DOWN RIGGERS

[Sparkee]

What make would be the best, we fish in the ocean,most of the time. Which do you recomend electric or manual? Thanks in avance. Tight Lines
Sparkee

[cisco]

You don't give much info. For example, how many lines do you intend to run? If you only want or need a couple downriggers, take a look at the Cannon manual riggers. They are well advanced over the early years when Riviera's were ready to take off an arm if you failed to slip the pin. The Cannon's have a good clutch and make one hand operation simple. My favorite electrics are Walkers, altho some argue they are slow. I got a lot of good years out of 4 Walker electrics on Lake Michigan -- replacing only one in the 15 or so years I used them. As for salt water, check with you dealer.

[Grey Beard]

Once you have had electrics, you wouldn't have anything else. I think Cannon has a model that can handle saltwater but would first look at Scotty. I know they are used off the west coast and can handle 20# down rigger wts as some trolling done at great depths as compared to the great lakes.

[Nofish]

Hey Sparkee,

I gotta throw another name into the mix, Big Jon.
I have them on my Ranger now, and we used them for 7 seasons straight when my uncle had boat on Lake Michigan, and never have I/we had a problem.

I have the Captains Pack Electric (2 of them) now and would not want to go back to manual. They are also power up and power down.

With the power down, no more tangles or the ball getting away from you and plummeting if the person letting the rigger down is a green horn.

As for the salt water, like anything else, keep em wiped down after use and you should have many years of trouble fee service.

The things that the salt will want to mess with are the terminal connections at the ball and release. But all mfr's have that trouble in salt water.

Big Jon's are machined aluminum, and the arms will tip up and lock into place. There are dozens of mountimg options. Check out Big Jon's web site(www.bigjon.com).

Good luck........R

[Kurt_wi]

Have to second Nofish on the bigjon downriggers. My buddy has them on his boat and goes to florida to fish. They have stood up great for 6 years now. He just flushes them down after each time out. I put them on my boat, I went with the manuals for now. Maybe someday the electrics.

I like the common base plate system they use for the rod holders and downriggers. I can mix/match to where I will be fishing on a given day.

good luck...kurt

[Larry]

Here's another vote for Big Jon. I run the manual ones that were some used units that I bought and cut down to fit my boat. Go with the swivel mounts. The units are about 10 years old and have had very few problems. One problem that I've had is to replace one of the reels that cracked where the handle screws into it. The good news is that parts are still available for everything. The other minor problem is that under slack cable, the wire can get wedged between the pulley and the pulley frame. I thought that maybe mine were just starting to wear out but others with newer units have told me the same thing