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Petty4life
03-26-2009, 05:11 PM
Anyone use these ball snubbers by scotty?

Attach between your downrigger cable and weight. The Scotty Trolling Snubber absorbs shock, provides electrical insulation and helps prevent snagging . Easy to grip

SilverBullets
03-26-2009, 05:50 PM
Yep, have always used them. Like you said, shock absorption and electrical insulation is the main reason. Even if you don't have a black box, it's important to insulate the lead ball since the wire should have a positive charge on it.

Petty4life
03-26-2009, 05:52 PM
Yep, have always used them. Like you said, shock absorption and electrical insulation is the main reason. Even if you don't have a black box, it's important to insulate the lead ball since the wire should have a positive charge on it.

I havent used them yet but after talking wit hth e scotty rep at the ISE show i was convinced i couldnt ive without them so Kokaholic and i both ordered some

SuperD
03-26-2009, 06:08 PM
How does it help prevent snagging? As far as insulating value, how is it any better than the standard plastic hook termination? I guess I'm not getting it.

SilverBullets
03-26-2009, 06:41 PM
How does it help prevent snagging? As far as insulating value, how is it any better than the standard plastic hook termination? I guess I'm not getting it.

The plastic hook or rope will accomplish the same thing as far as insulation. I think the main advantage is that it absorbs shock and provides some cushion for the wire and downrigger when you do get snagged and hopefully you notice it quick before the snubber breaks...at least it lessons the chance of the downrigger being ripped off the boat if the brake is not set correctly. The snubbers are pretty strong though, one time I brought a stump up!!:eek:

Fallriverguy
03-26-2009, 07:21 PM
Those look like a black rubber strap that truckers use. How long are they?

Petty4life
03-26-2009, 07:24 PM
Those look like a black rubber strap that truckers use. How long are they?

12 inchesthumbsup

jacksonlaker
03-26-2009, 08:17 PM
I never considered snubbing my balls. That is usualy my wife's job LOL !!!

SuperD
03-26-2009, 08:22 PM
Some of these old guys have more sag and apparently need shock absorption. laugh hyst

Full_Monte
03-27-2009, 12:50 AM
I just bought a couple. They also look easier to grab than a steel line with a weight on the bottom. Steel lines are hard on the hands.

Sportfishinsteve
03-27-2009, 08:35 AM
Yep, have always used them. Like you said, shock absorption and electrical insulation is the main reason. Even if you don't have a black box, it's important to insulate the lead ball since the wire should have a positive charge on it.

So, how does he strap effect the positive ions? I have a black box and dial in my correct output. Will these things effect that?

Full_Monte
03-27-2009, 08:44 AM
So, how does he strap effect the positive ions? I have a black box and dial in my correct output. Will these things effect that?

It might affect it a little. But your black box should tell you. Some leads have enough impurities in them to create an electric current. Positive charge on the wire line is what you are after. Coating your weight may help insulate it better than not coating it.

Pac-a load-pete
03-27-2009, 09:47 AM
Thanks for the tip! I’ll be ordering a few to have in the boat. Will be a lot kinder on the hands when getting the ball. One thing I’ve done is switched to 160lb braided line on the riggers. Gives you reduced blow back, no noise or currant. As for snagging the ball I try to fish areas that I know the bottom structure, and set the digi troll to track 10 feet off the bottom. Don’t know if I’m lucky but the eight days I spent at the Gorge last year we pounded the fish every day. Even on slow days when everyone else were getting a few we were getting double hook-ups and averaging 20 to 40 fish mornings. Sold me on the braided line.
Pac-a load

HiTechKoke
03-27-2009, 10:38 AM
I used this snubber for a while and I liked it for grabbing the line to lift the ball. My only complaint though is I thought it may have added just a slight bit more drag down at the ball level but not enough too be that big of a deal. My other reason I stopped using it though was on choppy days the ball would have this rubber band effect when the boat was rocking and it was harder to read the subtle bites on the rods. Of course those in the Gorge don't need to worry about this since the fish take the lure and slam the rod and bury it! (one of my Gorge thrills from last year to gauge the fish).

Another Kokanee friend turned me on to this Scotty product:

1038 Cable Coupler
Attaches the snap hook to the downrigger
cable quickly and easily without the use
of metal crimps. Built in rudder eliminates
weight spin for longer cable life. Remove
rudder for use with finned weights.

So you get the best of both worlds IMO which is electrical isolation and NO crimpers needed of you snap a line as it is a threaded line model for cable users. The only downside is they could use a little bigger snap and don't pick up the ball by the fin.

Kevin

Fallriverguy
03-27-2009, 11:27 AM
I use the old style coupler without the fin.

Kokanee Slow
03-27-2009, 11:58 AM
For Pac-a load-pete,

"One thing I’ve done is switched to 160lb braided line on the riggers. Gives you reduced blow back, no noise or currant."

Do you mean braided fishing line? instead of standard downrigger wire?

Steve

Petty4life
03-27-2009, 12:06 PM
For Pac-a load-pete,

"One thing I’ve done is switched to 160lb braided line on the riggers. Gives you reduced blow back, no noise or currant."

Do you mean braided fishing line? instead of standard downrigger wire?

Steve

Im sure he means the scotty braided downrigger line. if you use the fishing line type like power pro, spiderwrie or fire line it voids your warranty.


this is off the scotty website
Premium Braided Downrigger Line

Super strong , low stretch braided line will not kink, fray or rust like stainless steel cable. Reduces wire hum and eliminates electrolysis.
No crimping required

No. 2199 - 150 ft. of 250 lb. test.
No. 2200 - 200 ft. of 250 lb. test.
No. 2201 - 300 ft. of 250 lb. test.
No. 2202 - 400 ft. of 250 lb. test.
No. 2203 - 500 ft. of 250 lb. test

wahoohunter
03-27-2009, 05:02 PM
I use another brand but like HiTechKoke says "on choppy days the ball would have this rubber band effect when the boat was rocking"-so I'm thinking about not using them anymore.
Not to hijack the thread but about the Scotty Braided Downrigger Line-can I use it if my downrigger has a plastic spool, not metal? Is there a danger of too much pressure on the spool causing it to crack? Last year, I had thought about leaving a couple of "wraps" of cable on the spool and then trying to attach the Scotty line to the cable, but gave up on the idea.

Sportfishinsteve
03-27-2009, 05:41 PM
It might affect it a little. But your black box should tell you. Some leads have enough impurities in them to create an electric current. Positive charge on the wire line is what you are after. Coating your weight may help insulate it better than not coating it.

I agree that you need to coat your weights. My positive output was all over the place until I coated mine. You can do it with spray on bed liner stuff. Works great and enables you to dial in the black box. thumbsup

SteelieNut
03-27-2009, 06:27 PM
Does somebody want to bring me up to speed on the "positive ion" thing? Does it have something to do with the fishing, or safety?

Full_Monte
03-27-2009, 06:53 PM
Read this thread:

http://www.kokaneefishingforum.com/fishing-forums/showthread.php?t=273&highlight=black

It's about catching fish due to the electrical charge on the metal on your boat and downrigger wire.

jtravis2
09-17-2009, 01:43 AM
I agree that you need to coat your weights. My positive output was all over the place until I coated mine. You can do it with spray on bed liner stuff. Works great and enables you to dial in the black box. thumbsup

I live in Central Ca. What is the best place to buy spray on bed liner?
Thanks
Jim

SuperD
09-17-2009, 11:40 AM
It doesn't need to be spray on as you probably couldn't justify to buy the sprayer. Look at your Kragens or NAPA Auto. Some have it in quart cans and a vinyl roller to apply it.

SilverBullets
09-17-2009, 12:52 PM
Also, I've read the tool dip stuff you can get at Harbor Freight or most home improvement stores works good.

Silver Streak
09-17-2009, 07:53 PM
Plastic dip works good...can get at Lowes or Home Depot kind of place.

Petty4life
09-17-2009, 08:14 PM
I desided against the snubbers. kokaholic got them and when i fish out of his boat i take them off my side of the boat

SilverBullets
09-17-2009, 11:30 PM
I desided against the snubbers. kokaholic got them and when i fish out of his boat i take them off my side of the boat

I've been useing the snubbers since I started koke fishing. We have Scotty manuals and I use the snubber to lower the ball into the water, and when taking it out...instead of trying to bend over to grab the ball or grabbing ahold of the downrigger cable. They also take some of the shock when you drag the bottom. Why did you decide against them?

Full_Monte
09-18-2009, 09:17 PM
I like them and so does my wife. It's a handy handle to raise the weight into the boat.

Kokaholic
09-19-2009, 10:40 AM
I have had the oppertunity to use them a few times on my boat since I picked them up. I really like what they are intended to do. HOWEVER, What I dislike is that when I use the draw string retreiver to retrieve the weight up so that I can hook my line into the release, The clip comes up and hits into the retriever sleeve that the line slides through and makes it so that I can not pull the weight up to grab ahold of the release. if I pull it up as far as I can, This also causes the weight to then sway back and forth slamming into the boat and causeing dings and scratches on the boat.

SOOOOOOOOO, I think for now I will be taking them off and storeing them away to try when I have a diffrent boat down the road where they might change tihings a little.

chauzer
09-19-2009, 01:55 PM
i have run 200 pound test on 2 of my cannon mag 10's and have had mixed results. the catch rate is about 50/50, wire to power pro. there is no "hum" with the power pro and alot less blow back.

clawman
02-25-2015, 12:02 AM
I've use these for one year now. do they get weak after a certain time? I'd hate to lose my weight because of a weakened snubber.

SuperD
02-25-2015, 12:55 AM
Certainly not in a year. I think I paid about $8 for my snubbers, so, maybe do a pull test on them next season and see how they are doing. I would think they are probably more susceptible to UV damage than fatigue failure.

Kokaholic
02-25-2015, 07:13 AM
I have since gone back to using mine. What I did to fix the problems I had before was to take my clips off the rigger weight and attach them to the cable just above the weight. This allws for me to keep the weight in the water and easier to attach everything with the stacker clips rather than directly to the weight.

terek
02-25-2015, 11:21 AM
Read this thread:

http://www.kokaneefishingforum.com/fishing-forums/showthread.php?t=273&highlight=black

It's about catching fish due to the electrical charge on the metal on your boat and downrigger wire.

Is a black box really needed? I was thinking on getting one, but there are other things I would rather spend a couple hundred dollars on. Would switching to braided line get rid of the negative charge? Or would you still get one from the boat? Would a longer setback help mabe?

SuperD
02-25-2015, 11:27 AM
terek,
No, a black box isn't mandatory. Just another tool in the arsenal. If you have a hot boat, it becomes more important to either eliminate the cause of the hot boat or get the black box to help over come it. Braid does help eliminate charge. I do not think longer set backs really help.

terek
02-25-2015, 02:26 PM
terek,
No, a black box isn't mandatory. Just another tool in the arsenal. If you have a hot boat, it becomes more important to either eliminate the cause of the hot boat or get the black box to help over come it. Braid does help eliminate charge. I do not think longer set backs really help.

Is there a way to measure if you have a hot boat? I could see it being a problem with aluminum boats, but i got a fiberglass boat, with manual downriggers. If that makes a difference. Sorry for the noob questions. Just got to a point in my life last year where I can afford toys like boats and stuff. I was always the mate, never the skipper, so Im still figuring out all the ins and outs with running a boat.

SuperD
02-25-2015, 02:53 PM
Yes, "hot boat" is kind of a broad term and can apply to a fiberglass boat with the downrigger wire cutting water that creates a charge. Very simple to measure the next time you are out and lines are down. Take a multi meter and put the black lead to a ground and the red lead to the downrigger cable. That should register a voltage reading in the .5v to .6v, + or minus. At .7 or higher, you are registering toward being hot. .65v happens to be the theoretical sweet spot for making Kokanee excited to strike.

terek
02-25-2015, 03:02 PM
sweet, good to know. I will check next time I am out and see what my next step is gonna be

SuperDaveMT
02-27-2015, 09:52 AM
wahoohunter - I did just that, left about 6 feet of cable on the spool and attached the braid to the cable. I think I used an albright knot. There's a you-tube video showing how to do it. Here's the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aM1SDq7ruSM