Trolling with downriggers to catch Salmon and Trout is one of the most popular trolling techniques used on the great lakes. The basic parts of a downrigger setup include: the downrigger, downrigger cable, downrigger weights or balls, downrigger releases, and rod holders. The fishing lure is attached to the release, then the weight is lowered to the desired depth, then the fishing rod is usually placed in a rod holder. The links section below includes tips for: setup information, types of downrigger weights, types of downrigger releases, how to determine actual depth, how to attach multiple lines to a single downrigger (stacking or stackers), information on sliders ( a method for having more than one lure on a single fishing rod ), electronic charge of downriggers, measuring trolling speed at the downrigger ball (FISHHAWK and Sub-Troll) and links to several of the more popular downrigger manufactures ( Big Jon, Cannon, Penn, Scotty, Vector and Walker).

Downrigger Tips:

Downrigger Setup

Downrigger Weights

Downrigger Releases

Determining downrigger depth when trolling

Downrigger Manufactures:

Big Jon Downriggers

Cannon Downriggers

Fishlander Downriggers

Penn Downriggers

Scotty Downriggers

Walker Downriggers