downriggers???

[Petty4life]

i used to use the rubber bands, i never liked them. hard to get them to break

[Kokaholic]

I like the small yellow Offshore releases. And As far as a downrigger, By the best you can afford. Wally and Time said it best. Any rigger is better than know rigger

[Digi-Troller]

In years past I've used the offshore medium releases, but this year I upgraded to Koke Special Lamiglas rods, Shimano Cardiffs, and the mediums no longer worked. I switched to the yellow (light) releases, and what a difference. I can't believe I ever fished without them! We are getting clean releases, and losing very few fish. The combination of light releases, ultra light rods, and smooth light drags is really putting kokes in the boat. Its amazing what using the right equipment can do for your success rates! We caught plenty of kokes in years past, but I'll never go back!

[TBtoad]

I purchased two canon mag tens about two years ago to go along with my two penn electric's. I have no complaints about the downriggers themselves. I had nothing but trouble with the plastic swivel bases. Last month I had to replace them for the third time. They would develop cracks near the lever you pull to release them to a new position. last year at the Gorge one broke and I had to tie a rope on to the boom to keep it in position.
I got real unhappy with cannon. When you called the shop to get them replaced they acted like I was the only one who ever had a problem.
They finally agreed to replace them with the stainless steel swivel bases for the difference in price of the plastic ones. I haven't had a problem with new bases. My penn's are 10 yrs old and I haven't had one problem with them. The only addvantage in the cannon is the speed going up and down. This could be one of the problems with the plastic bases. There is a lot of torque put on the booms when the ball stops when its going so fast.
In the beging I heard the plastic was not properly prepared for the bases when they were poured. If that was the case you would think they would have fixed the process.
I couldn't find new penns when I was looking for new downriggers. I whish I had done a little more research before I bought cannons. If I had it to do over again would get the scotty eletrics.
Thanks
TBtoad

[sawdustsavage]

Sounds good to me. Think I will have to try it. Simple rules in my book.

[Mark McWillis]

I have 4 Scotty 1106's and love them.

[redmanjr1]

I have two Scotty manual DR's. They are the only ones I've owned or used and like them just fine. This past weekend was the first time out with them and had a blast. On releases I use the Scotty mini's. They also seem to work just fine.

[trollmonkey]

I've got two PENN 620 manual riggers that have been workhorses.For releases I use the Scotty minis.Not sure I'll bite the bullit for electrics,even when my PENNs die.The price of one electric would pay for several trips.

[Bduck]

I run 2 Walker electrics and I stack. I have 2 Scotty manuels I bought over 20yrs ago. They served their purpose and loved them. After all the handcranking from deep water fishing with a few premature releases also, the electrics is the only way to go. I never looked back. Also like the yellow offshore releases. Keep plenty of replacement pads for them.

[Lunddude]

I run 2 Walker electrics and I stack. I have 2 Scotty manuels I bought over 20yrs ago. They served their purpose and loved them. After all the handcranking from deep water fishing with a few premature releases also, the electrics is the only way to go. I never looked back. Also like the yellow offshore releases. Keep plenty of replacement pads for them.

I mounted two Walker Kokanee models (3' booms) on my 2007 Lund Alaskan 1800SS & could not be happier with them. I really like the compact size of the Walkers & the fact that they have the auto stop feature. I'm able to power down with complete control & never worry about my line getting stripped out of the release. Walkers are all gear driven meaning no belts to break on you. Plaine & simple the Walkers for the money are the probably one of the best downriggers on the market. If you don't believe me look into what most of the charter boats are using that fish the Great Lakes.

[Bduck]

Whats also available is upgrades from the short arm. I originally bought the short arm on the tournament series and upgraded those with the long arm and auto weight retrieval and still has an auto stop. Preventative maintenance as with any thing else will last for years to come.

[Lund troller]

I'm thinking about getting electric downriggers most likely Scotty. Do I need to have a seperate battery for them?

[bertschb]

...Do I need to have a seperate battery for them?

I have two Cannon Digi-Troll 5 electric downriggers and run them both off my one battery. No problems at all.

[bob r]

Using the canoe with an outboard we use a cannon mini-troll we are able to stack with it, generally use a 6 lb. ball as we don't usually go deeper then 40 ft., also have a penn manual that I use on larger boats, the mini troll with ball and setup( rod holder attached to mini troll) will cost about $100.Releases, I like the cannon release with the dial, it's easy to get the same tension every time.It's been said, a small manual is better then no downrigger at all. bob R

[spearfisher]

Maghunter, An inexpesive one is better than none, especially later on in the year when the kokes move deeper. You could use lead core but that is only good to about 40 feet, and you would have to let out a mile of line. So if that is all you could afford for now I would get it. You could always use it as a spare or sell it when you can get new ones. As far as set back behind the ball it depends. The deeper you go the shorter the setback. When the fish are still shallow it is not uncommon for me to run 100 feet back sometimes more. The release that I like the most is the little yellow ones made by offshore. The little releases from Scotty are also good as long as you don't put your line all the way to the back. Haven't used many others so can't comment on them. Don't be afraid to ask questions here. There are a lot of knowledgable people here that will answer your questions.

Hello ... anyone know something about how to mount a downrigger to the squre railing of a pontoon boat. any help on this greatly appreciated.

[Propnut69]

post some pics of where you want to mount your riggers at,and maybe someone will have a good idea.

[autorick]

I run mag 10's and are a simple to use, i haven't had any problems with them and the are used and abused. Big jons are great too IMO. I like the Scotty releases because they seem to not mar up the line when the line releases.

[MTmountainman]

I have been running a Big Jon Gadabout this year on my small boat and it is a great piece of equipment. I run a 10# ball and have messed around with a Chamberlain stacker, Off Shore yellow release and a Band Buster release. All of the releases have their place, the trick is knowing when and how to use the proper one.

[Lund troller]

I have two Cannon Digi-Troll 5 electric downriggers and run them both off my one battery. No problems at all.

hey thanks for the info. Do you have to charge your battery every night when you come in or does your kicker do it for you? I have a 8hp yamaha that puts out a small charge when trolling. I also have a 115hp yamaha.But only use it for blasting back to where i want to troll from.

[Lunddude]

hey thanks for the info. Do you have to charge your battery every night when you come in or does your kicker do it for you? I have a 8hp yamaha that puts out a small charge when trolling. I also have a 115hp yamaha.But only use it for blasting back to where i want to troll from.

I have my Walkers wired into my cranking battery that way I can put a charge to them while out fishing if they start to run down. If your fishing deep with your downriggers and using them a lot and you don't have them wired into your cranking battery you will need to charge that stand alone battery at the end of the day. My cranking battery is in the back of my boat so I have really short leads from my downriggers to my battery. Just be carefull and start up your big motor every once in a while to charge that canking battery up or you may find yourself stranded out on the lake with a cranking battery that's to low to turn your big motor over.

[Lund troller]

Hey thanks for the info. I do have a 27 group battery that is connected to my main battery that I am going to hook my downriggers to. Getting ready to load up and head to Odell for a week. thanks again, will give a report when I get back

[bertschb]

hey thanks for the info. Do you have to charge your battery every night when you come in or does your kicker do it for you? I have a 8hp yamaha that puts out a small charge when trolling. I also have a 115hp yamaha.But only use it for blasting back to where i want to troll from.

I don't charge it during the summer. I have an 8HP Honda kicker that charges it while I'm trolling. I use a Battery Tender during the winter.

[platypus]

--I use scotty electrics... extended arm give good spread.
--I wouldn't have a problem with manual if a guest on the boat to crank it but electric great when fishing alone or when fishing deeper water