Which downriggers?

[Finchdude]

Hey guys I'm kinda a newbie at this, but i will be buying 2 new elect. downriggers to set up a 20' starcraft aluminum boat. I'm looking at Scotty's and big Jon's. I like the Scotty's 1116 , but they look bigger and heavier?? I am mounting these on Bert's tracks. The big jon captain packs look more compact. But the captain packs don't shut off when out of water?? Not sure?? Just looking for opinions from u guys that use these downriggers all the time. Thanks guys

[insufishent]

^{you can buy the auto stops for the big jons about $90 each either one you will like. both are awesome riggers! some retailors I think cabellas capt. pack include the auto stop.}

[ontherise]

My buddy has got two big Jon's for sale if your interested pm me. I'll find out the details.

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[Blue Knight]

I ran Big Jon's for years and then changed over to Scotty's. I'll never go back!

[GAMBLER]

I have been a cannon owner for years. The current riggers on my boat have ten seasons on them. Mine get a ton of abuse lake trout fishing lake o and they keep on running flawlessly.

[Sk8man]

I'm with Gambler. I've had my Cannon (adjustable boom and swivel bases)10A's since the early 1980's and aside for new power cords on them....that is it...never a problem with them.

[Finchdude]

Thanks guys!! I really have my eyes on the scotty 1116's. I think they are most bang for buck??? I would buy used riggers if I found some , but I am thinking they are hard to come by. Lightly used??

[Pj Weber]

I like my Scottys bought them used 5 years ago never a problem. Switching from 12lb torpedos to 15lb this year and not worried about the riggers being able to handle them at all!! PJ Weber

[Jack]

Bought 2 - 1116's last year , Great Rigger .  Only uses power when coming up. I have mine mounted on tracks as well , no problem. (be sure to have backing plates under the tracks ).

[RSF]

I got a bit tired of hand-reeling my downrigger from the depths of lake Ontario and didn't want to pay the huge price to electrify. So with time, effort and experimentation, managed to make my own Electric Motor add-on to my Cannon. Actually did it twice once about fifteen years ago and the last a couple of years ago.  Works great and is powered through the use of a windshield wiper motor.

 

Great winter project and it is possible to pick-up new windshield wiper motors quite cheap.

[Delcojim]

I wasn't sure which to get also. I bought 1 scotty and 1 big jon, scotty has had no problems but the big jon has given me a back lash a couple of times that was no fun to straighten out

[Little Crappie]

I'm a cannon man but have been told Scotty's are the only way to go when using heavy weights. That's something to think about with back blow. An 8lb weight travels faaaar behind compared to a 15lb.

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[Misty IV]

I love my Cannons. Been on a friend's boat with Scotty's and I was really impressed with them, too. IMO, can't go wrong with either.

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[Iceman]

I have owned Bigjon & Cannon, & these are by far the best I have owned, soft start & stop, & programmable with a jig function.  Check out Traxtech.

 

 

[abc715]

Scotty 's are the best. Love mine. You will love them too.

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[evil-eye]

I would go with scotty.I have used almost every brand out there and big Jon where the worst in my opinion.Go with either scotty or cannon and go with 16 pound weights and you can see you weights pretty deep on your fish finder without having to mess around with your transducer.

[tinfin]

I have Penn Fathom masters (835), But when they bite the dust it will be Scotties for me. The penns have not missed a beat for 15 years or so but sooner or later all things mech. break! 

[jigstick]

FWIW, I hate the Scottys.  My buddy had two of them on his boat.  The horizontal spools suck.  On more than one occasion the wire has slipped off the spool and got tangled in the mount…huge pain in the ass.  Furthermore, I think the horizontal spool design is less robust over the long run.  It puts more angles into the equation when dropping and retrieving balls.  I think it really stresses the booms and pivot points.  The Bigjons have always looked flimsy to me.  I use manual Cannons STX 10s which have thick booms, and even they flex a bit when dragging 14lb balls on the bottom.  But the vertical spools are super nice, and they retrieve very smooth with their gear ratio.  Everyone has there own opinions.  But I have used both, and I think there is no comparison.  The Cannons are a much nicer design.

[abc715]

First, the wire doesn't pull any different if the spool in vertical or horizontal. The guides bring it straight to the spool. If your cable is jumping off spool. Your either doing something wrong or you have other problems. I looked at mine and can't see how the cable would jump off spool if there is a ball with tension on cable.

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[Sk8man]

I'm with Jigstick  the Scotty's seem very awkward and the drag on them seemed "sketchy" to me. On the other hand there are a lot of very good fishermen on this site that swear by them so I guess it is somewhat like the Ford vs, Chevy thing....whatever you get used to......

Edited May 29, 2014 by Sk8man

[momay4000]

I'm a big Jon guy. Here's pros and cons:

 

Pros: not too many moving parts with a simple design, a PAIR of outstanding rod holders (aluminum) come with the riggers, cost less than some others. Great swivel bases, very smooth and well built. Outstanding customer service at Big Jon.

 

Cons: slower, can't use 20# balls unless you buy the Brutes, reels are plastic and can break (happened twice to me but BJ sent me FREE replacements), no auto stop on my Captain's Packs.

 

I'd probably buy Canons next time around simply b/c of speed and ability to run heavier balls, but the BJ's have served me just fine and they have caught me piles of fish and I love the rugged aluminum rod holders which come standard at a much lower price than the same quality holders on Canons which come standard on riggers which are >$1,000 a piece

 

Good luck,

 

Chris

[Tim Bromund]

No idea how Scotty's Customer Service is, because they just flat out work, so I've never needed any CS.

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[abc715]

That's right Tim. I'm the 3rd owner of my boat. The Scotty riggers have been on it. They run like new.

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[jigstick]

The way the wire came off the Scotty spools is as follows….We fish lakers right on the bottom, with the ball bouncing along the bottom of the lake.  That quick and small lack of tension on the cable caused the wire to come off the spool, and wrap up in the mount.  We lost a few balls that way.  The other way it popped off was when finishing up for the day…we would reel the ball up to the boom, reach out and grab it, loosen the terrible drag on the rigger to get some slack so that we could pull the ball in, and bam, it came off the spool.  Maybe my technique is wrong or something, but it shouldn't be that hard.  Alls i know is that I have never had either problem with the vertical spools on the Cannons.  Another thing I noticed on the horizontal Scotty spools is that the wire doesn't spool quite as nice.  It seems to bunch up on the bottom of the spool.   We've had kinking because of it.  

 

Im not trying to get into a pissing match.  Im just expressing my experiences with both brands.

[bigblue]

Owned or used them all at some time in my 69 years. They all do the job but I always go back to Big Jon . Aluminum construction , USA made ,Good service , really like the flexible boom easy on the connections and the boat . Fair price and last but not least they look good on my boat .