Stacking Downriggers for Kokanee: How to Have Multiple Lines on One Downrigger

Stacking downriggers for kokanee salmon fishing offers more opportunities to catch kokanee, and to target fish at different depths on the same downrigger. If you’re not careful, it can also lead to more line tangles and headaches. This article goes over the best tackle and the best practices for stacking downriggers.

When downriggers first came on the market, it seemed like a perfect accessory for anyone who wanted to keep a line for kokanee salmon on the water. If you were hooked up to your boat, and knew the depth of the kokanee, there was no better tool for the job. And, while fishermen claim to have patience, we all want to spend more time reeling in kokanee, and less time just cruising around the lake. Having more lines in the water makes that possible, so, here’s how you can have multiple lines on one downrigger.

Stacker Downrigger Clips

There are specialty downrigger clips made specifically for people to fish multiple lines on the same downrigger called stacker clips. They’re really straightforward. The only downside of stackers is having to bring your line in when you need to rehook into the downrigger cable. That said, bait fishers also often run multiple bait hooks, and every time they real in, all the bait on those hooks comes in, so its not uncommon, though there are other options. The most popular Stacker downrigger clips are those made by Scotty. They have a clip and a heavy duty monofilament. It’s pretty straight forward, and this is the most popular way of stacking multiple lines on downriggers for kokanee fishermen.

Scotty Stacker Release Downrigger Clips

Shuttle Hawk, or Downrigger Divers

A downrigger diver operates a bit different than your traditional downrigger stacker clips. You put a rubber bobber stop on your downrigger cable, usually about 10-15 feet from your bottom line. Then you hook in the Shuttle Hawk. This can ride the cable down to that stopper without you having to pull up your line, and the pull of your trolling rig hooked into the shuttle hawk makes the whole thing dive down until it hits that bobber stop. Now, if you’re using a shuttle hawk, if that shuttle hawk line gets bit, you can leave your lower line in the water without having to stop when resetting. The goal is to have multiple lines, so you’re fishing more of the time. If you have to pull up your lines, that goes against that goal of having more effective lines in the water. Using stacker clips, you have to pull up the downrigger to get the second pole back in the water after landing a kokanee. With the diver, you only have to pull up your downriggers about half as often.

Here’s a great video that, in just a couple minutes, shows how to the shuttle hawk works, and you can see it in action. We like both stacker clips and Shuttle Hawks. They have their pros and cons. The Shuttle Hawks, and any other diver is slightly more prone to tangling than stacker clips, but they have the added convenience of being able to keep fishing while you’re resetting your rig.

Shasta Tackle Shuttle Hawk

In summary, having gear specifically designed for stacking multiple lines on your downrigger is the easiest way to get more fishing lines down into the water for kokanee fishing. The versatility of being able to have multiple lines down at once means that you get to spend more time fishing instead of constantly having to change out rods.

Keeping Multiple Lines from Tangling

There are a few different products designed to keep multiple lines from tangling, but we’ve got to be straightforward- the more lines you’re running while trolling, and the closer those lines are, the more likely you are to have a tangle, but the goal is to spend more time fishing, and less time detangling. Obviously, the tools above are the first thing you’ll want to try. Having the right equipment for running multiple lines is clearly going to be the first step to helping you have the results you want.

Other Tips for Keeping Multiple Lines from Tangling While Stacking Lines on One Downrigger While Kokanee Fishing

Next, there are some basic things to know about fishing multiple lines. The shorter your setbacks, the less likely you are to have tangles. That’s just common sense. The more fishing line you have in the water, the more likely it is that that line will tangle. Shorter line = less tangles. The deeper the fish and your rigs, the shorter you can make your set backs so you won’t disrupt the fish with the boat.

Next, there’s the matter of keeping track of your lines. If you’re left rod is out the back of the boat, you’ll want to keep it to the back of the boat. If its to the side of the boat, you’ve got to fight to keep that fish on that side if you hook into one. Pay attention to where you’re setting your poles in relation to the downrigger you clip it into.

Conclusion

In conclusion, getting a second line out with a downrigger is very doable. It can take a little bit of practice to get the hang of stacking downriggers for kokanee fishing, but the best way to learn is to do it a few times. With two lines in the water, you can fish twice the size of the water column, and hopefully catch twice as many fish. The only thing you have to worry about is having a big enough cooler for the extra kokanee.