Downrigger recommendation

B

boodalu

New member
I am planning a Destin Florida trip in January and my "Florida buddy" says to add downriggers to my boat. I am looking for a recommendation for a set of manual downriggers (mfg. / model number) as well as mounting information (type of base, location, pics, etc.)

PS: I am still a "newbie" but sure do enjoy my TomCat and this site. Thanks in advance for all of the advice I am sure to get!
 
I strongly urge you to consider going with electrics. I started out with manuals and I'll never go back. Up here in the northwest Scotty Downriggers are very popular. Until very recently they were the fastest too. Cannon rolled out some new models this year to challenge them. I opted to replace my older Mag 10 Electrics with a pair of Mag 5 High Speeds(I already have telescoping booms and swivel mounts). Only time will tell if that was a wise decision or not.
 
first off I will say that if you plan on using downriggers buy electric ones. yes they are more money but they are much more fun. I dont know how deep you fish in your waters but here I fish at 100 ft plus all the time and cranking by hand 30 times a day is a pain in the back not to mention other parts.

That said I have scotties and would buy cannons next time. if you can get penns they are great and even better then cannons but penn can not decide if they are goin to keep making the electric models. if you do go with manuals penns are the very best manuels out there and I have used all of the major brand of manuels, thats why I have electrics now.

I have gone over to power pro for my cables instead of wire and will never go back. just great to work with and less drag. no humming and no bad electical charge going down the line.

As for release clips get the pro release and dont listen to the scotty release clip kool-aid drinkers
 
boodalu,

My advice is not for a specific brand but for ease of parts. I'd check the boat shops near by and see what brands they sell and how many parts are available. I went with Scotty's as the shops around me stock pretty much every replacement part and accessory for them.

Learning how to operate and fish with downriggers tends to cause a few mishaps and you may end up loosing some stuff overboard. Having easy to get replacements makes your fishing time more enjoyable.

Friends also can get excited and not operate the downriggers correctly. When you know you can fix/replace the parts easily you don't tend to get as ruffled.
 
boodalu-

Not to buck the trend to recommend electrics, but are you considering manuals because of the shallow waters you'll be trolling in down in Florida?

Tom's right about the Penn manuals being the best among the manual ones. We use them for trout in Shasta Lake with 4 or 7 lb weights for up to 100 ft without any fatigue factor. Wouldn't want to raise 10/12 pounders from 150 or more feet all the time, though!

Downriggers have regional popularity related to the type of fish and fishing fishing they're used for, and the lake or ocean characteristics, etc.

Joe.
 
Another very nice down rigger is the Big Jon. I have a small manual set for my high lakes boat, and find them easy enough to use. That said, I would go with electrics when I do it again. On Constant Craving we use Scotty manual downriggers (1085???) and find them bullet proof, but cranking 12 pounds of lead from 200 feet is for young folks.

Tom, you mentioned an alternative to wire, I am not familiar with power pro. Is this a spectra braid or something of that nature?

Steve
 
starcrafttom":1401oppw said:
As for release clips get the pro release and dont listen to the scotty release clip kool-aid drinkers
Click to expand...
Tom - what's the advantage of the pro release ?
Also - gonna try and get out on the water the week of Thanksgiving - what are folks fishing for out of Everett that week?
Cheers,
Tom
 
Yes its a type of braid and works great. you can put on a lot more and if you bust off a ball you can tie another one really fast and easy with out any speical clips or crimps. I will say that no matter what type of line you us get the bungees for the ball clips. makes getting your balls out of the water easies and safer. bungee

also makes it easy to remove the balls and store them. also alllows you to safely store your downrigger line on the downrigger with tension on the line/wire. I hope I am making this clear.
 
tom the pro releases are IMHO (ignore roger) are a better release for no other reason then they allow you to tighten your line down a lot more then with scotty clips and makes it impossiable to have a early release on the way down. this saves you a lot of time having to rerig everytime you get a early release. I hae found that scotty releases dont allow you to tighten down your line enough, not for me but I like my lines really tight. I allows me to see more small bites and shakers. it also make getting rid of shakers easier and faster then the scottys. Some folks will disagree but they are wrong and have not been educated correctly on the fine art of release clip operation. I do give classes by the way.

Reight now its black mouth season in the north sound. find long flat bottoms at 90 to 100 feet and troll right on the bottom. I mean is you are not hitting bottom every 20 seconds or so you are to high of the bottom. spoons and small hoothies are the favorite lures for this.
 
I have a point on the cannon vs scotty. I was told and failled to think it thru at the time, that the scotty uses less power then the cannon. Well the scotty is a power up only downrigger. the cannon is power up and power down. Well if you are only useing power half the time then you use half as much power. Well thats misleading to me and bad buyer for not looing into it more at the time. I like the cannon for several reasons and power down is one of them. It makes it easier to train new users and guest. most mishaps happen with guest and downriggers on the way down on the scotty. That is were it take a little training to get right and safe. with power down you just hit the button and give out line. a lot less to go wrong that way. I also like the auto stop on the cannon becasue it does not rely on beads or stops on the line as does scotty. now the beads always work on the scotty when they are there. I have a problem with the beads coming off and now that Iam useing braid instead of cable they slide around some times. With the cannon it just knows when its at the top thru the electcial resistanes or something, magic thats it magic. no beads needed.
 
Boodalu
I have owned or fished on all the afore mentioned downriggers and can say that I will not buy any other than Scotties. I have 9 years on the pair of electrics I now own and have not had any problems with them. And I fish ALOT. Also the one thing that sold me on Scotties is that the cable spool is horizontal and not vertical. Lower profile. This is just my opinion.

Chuck
Bootleg Hooch
 
Tom, Cannon owners, does the auto stop work with power pro? (I'm mystified by tiny electrons) I know there's some electro FM gizmo circuit breaker that makes the cable stop at the surface. Michael
 
Spike":87rqfe5m said:
Boodalu
I have owned or fished on all the afore mentioned downriggers and can say that I will not buy any other than Scotties. I have 9 years on the pair of electrics I now own and have not had any problems with them. And I fish ALOT. Also the one thing that sold me on Scotties is that the cable spool is horizontal and not vertical. Lower profile. This is just my opinion.

Chuck
Bootleg Hooch
Click to expand...

I have fished with Cannom since 1987 In Oregon, Wash, Idaho, BC, and now Alaska. Cannon Mag 10's never ever had a problem one!

"I have a point on the cannon vs scotty. I was told and failled to think it thru at the time, that the scotty uses less power then the cannon. Well the scotty is a power up only downrigger. the cannon is power up and power down. Well if you are only useing power half the time then you use half as much power. Well thats misleading to me and bad buyer for not looing into it more at the time. I like the cannon for several reasons and power down is one of them. "

The Cannons have a (no power)controled free fall also! :mrgreen: :beer
 
jmrII is that in addition to the power down? I have used the digi-troll and they are power down infact you can adjust the down speed (that way you will not cause a early release if you are using a scotty release clip)
 
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