Downrigger

hammerhead · Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 9:47 am Post subject: Downrigger

Hey guys, I have gotten a little feedback here on downriggers, the general consensus is that the Scotty 1106 is the one to buy, True? So here I am sitting with my Cabelas catalog ready to order before I even pick up the Amigo soon to be the Hammerhead, and I thought what the heck. I better consult the experts before placing my order. So I was wondering if you guys have any pictures and or suggestions on mounting, wiring and anything else i should know before drilling holes and bolting mounts to the Hammerhead. One other thing, have any of you had the side mount boarding ladder mounted made by c-dory that flips around to inside the side of the aft deck? and does it allow room for mounting the downriggers? We dive as well as fish. And I hope that darn California fish board doesn't shut down Salmon season here completely when they meet next month. CoolSmile

Doug

any input by You all will be greatly appreciated.

Cutty Sark · Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 11:01 am Post subject:

Well. Most people use the scotty bases for the scotty downriggers, and they are nice. I really like some called offshore mounts, I believe is the brand name, they make a couple different kinds but they are indestructable. And are much easier/ quicker to put on and remove from the boat than the standard scotty bases. I will post some pics of them this weekend or next week. Either brand would be fine by me. I would mount the socket for the rigger either in the pocket on the sides of the cockpit, or underneath of it. To keep as much salt water or rain off of them as possible. I usually just wire the rigger straight to the batteries, with an in line fuse, but I know alot of people will run it through a switch or something or another. I'll be going through the same thing here any day when I finally get my new CD. Thumbs Up

Sark

starcrafttom · Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 1:05 pm Post subject:

I have scottys but will buy cannon next time. I like the auto down of the cannon or the penns. as far as mounting look at searams set up. its the best i have seen and i will move mine to that same location just with different mounts.

Mason C. Bailey · Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 4:00 pm Post subject: Downriggers

Doug,

I have the boarding ladder mounts on both sides as you mentioned. I also have two Scotty downriggers, which I think are the same model you mentioned. They both have the standard Scotty mounts, with the exception that the one on the port side has the added swivel mount. I like the swivel mount because you can rotate in slightly so that you have a better view of your rod from the helm. I don't have any close up pictures but there is sort of one on page 5, picture #8 on my photo album. The MacNaughty album is on page 16 of the albums. Mine are wired up as suggested above by CuttySark, direct to the battery on each side, with an in-line fuse. As he mentions, be sure to place the connection in a dry place, they get corroded easily.

Mason on MacNaughty III

416rigby · Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 4:06 pm Post subject:

I'll second the mount system that Searam has. When we get our 22 (we're shopping for a used one as we speak) I'm going to have aluminum mounts welded up just like his. Foggy Dew had Scotty manuals, and I loved them, and that swivel mount is definitely money well spent...much easier and safer to use.

Rick

rogerbum · Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 5:25 pm Post subject:

I've got the electric Scotties and like them fairly well. Nice thing is that they get lifetime warranty repair so it's easy to keep them in good working order (I like things that aren't MY job). I have the swivel bases and can't imagine being without them. The riggers come on and off very easily with a single bolt. I installed a couple of down rigger weight holders on the aft corners of the boat. A picture of one of them is below. With those in place, I simply bring the weights up and rotate the riggers so the weights rest in the holders and run to the next place. The mounting location of the riggers is the " "standard" place on the top of the gunnels, just above the back edge of the under gunnel storage. The only problem I have is that the camper canvas wasn't designed to fit over the riggers or the rigger mounts. If I was to do it over again, I'd pull the mounts in board about 1/2" so that they would clear the canvas.

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CAVU · Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 7:09 pm Post subject:

Doug,
I also have the Scottys mounted in the standard gunnel location. I have been very happy with the setup except they don't fit well with the aft canvas. Tom mentioned he liked the Cannon, but I have had Penns with the vertical reel and I didn't care for them. When I would bring the weight up while trolling, the wire would stack up on the downstream side of the spool(due to the angle as it comes in), then after 3 or 4 revolutions, would fall off and leave a lot of loose coils on the reel. I think the same would happen with any vertical reel downrigger. The Scotty's horizontal reel is much better from that standpoint. I wired mine with the plug socket under the the gunnel with the opening pointed down which makes it very waterproof.

Brooks Cooper · Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 11:03 am Post subject:

Doug,

I also have two scotty's gunnel mounted with swivels. Swivel mounts are the way to go, you can travel down the road (I pivot them 180 degrees for travel) you can adjust rod angle and they add height to the downrigger itself. I think some models of scotty's come with a free swivel mount at cabela's. I'm trying the scotty spectra downrigger line on one of my downriggers this year so far it doesn't kink like the cable we will see.

Brooks

hammerhead · Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 12:36 pm Post subject: Cabelas scotty

Yes i see it says the 1106 comes with a swivel base, It also lists the 1116 pro pack with dual adjustable rod holders, any reason to get one with dual rod holders? I noticed the 1116 Pro pack includes the cable, dual rod holders,electric plug and socket, auto stop control, swivel mount with tilt up feature.
But im wondering will the dual rod holder be in the way???

Doug

Thank you all for your input, just want to get the right set up the first time and not have to do it twice.

Smile

flapbreaker · Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 1:30 pm Post subject:

So people prefer the 60" boom over the 30"? Just wondering since I'm contemplating buying some and don't really know which one to get.

DodgeRam · Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 2:15 pm Post subject:

If you fish in tidal water , I would recommend the 60'' reason is if you have lots of gears down when you have to do turns , or side currents you got less chances of getting your lines together , believe me it happen soon or later ! There is a way to spread your cannon balls away from each other , is to use lead balls with fins on it , then you bend the fins so the one on port side pull away from your boat , and do the same thing on the starboard side , still recommend the long arm with this . Then when you retrieve you canon ball always retreive the down stream one first .

Gary SEARAM

Sawdust · Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 2:54 pm Post subject:

Gary is right on. If you do fishing in current get the longer arms. Saves a lot of mess.

Dusty

rogerbum · Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 5:36 pm Post subject:

I got the dual rod holders and soon took them off. I use the single rod holders mounted on the boom and if I REALLY want to run two rods off the same down rigger, I use rod holders mounted on the gunnels. In practice, I don't like to run more than one rod/rigger and the dual rod holders take up too much space. If I want to run three rods, I'll run 1 from each rigger and a third out the back with a banana weight and a cut plug on it. That's often as or more effective than the rods running off the riggers anyway and far easier to deal with.

CAVU · Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 7:50 pm Post subject:

If you go with the 60in adjustable booms, keep in mind you need to use them at the same length all the time. Otherwise you will have to move the auto shut-off stop each time. If it ends up in the wrong place you may blow a fuse. Another that has happened to me: if you pick a lot of kelp on the line, watch the ball carefully as it comes up. The kelp can exert enough drag to move your stop down the cable which causes the ball jam against the pulley and blow the fuse. I have found the little plastic ones to not work well and I end up crimping a brass stop on the cable.

DodgeRam · Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 8:23 pm Post subject:

Agree with you Roger , I also don't bother with more than one rod on each down rigger when fishing , but I use them ( rod holders 3 per down rigger) to hold my buoys that are mounted on a stick when travelling , my net , gaff, hali spear, and my rods, it works well for me until I get my rod holders mounted on my radar arch.

Gary SAERAM