downrigger selection??

[btfc1752]

Hey fishing gods of the big lake o

My question is, we have non electric cannon downriggers, but are looking to switch two of them over to electric ( arms get tired of reeling the big ball up from the bottom of the lake). Looks like to me, alot of the guys up here use scotty electric downriggers over cannon?? Any help with this decision would be greatly appreciated. Will even buy you a cup of coffee when we are up may 4th for kings,browns,walleye or sheephead , because we just like catching fish and not trolling for 12 hrs with no bites. Thanks guys see you at Oswego!!!

PS

This site is great, been on many but like this the best, Thanks Capt

[HitorMissIV]

Everyone has their own preferance, both riggers in question are good units. Newer Cannons come with built in positive ion control feature which Scottys do not. Both riggers are fast, Cannon has increased the speed of all their newer units. Scotty on the otherhand are free falling desent with a clutching arm to control the speed. The retrieve is also fast . Scottys are easy to service & repair with little of both! One factor is that Scotty riggers are wide units taking up gunwale room, so depending on the room available it can get crowded . Also don't ignore Big Jon riggers.They're not bad for the money & are made of all aluminum construction. Plus there are others out that perform well, it's up to the fisherman as to what works for them. Capt Randy

[Just Fishin']

I used manuals for years and switched to Scotty Electrics last year and it was the best investment on my boat. Aside from the upgrade to electric, the Scotty is a very simple design and real easy to maintain and repair if something were to go wrong. Most moving parts are easy to get to and easy to replace. The adjustable clutch provides for a smooth and very fast descent.

[muskybob]

A nice feature of the Cannon's is the ability to follow the bottom contour and auto adjust the depth of the ball. Your fishfinder has to have this feature to accept the accessory though. I don't have these yet so I'd also like to hear from anyone who uses them.

[GAMBLER]

One thing to watch with the Scotty's is the clutch lever. If they are mounted at the right hight and you hit the button to bring the ball up, It can hit you in the nuggets. I had this happen on a buddies boat. Me personally I do not like the Scotty's. I'm a firm believer in you pay for what you get. I have 4 Cannons on my boat (2 mag 20's and 2 mag 15's). The are super fast and reliabe. I don't like the fact that the Scotty's are belt driven. What do you do if a belt breaks? Another thing is the auto stop on the Scotty's. You have to place beeds on the cable. If you get weeds in the beeds, it will break the antena on your Moor subtroll (if you run the subtroll). The cannons auto stop without stupid beeds on your cable. I'm also a firm beliver in the positive ion control.

[MANIAC]

I started out much the same way with Cannon unitrolls then quickly graduated to Cannon Mag 10A's which worked well. When I got the bigger boat it came with 4 Big Jons and 2 Penn 825's. I loved the Penns right from the start. I immediately sold the big jons and bought 2 Penn 835's. Loved them even better, sold the 825's and bought 2 more 835's. Don't know their retrieval rate but they are considerbly faster than my mag 10's. Auto stop is not an issue, you can program up to 10 points to stop it wherever you want. Their swivel bases have 36 positions so you can position them exactly where you want. I am extremely happy with them!!

Eric

http://www.pennreels.com/01_products/downrigger/downrigger.htm

[Landshark]

Check swap sheets , ebay etc..... I just bought two brand new in the box Scotty 1116's from a guy local for 750. Thats no tax also. Good deal. Shop around. There is a guy in cortland ith 2 mag 10's with swivel bases in good condition for 500 for the pair. Just shop around, they are all good.

[btfc1752]

THANKS FOR THE INPUT(':D')

Still thinking with going with the cannons. Will the cannons positive ion, affect

a sub troll 900 if ran off the same rigger wire?? It seems to be the fishing consense that it is better to have a positive ion field coming off your boat.

The nuggets story got both me and my buddy when we read that. OUCH

Probally won't switch over til the summer, gonna run dipsies and lead core

for trout. lures and add on weight for walleyes.

[chinook]

Been fishing the great lakes for the better part of 3 decades now, and have used many different riggers on the market whether it be on my boat or someone elses'. Having said that, I'm currently using (2) Cannon Digi-Trol IV, (1) mag 15 and (1) mag 10. I am very pleased with the Cannons, and personally have had little problems with them, especially with the amount of time on the water for me. The reason I use a mag 10, is with the use of my down speed and temp on that rigger. The digi-Trol and 15 retrieval rate is very quick, so much that my setting for the digi trol is set on the medium setting, which I believe is 150 f.p.m I feel that to much is made of the high rate of retrieve with esp. the new 250's. Personally I don't want the probe to ascend at that kind of rate. However, there are many good makes of riggers on the market. I'm partial to Cannons', having no ties to the company what so ever. Good luck in what ever you decide.

[RUNNIN REBEL]

I am with Chinook on this also. I run 6 cannon Digi troll IV high speeds. I sell the telescopic booms every upgrade, and run the original 4' and 6' metal tube booms (which are currently being re-painted gun metal gray metalic ) #3 rig has bottom tracker unit and #1 and#6 outside riggers have slave feature. I do like the new 250' retrieve/auto up feature for Pro-am tournaments. Second spoon set on hardtop is minutes from full pattern change. Started with PROOS riggers in early 1980,s and had cannon,s since. Minimal trouble and easy getting service. Positive ion control we use more to help reduce negative effects of boat and more of a fish distruptor/mover than an actual attractor. Ion controll would better be suited for salt water.

Jerry

REBEL

[Blue Knight]

One thing to watch with the Scotty's is the clutch lever. If they are mounted at the right hight and you hit the button to bring the ball up, It can hit you in the nuggets. I had this happen on a buddies boat. Me personally I do not like the Scotty's. I'm a firm believer in you pay for what you get. I have 4 Cannons on my boat (2 mag 20's and 2 mag 15's). The are super fast and reliabe. I don't like the fact that the Scotty's are belt driven. What do you do if a belt breaks? Another thing is the auto stop on the Scotty's. You have to place beeds on the cable. If you get weeds in the beeds, it will break the antena on your Moor subtroll (if you run the subtroll). The cannons auto stop without stupid beeds on your cable. I'm also a firm beliver in the positive ion control.

I've run 4 Scotty Pro Packs for a good number of years as have a number of other charter skippers on the north side of the Lake. I can't understand how that can happen. I've never heard of that before. I've run Big Jons, & Scotty manuals & I'll never run anything but Scottys.

[Yankee Troller]

Yeah! I ran Scotty's all year last year and never once had a ball bangin experience. But they sure are fast to re-set. Open the clutch ad as fast as they can fall they fall, and I have never had a lure come up and catch the cable. I have had weeds collect on the cable and move the beads. That sux!

[btfc1752]

JUST A UPDATE- THE BOAT HAS CANNON MAG 10'S

Thanks for all the input, we will be trying them out

this weekend... May4-6th Hope to see ya up there

Thanks

Dave and Ron

[Jax]

Gambler - Did you stradle your Scottys? Were you leaning your nuggets against the clutch? Just asking.......

[Yankee Troller]

I dont know what Gambler is talking about either! I mean, his future wife took those from him years ago!

[fosterm22]

Been fishing the lake for almost 25 year. We have used Penn's, Big Johns, and Cannon. By far- the Cannons have been the best. I just bought 2 of the new Mag 10 high speed with the 60" booms. They are really nice and very fast. With the double rod holders, and swivel bases, my package was just under $1000

Im my opinion, the lifetime warrenty on the cannon motors is really good feature as well.

just my 2cents

[InTheBox]

I'am also a Cannon fan. I have a Mag 10, MAg 15, Mag 20 and a Digital troll and they all work great for me. I also use to have big jons captain packs didnt like them. Had lots of problems with them. I'am not saying there bad but they just didnt work for me.

Pat