you decide you want to bend that tail section to plane then SLIGHTLY away from the boat. They have much less surface area, and you can still bend them to track off to the side if you wish to.

Atomik makes an AWESOME cannon ball. The torpedo weight which not only cuts through the water better than any other weight, but has a much smaller surface area for current to push on them. The one down side of these weights is the price... about $75 ea.

i never really thought about cross current. i fish the central basin of lake erie. i only fish 50 to 65 ft down and have never tangled them, and havent seen them running to one side over the other except when we were trolling with a cross wind. but then they both want to run alittle to the windward side of the boat. but thats just where the wind is pushing the boat.

with the 13 lb weights running 1.8 to 2.0 mph theres hardley any blow back at all. and the 10 lb ball type weights i used was way back behind the boat. if i wasnt going to use the pancakes i would use the fish style weights. you can get them in about any weight you want as long as your rigger will lift them. i have seen them up to 25 lbs, but i dont know which rigger is rated for that weight.

the best of luck on making your own weights. let us know what you do and how it works out for you.

sherman

[Sly Selea]

i never really thought about cross current. i fish the central basin of lake erie. i only fish 50 to 65 ft down and have never tangled them, and havent seen them running to one side over the other except when we were trolling with a cross wind. but then they both want to run alittle to the windward side of the boat. but thats just where the wind is pushing the boat.

with the 13 lb weights running 1.8 to 2.0 mph theres hardley any blow back at all. and the 10 lb ball type weights i used was way back behind the boat. if i wasnt going to use the pancakes i would use the fish style weights. you can get them in about any weight you want as long as your rigger will lift them. i have seen them up to 25 lbs, but i dont know which rigger is rated for that weight.

the best of luck on making your own weights. let us know what you do and how it works out for you.

sherman

I considered the pancakes as well, if nothing else but for the fact that they look cool and would look awsome if i painted flames on them. But I think TJ is right about the cross current being a problem where I/we fish. He's a little farther north. I have very limited experience, but I think TJ even noticed how strong it is down where I fish.

[Twill23]

if nothing else but for the fact that they look cool and would look awsome if i painted flames on them.

hahaha. Flames! Haha. I like it.