Colored Downrigger weights

[Mark McWillis]

Mine are 10 lb ball weights, I have the mould, and are painted the same color red as my boat.

[MMDON]

Mine are 10 lb ball weights, I have the mould, and are painted the same color red as my boat.

That is a really red boat!

[Mark McWillis]

That is a really red boat!

In pics it's just red but in real life it's REALLY RED!! LOL!!

[gonefishing]

After last weeks fishing, I am now a beliver on the Black Ball weights. I passed over a school of kokes with my balls at 70 ft. Spotted the fish and marked a way point. Went back though the school after adjusting weights down to 110 ft. The school was stacked between 98F and 120Ft. Got a hit but my buddy who is learning did'nt hook up. So I went though the 3rd time and the fish were gone. So I ran some bigger circles around the way point and found smaller groups spread out to 50 yards away. This sort of makes me a believer.

So where does one find 10 lb fish shapped down rigger weights. I like that idea. Red plastic/ rubberized paint is and easy fix on my current balls.

One question, If fish can't see red, then why do retailers sell so many versions of lures with red patterns and so on? Just a question.

[salmonster]

Mine are 10 lb ball weights, I have the mould, and are painted the same color red as my boat.

If I had a 24 ft precision weld with a diesel engine, I'd paint everything I own that color! Nice boat.

[twisted lines]

After last weeks fishing, I am now a beliver on the Black Ball weights. I passed over a school of kokes with my balls at 70 ft. Spotted the fish and marked a way point. Went back though the school after adjusting weights down to 110 ft. The school was stacked between 98F and 120Ft. Got a hit but my buddy who is learning did'nt hook up. So I went though the 3rd time and the fish were gone. So I ran some bigger circles around the way point and found smaller groups spread out to 50 yards away. This sort of makes me a believer.

So where does one find 10 lb fish shapped down rigger weights. I like that idea. Red plastic/ rubberized paint is and easy fix on my current balls.

One question, If fish can't see red, then why do retailers sell so many versions of lures with red patterns and so on? Just a question.

It is hard not to drag right through them but it may be why they weren't there for long! try going just over or under them and they may stay together longer and you won't have to continue the hunt?

[SilverBullets]

One question, If fish can't see red, then why do retailers sell so many versions of lures with red patterns and so on? Just a question.

From what I've read, most fish see color. The color red is the first color to disappear as you go down the water column...it turns a shade of grey by around the 15' level. There aren't that many red kokanee lures, it seems most red lures target shallower species of fish. In my experiance with red, it works good for trout but not for kokanee (fluorescent red and pink are the exceptions.)
As far as the color of the downrigger balls, I guess it all comes down to personal preference weather you want to try to hide them or make them more visible. Since kokes aren't ball shy, I figure why not use it to your advantage? Everything we put down there is meant to help attract...scent, bait, lures, dodgers, ball trolls, in-line gang trolls, etc etc...why not the ball?

[Mark McWillis]

At Merwin last Sunday with the ball at 10' I could not see them, even with Polaroid sunglasses with the tip of the release, which is Chartreuse, was clearly visible.

[gonefishing]

After this weekend, my balls will all be red with reflector tape. That makes sense. I have lighter green balls for shallower depths. I will add reflector tape to the tail on those. This all makes sense. Still getting great information on this board. Always good information here on the forum.

[Bduck]

There is a very good post by FishwithGary about colors in this general discussion board "Fluorescent colors explained". This should help in giving an idea on making your weights more attractive as well if you like being on the bold side. My DR weights are ball type, 8# & 10#, black with some relective or color to them but not over whelming. Enough to use to attract.

[SuperD]

Okay, here's my story on downrigger balls. A couple of years ago at the Gorge, I was on a friends boat that had 4 chrome sharks. All rods were catching fish. In the midst of the trip we lost one of the sharks and had to replace it with a black ball with tape. That rigger seemed to die on the catch rate from that point. That is until I decided to add a ball troll to it. Then it caught fire and was hotter than the sharks for a good stretch of time. Take from that what you may but my opinion would be that stealthy balls aren't desireable for Kokes.

[Bduck]

The weights are just like trying to find right lure sometimes. They can also be setup on the spot to have their appearance changed or add to.

[gonefishing]

Ok, I think I am going to try something. After reading everyones posts, I have come up with an approach that is a combination of several posts. I order 2 cannon 8 lb fish shapped downrigger weights. I am going to change them to a light color, hopefully grey. Then glue / attach the lower sides of the weights with silver (scale like) reflector tape, paint the very bottom white. Then I will add a 3 blade ball troll style blades with an eye to connect my release to behind this creation.

Besides working over by 10 lb balls I am going to try this out.

We shall see if I can catch more

I shall name this fishing system the KOKEMAG

[MMDON]

After last weeks fishing, I am now a beliver on the Black Ball weights. I passed over a school of kokes with my balls at 70 ft. Spotted the fish and marked a way point. Went back though the school after adjusting weights down to 110 ft. The school was stacked between 98F and 120Ft. Got a hit but my buddy who is learning did'nt hook up. So I went though the 3rd time and the fish were gone. So I ran some bigger circles around the way point and found smaller groups spread out to 50 yards away. This sort of makes me a believer.

So where does one find 10 lb fish shapped down rigger weights. I like that idea. Red plastic/ rubberized paint is and easy fix on my current balls.

One question, If fish can't see red, then why do retailers sell so many versions of lures with red patterns and so on? Just a question.

We fish for late season kokes using red lures to hit the big males. Let's run this theory past the color guys. Yes Red turns gray but . . . and this is a big but. The Kokes can still tell it's Red down 100 feet. How is that possible. It's called gray scale, just like the old fish finders. While red is gray past say 20 feet or so each color retains some of the pigment. Since fish spend their lives at depth, it's my studied opinion that each color is represented by a different shade of gray. They still know it's red which is how they can identify the color of the spawning males they do battle with and why red lures make these pigs charge a lure they supposedly can't see the color of. Now obviously we just let them go once we catch them as they are in pretty sad shape for eating but the fight is great and the fish are huge!

[skookum9]

MMM, I think you are spot on. There is a book I enjoyed reading called "How Fish See". This book goes into this whole thing much deeper than anything else I've ever read. Pink and red and orange colored lures still work at depths of 100 ft and more. I know this from first hand experience. And there is no better or more simple answer than what you posted. Red does turn black/grey but does not turn invisible by any means. And the black/grey that it turns is not the same color as just any black or grey, it is specific to the red lure. Also remember that your lure's emit sound waves to also entice a strike and that even though the colors that have turned a black or grey at depths and are harder to see at a distance than some colors like chartreuse, they can still work well because of these sound waves. Also, I personally like to use red at depth but I prefer to use it incombination with a contrasting color such as white. This helps to make the white stand out even more than it otherwise would. Hence why I like the pink and white Gibbs and Nordics.

[MMDON]

Dr. Kajiama (Spelling) posts as Dr. K on a board I own. He wrote the book what fish see. FishWithGary is a close personal friend and has done many studies on the subject as well. I think there is a lot of info lost when we just say a color turns gray at a certain depth without thinking the process past the "gray" point and understanding fish still can differentiate even though the color isn't vivid in it's original form. We know that Salmon can see every color that the human eye can see plus they can see UV and other spectrums. I

Interesting discussion!

[SuperD]

Don, you were the first one to tell me that in lure color tests salmon preferred the grey lead weights. Maybe sometimes grey is just grey and they like it! LOL!

[jzell]

My politically correct pancake DR weights are not "colored", they are black.

Not convinced that the color carries any weight in the attraction equation.

But it makes for an interesting read.

jz

[MMDON]

My politically correct pancake DR weights are not "colored", they are black.

Not convinced that the color carries any weight in the attraction equation.

But it makes for an interesting read.

jz

So I would guess all of your lures are black as well?

[MMDON]

Don, you were the first one to tell me that in lure color tests salmon preferred the grey lead weights. Maybe sometimes grey is just grey and they like it! LOL!

During the tests they were in a river with a depth of about 5 feet however.

[jestfishin']

All of this color stuff is interesting reading so let me throw a curve at you. The “hot” setup for the last couple of years has been UV. Nowadays just about everything is coming in UV configurations. At the SAC ISE show this year several booths had representatives with small UV flashlights to display the differences between UV and plain lures. I was so impressed (hooked) that I went out and bought a UV flashlight to see how all of my older lures and dodgers looked under UV light. Pretty amazing differences. So what’s your opinion on UV??

[Trophy Taker]

PVC pipe filled with buckshot works really well and won't beat the boat up and they are fairly cheap to make.

[SilverBullets]

My politically correct pancake DR weights are not "colored", they are black.

Not convinced that the color carries any weight in the attraction equation.

But it makes for an interesting read.

jz

Actually, black is also attracting due to it's contrast. Alot of articles mention the use of black when targeting some species as being your best choice on cloudy days or while fishing turbid waters. I've used black lures for kokes on sunny days and often thought it's success was due to the contrast between the lure and the light above.

[MMDON]

I think you are on the right track SB! FishWithGary bases a lot of his lures on contrast rather than color.

[jzell]

3M,

Was referring the DR ball color, which is what this post is all about.

Again, I'm not convinced that the color of ones ball(s) has any attraction factor. One guys opinion.

Your mileage may vary. Side effect may include.......

jz