Choosing a downrigger release

[melsell]

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[sherman51]

i went to the chamberlain release last year and couldnt be more pleased. i use them on lake erie for eyes, but we get alot of small trash fish including white perch which can be very hard to detect with any other releases. it has 2 adjustments, 1 for the rod tension and 1 for the lure tension. i keep mine set tight on the rod tension so i can really crank it down, the i set the lure tension loose enough that in most cases even the white perch will trip the release. i still use them with a rubberband instead of twisting my line.

now that i have used the chamderlain release for 2 seasons i dont see me ever going to any other release. they still arent perfect but they are as close as i,ve found. i would recommend these to anybody that has a problem with small fish and uses downriggers. you can check them out at downriggerrelease.com they are alittle on the pricey side but they are worth every penny.

sherman

[ALLEYES]

I agree with Sherm wholeheartedly on this one. Chamberlains are the best release currently on the market. Bar none.

[Line Dancin]

I'll agree on the chamberlains. I had a 5 inch perch release it last year.

[its an addiction]

Do you guys get a lot of false releases with setting the lure tension on the release really light?

The reason I ask is I have been using the blacks, and like mine a little on the tight side. I always thought that the release is what sets the hook on the fish, and if there's little tension when the fish hits you might not get a solid hook set. Of course, the downside to my logic is you drag some shakers from time to time without knowledge.

[Line Dancin]

When i am walleye fishing i have them set with moderate down pressure from the rod. and virtually nothing to the lure. i have good hook ups on erie this way. When i do use them for salmon i set them heavy on the lure side. I usually use the walkers lipstick type for salmon. I am going to put the walker blacks style on that have the cable terminators for salmon as i have one on now for my probe and really like it for salmon.

[SeaCatMich]

Been using the Chamberlains for 4 seasons now. Started using them because of the numbers of non-walleye hitting at times on Lake Erie and for the early season Coho on Lake Michigan. They work great and as advertised. No problems adjusting them tight enough to drag flasher/meat rigs or light enough for crawler harnesses while being able to really put a bend in the rod.

I got a "beta" version of the stacker version of the release that I wanted to use on my Depth Raider coated cable. The early version worked on regular uncoated wire but would not hold on the coated cable. I subsequently went to the X4 so I don't know if the production stacker would work or not. I heard that they did make some changes so it might (and would be a nice solution for DR or Subtroll use.)

[Line Dancin]

Matt i finally had a couple minutes to watvh the video. That is an old school way of fishing on erie. We were doing that when i was a kid to see white bass and perch. It works but the chamberlains for the extra 7 bucks a piece are very worth the money. we have had really small silvers on before that you dont see the rod shake using the offshore release so instead of fishing your dragging around a drowned fish.

As far as how to set up chamberlains for depth raider coated cable cut the wire off the chamberlain release. pass the coated cable through the hole in the release from cutting the wire off. Put a jelly bean between the terminator and the release for a cushion. terminate your cable end. I do mine with the setup to be able to remove my probe. pull the release down to the jellybean against the terminator put a dreamweaver downrigger cable speed bead one to two inches up from the release. Now it is on the cable above the probe where it wont interfere with the probe.

cut and remove wire

1. downrigger cable speedbead by dreamweaver. Scottys wont work they are too small and get stuck in the release

2 chamberlain release

3. jellybean

The way i rig my terminator so i can remove my probe.

[whatadeal]

Chamberlains all the way, I have tried pinch pads, band breakers, walker releases. Switched to Chamberlains 3 seasons ago now and couldn't be happier

[melsell]

I have tried the Chamberlans and have caught a lot of fish on them. I have also lost a lot of fish on them. Someone said something that got me paying more attention. If the release is so light that a white perch can pop it. How well is that hook getting set 65 feet down with a 40-50 foot setback? There is no way to prove it though. Nothing against chamberlands , I just do it this way and I know that I have every chance of landing a steelhead that I can muster. That is why I fish "oldschool" I guess.

[Line Dancin]

IS this on Erie?

with the way steelhead smash baits i would think just fine. If you know your in a steelie area turn the tension up a touch. with the line twisted and in the release it will still give the tip twitch showing a small fish just a little more subtly than having the 8 inch piece of cable between the release and the ball. This spring most of the little coho the only way we new they were on was a slight change in the tip action of the rod this was on blacks releases. My dad used to run clean spoons off shore for steelies these spoons hardly had tension. He would let out a couple hundred feet of line straight down the chute with just a spoon. same with out the sides when he went out there. and we always took a mess of fish out there. I just dont think i could blame the release for it.

[SeaCatMich]

The only time I set the Chamberlains very very light is when I know that there are lots of real small fish around. If most of the fish are able to pop a normal tension setting then that is how they get set. I have not tried it, but I also think that a rubber band from the line to the release arm with the arm set slightly less tight than "normal" might be a good way to get a good hookset but also trip on small fish. The rubber band would give some stretch/resistance to set the hook before popping the release's arm. It has been 2 seasons since I fished in a situation where there were enough small fish around to warrant trying the theory.

[melsell]

How do I teach the white bass to stay out of the area that the steelhead are in? If I tighten the tension on a Chamb release ,it won't release when a white bass gets on it. Just trying to tell people the way that I do it ( I also seem to catch a few,hear and there) . This is the way that works the best for ME while STEELHEAD fishing with downriggers in Lake Erie. I am not walleye fishing in this video( but I don't throw them back either). Also not throwing out my Chamberlands.Here is a 4 hour trip in Lake Erie UDrWP8QiEq8

[1mainiac]

My setup is differant I run a Blacks like Lins Dancin posted as to how to put it on the cable. This way it is above the probe and ball and is free to allow them to spin under them. Now I glue the Blacks shut and run a small tie wrap as well so it cannot open. So it is just a attachment point above the ball from this I run Off Shore Releases Light Medium or Heavy depending on what gear and how I am fishing. The length of cable in the release allows us to see shakers very easy. We can load the rods up and catch a lot of fish I have done this for over 4 seasons and if I am on the fish my catch rate is as good as anyone eles's plus it is much easier to grab the line with a pinch pad then to twist the line ans snap a release shut.

[jimcr]

I run scottys pinch pad releases and my hook up ratio has shot up from the previous year. I was using blacks before , and could not see the small shakers . I run a 30" lead on the release and i could see an ant fart its so sensitive. we has very few swing and misses. 2 weeks ago i was watching the poles and had one must have got the end of the fly. very suttle but you are able to see it. no release on the miss though.

[melsell]

I run a 30" lead on the release and i could see an ant fart its so sensitive.

The longer the lead to the release, the more sensitive . I have hooked mine up with an extra snubber in between the ball and the release cable when I needed more sensitivity.

[Porcupine]

I run scottys pinch pad releases and my hook up ratio has shot up from the previous year. I was using blacks before , and could not see the small shakers . I run a 30" lead on the release and i could see an ant fart its so sensitive. we has very few swing and misses. 2 weeks ago i was watching the poles and had one must have got the end of the fly. very suttle but you are able to see it. no release on the miss though.

This is what i do with off shore releases. My ball to release cables are around 24", when you see the rod dip down, get ready. I'll have to check out these chamberlands.

[sherman51]

with my rods cranked way down i havent had any problems with hookups. and this last july on erie we were reeling in white perch one after the other that was triping the release. and maby a couple of false releases.

i also use the lite bite slide divers, and i think they work just as good as the chamberlain release if not better. its good and bad, its good to just see your diver has tripped, its bad to start reeling it in and it be another white perch. one day we was marking alot of eyes but was catching mostly white perch. the divers tripped on just about every fish. it was so bad we started moving around untill we found some eyes that wasnt covered up with white perch.

slidediver.com

sherman

[BILLY JOE]

you have to change up a little to fish lake erie for steelhead because of all the junk fish this is one way to do it .some days the white bass are just a big pain can hardly keep the poles in the water

[sherman51]

we seem to have alot more trouble out of the white perch than we do the white bass. most of the white bass we catch are big enough to let you know when they get on, but the white perch are all kinda smallish. the best way to tell a white perch from a white bass is the lower jaw has a light purplish color to it, otherwise they look alot like a white bass.

sherman

[geofraz61]

I love my Chamberlains! With the amount of preload I can put in that rod It's got as good a chance of hooking up as any and the dink lakers can still set them off so I don't drag them around the lake