I was trolling deep the other day listening my down rigger cables whine away like usual. I got to thinking I wonder if this noise is annoying the fish as much as it is annoying me? Is there any way to stop this noise or quiet it down? Any thoughts appreciated. P.S. I had some cheese with the whine but it did not seem to help. Go figure

I like the whine,it tells me my speed is enough to get my gear working.

Ditto, if it's whining that's a good thing.

We inherited some Penn electrics with a boat purchase several years ago that had dacron line on then in lieu of steel cable......quiet for sure, jury is still out on longevity. I'm with SundayMoney though, as the whining cables tell me I'm going fast enough and it really doesn't seem to affect the hook-ups IMO.

I've heard of people using 150 pound power pro on their riggers instead of cable. Haven't tried it myself, but heard that it works well and that it gets rid of the whining.

I have the Scotty braided line on one downrigger, and it is quieter. Going on two years without a failure.

I looked at switching to braid and saw several posts on a Canadian board that said to go at least 200lb power pro if you are going to replace your wire with braid. The braid doesn't whine and it easy to retie if you need to. There is also less drag with the thinner diameter. It does make your black box useless if you have one.

Thanks I never thought of braid.

I think that the vibrations help attract fish into the vicinity similar to the vibrations of the flasher. Salmon and fish in general are used to searching and investigating vibrations in the water through their lateral line. If it was annoying to fish the the catch records would show this trend. Personally if I felt it was harming my catch rates I would switch to the best material. It's not...

Terrapin

Earlier this year I went the 250lb power pro route after my scotty wire started to fray. So far so good.

The humming is nothing more than harmonic vibrations transferring from the boat to the wire. This noise is also transferred to the water attracting fish! Yes it is annoying... turn up the radio.

You can speed up or slow down... and even change the size of weight if it bothers you too bad. Then again- let the noise work for you.

I am not big on the braids. Seems to fray way too much for me- since I am constantly bouncing the bottom. Make sure you check the top roller before switching to braid. You may have some residual marks cause by the wire which will fray the braids a lot faster.

great topic and one that i have wondered about myself. the same downrigger in two different boats has different noise levels. i catch enough fish so i dont mind the noise, but may switch to braid when this wire goes bad. why does the braid fray???

I was hoping to hear from Cpt. DR, Thanks.

What's your take on the black box? I noticed pro troll has em for $100 and scotty for $340. whats the diff if any?

Sorry for the hi jack-

The Scotty has a pulse mode (if used)that automatically goes between natural and imposed voltage.. can be an useful trick when the fish aren't cooperating. You can also install the Scotty inside the dash in an extra 3 1/8 hole.
The Scotty also has awesome contact sleeves vice the coils from Pro Troll.
I have been on other's boat and those coils were nothing but problems.. The simple solution is buying the spares from Scotty and installing with the PT box.


Other than that the huge price gap..

I don't left the dock without "The Box."

I've been running the Scotty braid (250 lb test) on one downrigger for two years now. Wasn't too sure about it the first year as it seemed to hang back a little farther than cable (it is marginally larger in diameter) but after two years, I like it. I'll be replacing the cable on my other downrigger with the braid. It is a little spendy compared to cable, but much easier to work with.

I haven't seen any problems with fraying. I use the Gold Star snubbers on both downriggers. They are really nice and absorb a large portion of the strain you get when stopping the ball. They also making pulling the ball into the boat much nicer and safer.

One potential problem are the plastic stoppers. The yellow and black ones for cable can slip on the braid. I understand that there are red ones for the braid that hold better. Haven't put those on yet. In the interim, I took a black permanent marker and colored the braid below the stops. I left a few inches for reference and can re-adjust if they start slipping.

Actually, it eliminates the need for a black box.... If I didn't have Cannon electrics, I'd have braided line. It's cost-effective, longer lasting,and does not conduct electricity or create an electrical field.