We tried going out fishing again today. It was an ill-fated venture. Because we are still having downrigger problems.
Anyway, we only started with one working downrigger, this time. The other is missing cable (line), and we have to purchase replacement line and re-spool it. This time, we got the weight and line down in the water at depth, and were trolling, but when we went to pull it up, once again, the “up” wasn’t working.
Very frustrating.
At least we had brought the new halibut poles and reels. So we put in a few hours hoping for halibut, at Caldera Bay. A few nibbles, and some orange-colored rockfish that we threw back, but no halibut.
Very sad.
Once again, hearts heavy, we returned home.
Once again, I put in a few hours trying to figure out what it was that I don’t get about downriggers, their motors, their switches, their little circuit boards inside. Perhaps the motor is just “tired.” That’s how it seems. Like, it has enough umph to let the cable out, but not enough to pull it back in with a weight attached.
But then I discovered something. Perhaps I’m just hallucinating, out of some misplaced hope that I can get it fixed, but it seemed to me that when I reversed the polarity on the connection from the circuit board to the motor, the motor’s “up” seemed more energetic. Yesterday (or, rather, day-before-yesterday) I had learned that polarity was in fact something that was important on the inputs to the circuit board, and today, I wonder if what I learned is that polarity also matters on the outputs – the connection to the actual motor.
The reason why this is surprising is that Art has been quite insistent, all along, that polarity shouldn’t matter with an electric motor. That might be true for old style electric motors, but I’ve begun to wonder if his knowledge is out-of-date. Anyway, I got a lot more “pull” out of the “up” direction on the downrigger, by switching the polarity on the outputs to the motor. So maybe that’s been the issue? Art had taken apart the motors back before we launched the boat, and I wonder if maybe he switched things up when he put them back together – based on his assumption that polarity didn’t matter.
I told Arthur that I can foresee two distinct possibilities as outcomes for my third effort at downrigger repair: 1) “third time’s the charm,” and things work great; 2) “three strikes, you’re out,” and we give up and buy new downriggers.
We shall see. Because of the weather, and upcoming scheduled time at work for me, we probably won’t get another chance to test things out on the water until maybe Friday or Saturday.
And thus the fish are safe, for now.
Year-to-date totals:
- Coho: 0
- Kings: 0
- Halibut: 0
- Other: 0
- Downrigger weights left on the bottom of the sea: 1
