Teach me about downriggers.. Electric Vs Manual

[NEWB]

I'm looking at purchasing a downrigger or a pair of downriggers for some larger and deeper lakes.

In your opinion which is better Electric or Manual and why?

What should I be looking for when purchasing a downrigger? What should I be looking to avoid?

Thanks in advance,

[Joe Fehr]

Will depend on how much you are going to use them.
Electrics are more maintenance, but ease of use is nice. Ensure you have them set for the proper weight balls or you'll end up loosing balls upon retrieve.

Manuals require very little to no maintenance but you crank them up by hand and have very little chance of knocking off balls.

If you are doing a lot of down rigging I would go electric, but if you aren't then manuals are the easiest and cheapest route to go.

I just did a 3 day charter in Prince Rupert on a boat with manuals and they got quite the work out. Captain said he's going to electrics next year...... They work but they make you work too...

[Bigdad013]

I'm a scotty guy myself, had both, and stuck with the electric. When fishing alone, nice to have the electrics to get the lines up and out of the way with a push of the button. If you have a hummingbird fishfinder they are compatible with the canon downriggers and can operate them from your finder. If your fishing big lakes, don't go to a small downrigger, you will find yourself buying larger very soon after. Just my 2 cents

Maintenance? I've had my electrics for 7 years, never had to do anything to them, and I mean nothing, plug em in and they are ready to go.

[eagle99]

Google Walker downriggers.
Made in Ontario
Not popular on west coast/ designed for great lakes.
Mine have worked fine for five years / two five day trips /year at Rupert
Very good service if you need parts /as I lost one knob in rough water
Sent prepaid as if was the second year.
Just another option

[NEWB]

Thanks for the advice. I'm planning to use them a few times a year. At this point I'm not looking at heavy usage. I definitely have some more thinking to do. I have a lead on some very lightly used manual downriggers..

[fish gunner]

Originally Posted by NEWB

Thanks for the advice. I'm planning to use them a few times a year. At this point I'm not looking at heavy usage. I definitely have some more thinking to do. I have a lead on some very lightly used manual downriggers..

Manual riggers are fine for all but the most intense salmon fishing. Scotty are the best supported in the west . Cannon are the most advanced . Penn are world wide.
How and where will you be fishing ? Most salmon are caught above 100' some trout are regularly caught in big lakes deeper than 100'.
Think of catch rate, with salmon you can be into fish steady so you will be running up and down every 3-5 min. Most trout fishing will give you waaaay more time down .
Good luck with your pursuit.

[NEWB]

Originally Posted by fish gunner

Manual riggers are fine for all but the most intense salmon fishing. Scotty are the best supported in the west . Cannon are the most advanced . Penn are world wide.
How and where will you be fishing ? Most salmon are caught above 100' some trout are regularly caught in big lakes deeper than 100'.
Think of catch rate, with salmon you can be into fish steady so you will be running up and down every 3-5 min. Most trout fishing will give you waaaay more time down .
Good luck with your pursuit.

Solid points to consider. I'm looking at cold lake, lesser slave lake, a few deeper ones in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. I dont think that salmon is on the species list for those lakes. im mostly going for lake trout..

The ones I'm looking at are a few years old so the pricing will be good. It could be worth it just to give it a try to see how they feel...

[EZM]

I am using a scotty 1080 manual - I run a 6, 8 or 10 lb ball - depending on what I'm doing.

If the action is steady - they will give you a bit of a work-out but not too bad - even trolling deeper that 100 feet.

Had these for years now - no issues - worked like a charm at cold lake this past weekend.

[bardfromedson]

I own both. electrics on the ocean boat, hand bombers on the 17ft. I cant stand the old hand crankers. in anything over 50ft they are a huge pain. fishing really deep with short boomed hand cranks would be a recipe for disaster for someone without a lot of rigger experience. your pretty much limited to 10 pound balls with hand cranks. once fishing over 70ft or so you want to go to heaver balls like a 15lb or your balls will be further back than down. save your pennies. the first trip you pull balls all day from 100ft plus you will be ready to dump them in the pond. if I needed them more on the small boat I could put mounts and plug ins for the electrics so I could use them on both boats. you can catch fish with hand cranks and thy can be effective but if its going to be for more than a few trips its worth getting into some electrics.
ps. if I ever paid for a charter and showed up and the guy is running hand crank riggers I would throw the guy in the lake and pirate his ship.


also, there should be a lot of used scotty electrics for sale in good shape. they came out with a fancy new high speed model a few years back and lots of guys upgrade. I would go with scottys because you can get parts in pretty much every mom and pop shop in bc. might save a trip. they are pretty much bulletproof but sometimes things happen.

[fish gunner]

Originally Posted by bardfromedson

I own both. electrics on the ocean boat, hand bombers on the 17ft. I cant stand the old hand crankers. in anything over 50ft they are a huge pain. fishing really deep with short boomed hand cranks would be a recipe for disaster for someone without a lot of rigger experience. your pretty much limited to 10 pound balls with hand cranks. once fishing over 70ft or so you want to go to heaver balls like a 15lb or your balls will be further back than down. save your pennies. the first trip you pull balls all day from 100ft plus you will be ready to dump them in the pond. if I needed them more on the small boat I could put mounts and plug ins for the electrics so I could use them on both boats. you can catch fish with hand cranks and thy can be effective but if its going to be for more than a few trips its worth getting into some electrics.
ps. if I ever paid for a charter and showed up and the guy is running hand crank riggers I would throw the guy in the lake and pirate his ship.


also, there should be a lot of used scotty electrics for sale in good shape. they came out with a fancy new high speed model a few years back and lots of guys upgrade. I would go with scottys because you can get parts in pretty much every mom and pop shop in bc. might save a trip. they are pretty much bulletproof but sometimes things happen.

Next time your thowing away a set of down riggers gimme a pm will gladly take them off you hands . You know at one time all down riggers were manual,we fished fine for many years. Good way to bulk up the guns

[saskpikeman]

depends on how fish you want to catch in a day, last weekend we boated over 80 fish in two days, average depth was probably 100 feet plus or minus 10 feet, plus we easily lost 30+ fish on the to the boat, that equals a lot of cranking on manuals, plus anything over a 10 lb weight is a real pain on a manual. If you plan on limiting yourself to under 100 FOW manuals aren't to bad but sure seems like work when you have those 50 fish days. I've been running Scotty HP's won't ever go back to manuals thats for sure.

[Duramaximos]

I'm relatively new to downriggers. I bought a Scotty Depthpower from TFH last year, and think it's great!

Easy to use, and very good build quality.

[Pixel Shooter]

Its all about cost and ease of use. Been using manuals for last several years, just replaced one with a Scotty electric, its fricken huge, could have bough a smaller model electric lol. had it out last week, think I will never go back to manual. I know what is on my xmas list for the other side of the boat cause Im the one who gets stuck reeling it up for whoever Im fishing with when they have a fish on and all they have to do is hit a button for me If you don't use one lots, the manual with 2ft pull turn you cant go wrong, but if by chance you plan on getting more use or even try using planner boards, well I think you know the answer lol

[-JR-]

I have two manual cannons. I wish they were electric even if I would use them only twice a year.
Electric,because when fishing with two at the same time you will find you are catching fish every 15 minutes and you need to bring one up right away so the fish does not wrap the fishing line around it .
We find even 10 pound balls are hard to crank up from 120 ft ,but thats what you need to keep the ball straight down

[BeeGuy]

My downrigger consists of a 40" 2x3 strapped to the yoke of the canoe. The 2x3 has some 1/2" foam duct tapped to the end.

I have a fist sized cannon ball clipped to 80' of 80lb mono which is anchored to the end of the 2x3 with a knife near by (safety first).

runs really well from the canoe

but works crappy

resetting sucks.

menh

[laker]

Depends on how lazy you are! I have both a cannon and scotty manual. I prefer the cannon, mainly because the spool does not sit flat.Have had way less issues with the line coming of the reel and the pulley at the end of the boom. Used them both for 20 years +.. Also cannot justify the big cost difference for the amount used.

[fish99]

just got back from cold lake and my arms are tired from cranking up scottys from 100 feet ever 10 min, go with the electric as I will be next year.

[EZM]

Definitely a work out when the fishing is good - a few poster where out at cold last weekend so they know what i'm talking about.

I was dropping down an average of 100 feet and cranked that thing 4 times an hour for two 5 hour sessions a day (had a lunch break on shore).

Like fish gunner said - my pipes are looking tighter this week - lot's of compliments on my buff physique this week ........ lol.

I will eventually go to cannon electrics (digitroll 5's most likely) so i can link to my humminbird.

My 1080 had the extended handle and comes up 2 ft per turn so it's not that bad ......... but when you get past 40 like I just did - sometimes a little fart squeaks out under the strain of old age.

[nc21]

When I am out On the coast with just the kids and me I couldnt do it with Manuals, Fish on push a button and you dont have to look at it again till you are ready to run your lione down again

[NEWB]

Thanks for all the feedback and advice!

There are compelling arguments for both! I do like the ease of the electric and truthfully I am not certain how much I would be using them...

I am looking at going to some deeper lakes (undecided which lake) in Saskatchewan for trout in Sept and maybe making a trip again to cold lake.

What I am thinking is that if my buddy gets back to me with a compelling price on the manual down riggers then I will go for those. If not, I may pull the trigger on the electric one as I do like the ease of them.

I may find that I use the manual ones and despise them and will be upgrading to the electric. I do have the hummingbird 587ci HD depth finder. It is good to know that I can use that with certain down riggers...

I should know by the end of the week which way I want to go.

[bardfromedson]

if your buying new i would look into getting them from the states. sounds stupid for a canadian made brand but i found scotty electrics for 40% cheaper than anywhere in canada. guy bought a truck load of the older style scotty electrics when the new high speeds came out. i was driving to mexico anyways so i stockpiled for the boat i was picking up. spent another 1500 on other stuff as well. 40% off on knuckle duster reels, penn 320gt reels, and mooching rods. saved a boatload on rigging up a boat for the west coast. i think the place was called johns sporting goods in everett washington. he will ship to canada and won't charge the taxes.

[Magspec]

I bought one of Sportsmanguide Online and one from River Sports Man in Campbell river when i was down there 470 something i paid with 1106 with swivel base and everything. Make sure to get some rubber snubbers or what ever there called to hook between cannon ball and down rigger cable helps take the shock out and gives it a breaking point if ever get caught on bottom.

[fishing101]

The 587 will not run the cannon's. You have to get the 700 or 800 series to run the riggers. The other thing to consider is how easy they are to work on. If you have change a spool on the water. The cannon's are super easy. Might also want to look at changing to braid. Way less drag don't have to run as heavy of ball.