Line over run on Down riggers

[Steve in Everett]

We have experienced this problem several times, the last time it resulted in the loss of 40 ' of wire , #18 ball, snubber, swivels and inline flasher. The other times it has caused kinks in the wire. What seems to happen is that when bringing up the ball the wire will stack on one side of the spool until it slides off resulting in a large loop that then gets buried as more wire is retrieved . The next time the ball goes down the loop that was created will prevent the wire from coming off the spool and start to spool backwards bringing the ball back up. Other than level winding the wire back on by hand is there any way to prevent this from happening?

[Nelly]

Hey Steve, first off, where did you get 18 pound cannonballs??? I would love to get my hands on a few of those!
What you're experiencing is a boom pulley stack on your spool.
As you troll, the boom pulley swings aft with the wire and causes an uneven spool, leading to the "jump and kink" in the spool.
You can easily correct this by utilizing your boom mounted ball hook as a level wind.
With the opening of the hook pointing forward, tighten the hook mounting collar to ride the wire so it hits the middle of the spool and you're in business!!!

[Steve in Everett]

Thanks for the reply Tom. I found the same answer on another post this morning. As far as the #18 ball goes I was wrong they were only #15.. Again thank you for your quick reply.

[NorthRiverTG]

I fish with Steve. We tried your advice and still we have issues. Guiding the wire to the center is marginally better but the stack/fall of the loops still exists if you run a lot of wire out. In a shake down we did a few weeks ago, we went out into deep water off the bait box and fiddled around. Results were dismal if we let out most of the 400' of wire.

I talked with someone at Harbor Marine who has boats and because of this very issue has converted over to Scotty on all but 1 boat.

What am I missing - are all you cannon electric Mag 5/10 users out there having no troubles with this issue?

Please let me know.

-tony

[NorthRiverTG]

No responses in a month... curious.

[Nelly]

Nothin' mysterious about Fishin' Season!
Just a bit busy runnin the boat and cleanin' fish ( and occasionally the boat)
Try running that boom hook, open end forward, guiding the wire forward of the spools center.
If you play around with the boom hook position, you'll find the sweet spot!
Good luck out there!

[NorthRiverTG]

Not for nothing - but the issue still exists. We've learned to manage the problem. I got a pledge from Randy at the boat show (Cannon booth) that he'd send me a prototype solution. Said that running heavier than 12# balls causes increasing issues. I don't fish 12's on a rigger rated for 20s. I like 15s and would buy 17.5s if they existed.

Anyway, surprising this is not a larger topic of discussion among cannon owners. Every person I've talked to with cannons acknowledges the spool overrun issue and has a home brew kludge solution.

In a dozen years of my previous brand, I never had an issue. Shame on me I guess.

-tg

[Robbo]

I tow 15 pound balls as deep as 250 to 280 feet with mine and haven't had that problem yet. I wonder if the speed setting could be adjusted slightly to remedy this. Nelly....thoughts

[olympic]

Hey Nellie, I wonder if posting a video on this would be good. Maybe even while you are out on the water?? I believe this would help a lot of the guys out there so their riggers run great, then the word gets around and Cannon sells more riggers!

[ReiterRat]

Get a Scotty (I know) fairlead. Slide it down the boom, line it up where you want it.
Problem solved. I have run 20lb's with this set up. No issues