Raystown 3-27

[Big Water]

Got up this morning and my wife decided she wanted to give Raystown a go once it warmed a little.  On the water at 2:00 and off by 6:00.  Got five lakers, missed 3-4 others and had a triple going at the end when disaster struck.  High winds combined with trying to land three fish ended in a rigger ball stuck in a tree, lines wrapped around the motor and boat and lost lures.  That's fishing.  From here out, I'll let them drag until I get to them.  Here's my wife with her best fish holdin' pose. 30 1/2"

[Thor]

Nice fish!  Sorry about the "disaster".

I hope I'm not hijacking your thread, but what's the right thing to do if you get a cannonball snagged?  I'm hoping to try downriggers for the first time this year and have never seen them used.  Do you set the clutch loose enough so that cable will be spooled off until you can react?  Is there any way to try and retrieve a snagged ball?  Do you ever just give up and cut the cable?  Could a snagged cannonball break your riggers or rip out the mount?

Sorry for all of the questions, but your post got me thinking that I better start figuring out what I would do beforehand in case of such an emergency.

[Big Water]

Thor,

Set the clutch light enough that it pays out cable and back the boat over where it snagged and yank.  The cables are usually 150 lb, so you can retreive a lot of them.  I've lost a few weights there, but it's always because the termination gave out.  The cable has yet to snap.  If you plan to fish Raystown, you're going to snag.  I've lost a bait shop full of tackle learning where the trees are.  I had a friend lose a downrigger when the base came off.  Play it smart by changing out your hooks to light wire hooks, using some heavier line (like braid with flouro leaders) )so that when you snag a lure, you can straighten the hook.  Start not going any deeper than 20' till you find the higher trees.  Takes a long time to be able to run down 50-60' and I'm still learning.  Polar Bear know every tree and has them named.