SportFishing and Charters Forum - Getting baits down!?!

So what's the best way to get islanders down deep? Planers? Or cigar weights? I always thought cigars weights were for high speed trolling. I'm not looking to high speed but can I still use the 24-32oz weights to get my baits down or is there a better way?

I always thought they used planers

depends how deep u want to get them down, if its just a few feet I'm sure inline weights will work deeper than that u'll need planners or down rigger weights.

Trolling sinkers can be used to slow troll as well to get your lures deeper.

We usually use planers or downriggers (depending on the boat) though inline sinkers work just fine if you're trolling slow enough.

why do you want them down? I fish mine as is and catch tons of fish on them. they break the surface and then dive just below the surface depending on the part of the wave the boat is on. They are deadly

I run one Islander on a trolling weight and everything else is up....debated using downrigger but not sure I need any more crap on the boat.

Planer with a bridle wind-on, easy and effective.

House planer with double snap swivel and rubber band releases.

With a house planer you use heavy line and a big planer, we used mono because it is comparatively hand friendly, tied off to a cleat. Drop and set the planer. Pay out your fishing line as far as you want it from the planer. Take a double snap swivel and a no5 (the big ones) rubber wrap the band around the fishing line five or six times and then through itself and cinch tight. Slip the loop over one end of the double snap swivel and then clip the other snap swivel over the line to the planer. Put the reel in free spool and pay it out. It'l run down the planer line, tighten the drag when its as deep as you wish or at the planer.

If a fish hits it will pop the rubber band and game on, You do not have to retrieve the planer to set a replacement bait, just run another double snap swivel down the line.

Some use a trip line to the planer as well. We never found that necessary. I have a downrigger but found the house planer easier to use and a hell of a lot easier to stow at the end of the day.

We caught wahoo in the Bahamas, giant blurfin tuna off Morehead City, yellowfin and bluefin off OC, MD, plus a few dolphin, blackfin tuna and a marlin or sailfish here and there off the house planer. It was always used for wahoo, almost always used when we were bluefin tuna fishing, and used when things were slow at other times.

A planer with a bridle and a wind on works great for smaller fish, like school tuna, mahi, Spanish mackrel etc. You can chose if you want to unclip the planer and wind the leader on or just handline the leader.

JPK

You can check out the Bridle system here at Tournament Cable (http://www.tournamentcable.com/pgs/catsearch.cfm?itemcat=PB)for getting baits down deeper.
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The Tournament Cable system works great!

Planer with a bridle wind-on, easy and effective.

This^^^ :thumbsup: