The Outdoor Line Forum

Looking for advice on trolling 3 downriggers out of a 21' boat. Trolling at different depths, (deep vs shallow) & with different gear (plugs vs flasher).

The trick I've found works best is using 15# balls on the 2 forward riggers - assuming your rear rigger is mounted on the transom - and using a 10# ball on the single rear rigger. I am able to make tighter turns and whether I'm fishing different depths or close to the same, I've had far fewer tangles.

I use that set up above it works well...just stay away from the pancake weights with the large fins...they totally suck! As far as rigging goes, I will usually run a cutplug herring on my forward rod, and a flasher set up off the 10lb...that seems to work well in avoiding any nasty line twists.

Ever try stacking one rigger?

This might do what you want without having the additional expense of another downrigger.

We run 3 downriggers. We put the side two down first and keep them lower than the center. We also put the center our about 50' behind the boat, further than the rest of the gear. Seemed to work pretty good over the weekend and only the occassional tangle but not bad.

Excellent point by Nick about dropping that gear waaaay behind the boat on the third rigger.

One rule with the middle rigger: NO FLASHERS!!! The rotating Kone Zones are ok, but Coyote, QCove traditional full rotating flashers will eventually tie you up in a knot

Here's a blog from Rob Endsley with a killer illustration that makes the third downrigger look fairly simple: http://www.theoutdoorline.com/blog/2012/06/12/solving-the-third-downrigger-dilemma/