Northwest Fishing Reports

Just thinkin'.... Doesn't hurt though.... Can you use an old Penn 49 and a cut off heavy pole to make a down rigger in lakes here in Washington??? I would think so along as it doesn't have a hook on it.... It's gotta work well .and be legal Just put it in a pole holder and your regular "fishin' pole" in another. Just hang a 16oz cannon ball on it and a pop gear string on top of the weight. lot cheaper than a Scotty.... I just won an auction on ebay for plans for a homemade downrigger.... If it works I will post the results here. The guy said it should cost only a few dollars to make.... We shall see what happens as the time goes by. It looked like a pretty good idea....Enough thinkin' for now

thats a damn good Idea

Hey fishing collector,

That is a good question...one have heard posted before, but do not recall the answer. I e-mailed the WDFW and asked them about it and when I get an answer I will post it here.

They will answer any questions you have about the regs. I think they realise how confusing they can be. This is from their web site:

For more information,
please contact WDFW Fish Program.
E-mail: [email protected]

Thats 1 of the things that I put together this winter, but then I thought it might draw too much attention from the Fish & Game people.
Sooooo I am making up a wooden reel about 10" in dia. with a 30" boom. It will be just like my Scotty but I will use it for about 25 ft. or less. After that I`ll use the Scotty.

When I was a kid (long ago) we made up small wooden reels for our kites. We made up some pretty big kites with several hundred ft. of string! This reel will be just like them.

I have some flashers , pop gear and a lot of spinners that I have made up & ready to go.

Still waiting for good weather to try this stuff out at Lake Merwin, I had about 2ft. of new snow at my RV there Fr. & Sat. I hope its all gone by this weekend!!

I'll watch for the reply from the Fish people...Never know what they may say.... If it is ok then I 'll be out in the shop for a few days when this leg heals.....Steve

Hey fishing collector,

I got an answer from WDFW...

[quote="The Regulators"]
As listed in the Statewide Freshwater Rules on page 32 of the
regulation pamphlet, under Tackle it states the following: All fishing
gear must be kept in immediate control and may not be left unattended
while fishing. Rodholders may be used but the rod must be easily removed
without delay]

So I guess it would be perfectly legal to use "an old Penn 49" for a downrigger.

Lewis, Thanks for the ans. from WDFW, That will make adding a small downrigger much easier!

Kokonuts wrote:Lewis, Thanks for the ans. from WDFW, That will make adding a small downrigger much easier!

No problem, Kokonuts I enjoy research and such...

It would also stand to reason that wherever I troll...there I am!

lskiles wrote:Hey fishing collector,

I got an answer from WDFW...

The Regulators wrote: As listed in the Statewide Freshwater Rules on page 32 of the
regulation pamphlet, under Tackle it states the following: All fishing
gear must be kept in immediate control and may not be left unattended
while fishing. Rodholders may be used but the rod must be easily removed
without delay]

So I guess it would be perfectly legal to use "an old Penn 49" for a downrigger.

Thankyou so much.... I will make a vintage down rigger to put on my little Sears 12 footer... I am sure it will work. Looking around I saw that a Penn 545 has a 6.3 to 1 ratio or close to that... It might work better than a 49... Time to do a little R&D Thanks again for your help, Steve

Iskiles... Gotta love YOGGI for that one!!!

Kokonuts wrote:Iskiles... Gotta love YOGGI for that one!!!

Yogi Berra..."a verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on."

My father just fabbed one up using basic tools. If I can get to my bro's any time soon (he's got it now), I'll get a couple pics soon; he even put a line counter on it.