When you’re angling in deep water, controlling the depth of your lure is key. If you’re not using a downrigger your lure can drift up towards the surface away from the fish. But when you fish with the best downrigger your bait goes where they are and stays there while you troll.
Here’s the basics for how to use a downrigger. First, attach the downrigger weight to the downrigger cable. Then connect it to your fishing line with a pinch/line release. Now that your rigged up you can place your rod in the holder. Next you’ll use the downrigger to lower the downrigger weight and your line/lure to the right spot.
Using your fish finder, identify a depth where the fish are. Then use your downrigger to lower your lure to that depth. As the downrigger weight lowers your fishing rod will bend slightly. A line counter on the downrigger will tell you exactly how far down you are. So you can hit the perfect spot.
While your trolling the downrigger keeps your lure at that depth and allows it to move naturally through the water. On some of the best electric downriggers, you can cycle the downrigger weight up and down to cover more area or keep it at a set distance from the bottom for suspended fish.
Once a fish takes the lure, the line release lets go of your fishing line. And your rod will spring up telling you the fish is on. Remove your rod from the holder. Now that it’s just you and the fish, it’s up to you to reel them in. That’s how a downrigger helps you master controlled depth fishing by getting your bait where the fish are and keeping it there.
