WATCHING YOUR DEPTH
You should have enough confidence in your depthsounder to believe what it tells you, but you might not want to have the same faith in your downrigger's line counter. Sure, most of these devices are accurate, but even a precise line counter tells you only how much wire line is gone from the spool, and that doesn't necessarily translate into how far down your bait or lure is running. The number on the line counter probably includes three or four feet of wire between the spool and the end of the boom and the three or four feet of wire between the boom and the water's surface. There's a 6- to 8-foot discrepancy between what the line counter registers and your actual lure depth -- and that doesn't begin to account for depth you're losing if you're trolling against a strong current and your downrigger ball isn't hanging straight down at a 90-degree angle to the water's surface. If your bait is riding higher in the water than your downrigger ball, as it often will, you lose a little more depth.

Consider all these factors and it's easy to see that you may be fishing 15 or 20 feet closer to the surface than your line counter says you are. That depth difference could make a huge difference in whether the fish you're seeing on your depthsounder are getting a chance to see what you're offering them. Keep all these variables in mind and make the proper adjustments to actually fish the depths you want to fish.

RIGGING HIGH IN THE WATER COLUMN
While they're called "downriggers" for good reason, making them especially useful for the husky Chinook salmon we often find at substantial depths, anglers shouldn't overlook the downrigger as a valuable tool for catching coho and other salmon species found closer to the surface.

A downrigger will allow you to fish your bait or lure at exactly the same depth all day long, or to adjust that depth by fathoms, feet, even inches, if necessary. Other trolling methods don't allow that kind of accuracy and consistency, and it can be as useful in shallow water as in deep water.

To illustrate that point, several years ago I was on a coastal salmon trip with a couple of friends. Near an offshore rock pile we started marking fish about 35 feet down, and concluded they were likely coho salmon. The boat was equipped with a pair of downriggers, and I was invited to use one, but I declined, opting instead to fish an in-line diver to take my plug-cut herring to the magic depth. Each of my friends snapped their lines to one of the downrigger releases and lowered their rigs until both line counters showed 33 feet.

The line on the port side popped free of the release within 30 seconds, and the starboard line released seconds later as the rod was being lifted from the holder to get it out of the way of the first fish. Five minutes later we had a pair of shiny, eight-pound silvers in the box. The daily salmon limit at that place and time was three fish, and within a half-hour both of my partners had scored limits, while I was still trying to zero in on the magic depth with my less-accurate system. I finally scored with my first salmon about the time my partners each boated their third fish.

Since they were done for the day, I quickly snapped my line into one of the downrigger releases, lowered to 33 feet, and caught my second and third salmon in short order. I came home convinced that there are times when fishing precisely the right depth can make all the difference, and we couldn't have accomplished that precision without downriggers.