down rigger cable

[stcroixx09]

brand new mag10stx. cable broke on my downrigger, of course it was the one with my xd4 probe on it. so im out probe 12lb ball and chamberlain release . in need of replacing cable with something that will eliminate that from happening again as i cant afford $360 every trip, not to mention i like using the fish hawk i bought but kinda hard with probe on bottom of lake michagan. no nothing about buying cable just know i want something aint gonna break and needs to work with auto stop. thanks in advance.

[SeaCatMich]

Where did it break... near ball, mid way, at rigger boom...? Do you know how it broke... kink in cable, bottom snag, caught on roller, termination came loose...?

[stcroixx09]

broke on way down. guessing 10' up from terminator. no where near bottom. didn't see kink but not sure as i was watching counter.

[tom]

I have an older pair of mag 20's. I have lost TWO probes over the years. None lately. I finally noticed that when running the riggers up that if they are swiveled out the cable winds up on the inside of the spool. As it builds up the cable will slip down to the center of the spool then continue to build up on the inside. When you send it down again you will have a kink that snaps the cable. Now I always run the weight up and down with the DR facing to the rear. That allows the cable to wind properly. I haven't lost anything since starting to do that. Try it and see if that works for you.

[EdB]

What type of clip are you using to attach the probe/cannonball to your cable? Do you use any crimps in the connection?

[SeaCatMich]

Sounds like a kink and those can be hard to see. Fortunately kinks don't happen nearly as much as way back when I started using riggers as a kid. Have not had a kink in probably 20 years as the cable has definitely become more forgiving.

I have only replaced my rigger cables one time -- 2 of them when I got into a net and had to cut the wire with 80'+ out on each. The store had Scotty, Big Jon, and some other brand. I went with the Scotty since it was 300' and 150#. Over the winter I considered going to 200# Power Pro as it would reduce blowback and be easier to terminate, but didn't like the stories I have heard on how water fleas would collect on it. I actually have a spool of the PP that I bought at a swap meet.