ULTIMATE ANGLING - the Ultimate SA Fishing website
General Angling Topics => DIY Forum => Topic started by: John F on February 02, 2012, 08:25:00 PM
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With the idea of targeting fish in deeper pinnacles and others depths usually unavailable to the usual lures we use, I've been thinking about a DIY downrigger solution. In actual fact, the deepest one one can fish without a downrigger, whilst trolling, is maybe 10 m or 12 m with artificials and maybe a bit more when drifting/slow trolling with dead/live baits and sinkers.
Well, I wanted to put my baits a lot deeper than that (+40 m). But wasn't prepared to cough up the $1000's for a downrigger nor drill holes in the boat for a permanent one.
So, after a lot of designing/engineering and then fabrication (got big help here from my dad and Manuel Junior) here's the final product: a DIY downrigger, that's relatively light and mobile. It can be used on any boat with a S/S gunnel mounted rod holder, and the cost was minimal (approximately R1,000.00 most of it to cover the reel that I wasn't using anyway!)
1. Parts used:
* 3/4" 90o bent galvanized pipe (about 60 cm long)
* 1/2" straight galvanized pipe (about 40 cm long)
* 1" straight galvanized pipe (about 25 cm)
* Large S/S rod tip
* Plastic reel seat
* Self made hydrodynamic downrigger weights. This was done using PVC pipe filled with concrete and weighted at the nose with lead and iron rods. The nose was cut at a 45o angle so it will automatically swim downwards taking the bait with, thus it doesn't need to be very heavy. Two S/S rings (one on top and the other at the end) provide attachment points for the braid and the release clip. I made 3 weights: 1.5 Kg; 2.0 Kg and 4 Kg [Pics 1,2,3]
* Okuma T50 reel with +/- 300 m of 80 Lb mono and 175 m of 50 Lb braid [Pic 4]
* Depth finder [Pic 5]
* Aluminium rivets
* Pratley putty
2. How it all came together:
* My dad had an old piece of 3/4" galvanized pipe just lying there. For some reason my dad bent it in a perfect 90o angle. This forms the base of the downrigger.
* As it wasn't long enough, we used a 1/2" pipe and pressure put it into the 3/4" pipe. It was also riveted. Some putty and sanding paper did the trick with the smoothing of the joint. This is the base and the boom of the downrigger.
* Close to the bend, the reel seat was riveted 4 times.
* At the base, the 25 cm long section of 1" pipe was also riveted and welded to the 3/4" piper. Then, using a grinder, crossing slits were made. This is were the downrigger will be fixed to the rod holder.
* Then, small sections of 6 mm and 10 mm iron rods were welded to the 1/2" pipe in an inverted "C" fashion. This is the base of the depth finder, which will be in line with the braid coming out of the reel.
* Finally, a small section of 8 mm iron rod was welded at an angle to the tip of the 1/2" pipe. This is the base where the large rod tip was attached with super glue.
* After a lot of putty to fill small holes and crevices and sanding, 3 coats of Alcoline Anti-rust paint were applied [Pic 6].
3. How it works:
* It works pretty much like any other downrigger [Pics 7, 8].
* The braid line is stored in the 50 Lb reel and provides a strong support for the weight and of course reduces drag and vibration in the water.
* The downrigger can be used parallel or perpendicular to the boat. From the base to the tip of the boom it is about 90 cm long.
* The base is introduced into the corner rod holder of the boat and the weight is attached to a large snap swivel.
* The line coming from the rod is attached to the release line of the downrigger weight via an elastic band (first deployment).
* After the first strike, to avoid retrieving the weight from the depths, a small dropper sinker is used. It runs through the braid via a round snap swivel and links to the main line's elastic band. Once the fish strikes, the elastic band breaks and the dropper sinker stays down by the stopper beads.
* New bait, new dropper sinker. One only needs a strong crew to volunteer at the end of the day and pull all the weight up [Pic 9]!
* The pics below are pretty self-explanatory!
* This has been tested on land and works well. Just waiting for the boat to be ready to take it out!
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Pics
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Pics
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Sheesh those are some mad DIY skills Marcos! :udman:
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THanks marcos...I'll take one
:+ cred:
that makes it 150 well deserved credit for excellent DIY skills.
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Very neat!!
:+ cred:
Out of ignorance: I suppose the main line's rubber band breaks when you hook a fish so it can be retrieved seperately?
(An old wiper motor could also do the trick in lieu of the reel?)
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Thanks guys!
That's exactly it PH. Same principle as an outrigger...
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Sjo...some great skills there Marcos. :win:
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Impressive improvisation and innovation Marcos! Excellent stuff!
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Awesome post Marcos (clap) :+ cred:
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Very innovative JohnF as usual the king of DIY does it again
:+ cred:
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Thanks gents! Hopefully will be able to report some great catches in the near future!
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Brilliant Marcos!! Simple yet effective! :+ cred:
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Nice post. John F (clap) :+ cred:
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Hi John,
Any success on the downrigger yet? fshg
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you never stop amazing me!! :+ cred:
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Hi John,
Any success on the downrigger yet? fshg
Not yet. Will use it as soon as the boat is ready... which will happen sometime next week! :pray: :pray:
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absolutely brilliant :+ cred: I have most of that stuff lying around so will give it a go for sure