Downrigger Dilemma; Too May Choices, & Conflicting Reviews

Title should have read, 'Too Many Choices' Maybe it should read, 'Too many keys'

Looking for a powered downrigger, capable of handling up to a 12-16 lb. weight (or perhaps bigger), decent length boom of at least 30", reliability, especially when travelling on bumpy, poorly-maintained roads, capable of fishing down to 250'-300', primarily fresh water, reliable electric motor, easier than not on amperage draw when in use, preferably with both power-down AND power-up toggle, 150-180 lb. test cable (though I may trade it out for 250-300 lb. test braid for various reasons....

And if possible, fish-catching guarantee from the manufacturer....

OK, maybe not the last part...

I've looked at the Scotty 1116 Pro-Pack, among others, but there's major polarization in reviews at one site in particular, and references to many plastic parts. Also, the Scotty 1116 doesn't power down, it powers up, only.

Anyone??

After a fair bit of research, I'm down to the Scotty 1101, 1106, or 1116, or the newer counterparts, which have the same last 3 digits, but replace the first digit with a 2 rather than a 1, from what I can gather through reading.

The 1106B seems to already come with high-test (200 lb.? 300 lb.? test) braid, rather than the stainless cable that most have.

All of them are in the $550 to $700+ price range, which isn't bad if it'll hold together and perform properly.

All of them have lower amperage draw than the competitors, but none of them have power down features; only power up.

All the activity in this thread tells me I've touched on a hot topic, or need to change my tooth paste, underarm deodorant, or ???? maybe adopt better looking dogs.

there are some fellows i know that run downriggers for trout in lakes near here, lakers & 'bows. but they are notoriously close-mouthed about what they use...

Thanks.

I'm outa' rep again, hippy.

The Scotty riggers have a good name, and I've done some reading at a red-neck outdoor site I used to frequent, but hesitated to engage anyone there. A number of the boat folks there are swearing by their Scotty riggers, too.

It was at a well-known on-line outdoor equipment store I looked at where the ratings were literally totally polarized; (7) 5's and (5) 1's!! Nothing in the middle. made me curious. Truly one of those "You either hate 'em or you love 'em" moments.

I couldn't load the reviews properly with my super slow connection, so I called up a salesperson, and had her read them to me (there weren't that many).

Some had complained about the construction not faring well on bumpy roads. I see plenty of such roads, but with a relatively simple-to-detach set-up, and male and female power cord ends, I wondered why the guy would leave downriggers attached to his boat on such a bad road surface?

Another complaint mentioned plastic parts as being weak (exterior housing??), but the notes I read elsewhere mentioned stainless steel fittings and mechanisms, so.. who knows?

Anyway, I'll likely go with the Scotty line, but haven't zeroed in on what model yet.

If I recover from surgery successfully and quickly, I hope to have it on the boat by later June or mid-July, when I'm wanting to take my youngest son back over to the Yukon Territory to a semi-remote lake we fish there, and I'll want/need to have a sturdy machined base to mount the bottom half of the mounting plates to.

There's lake trout over there that can reach up into the 30-40 lb. range, so I want this thing anchored pretty well to the boat, and my gunwales are oval-shaped aluminum, about 1-1/2" or so wide, so I want to brace it to that, as well as one of the pods that doubles as extra seating near the stern, and contains bulk floatation material..

"not faring well on bumpy roads. " i've known fools lost their motor like that. why not put it in bed of truck or bottom of boat ? LOL!

Exactly. We often do ignorant stuff for convenience, and then grimace that it failed, because we were too stingy with effort to do it right.

I think I'm headed into a Scotty 1106B, with the 'B' representing that it comes with braid instead of stainless cable.

The thing has a telescoping boom of 1.25" stainless tube that extends from 36" out to 60", and with that kind of leverage on the boom, running in deep holes where the bottom of the lake can change as radically and abruptly as the mountains around it, the fitting for the mount needs to have substantial reinforcement to it, aside fro the fact that it'll typically be hauling a 10-12 lb. ball at the bottom.

I have a one-time-use coupon for a place that has the 1106B's for a reasonable price, so after the 20% off, and the free shipping, I'll probably be saving a couple hundred dollars in contrast to other vendors.

And the amperage draw on the thing is only about 5 amps 12 volt, versus 6 to 7 (or more) on many of the competitors. That's with something like a 230 ft./minute retrieval with a 10 lb. weight (if I recall correctly), leaving it optimal for drawing up the weight when the depth sonar indicates the bottom's coming up fast.

Looking forward to only having one line in the water this year with the half-moon weights on it, which is the way we did it in the past, as far as getting down to where the fish are at.

And the Scotty riggers, aside from coming from Canada, which is a biased plus in my book, carry a limited life-time warranty, too!

Anyway, snack, and then chores here.

moose eater said:

Title should have read, 'Too Many Choices' Maybe it should read, 'Too many keys'

Looking for a powered downrigger, capable of handling up to a 12-16 lb. weight (or perhaps bigger), decent length boom of at least 30", reliability, especially when travelling on bumpy, poorly-maintained roads, capable of fishing down to 250'-300', primarily fresh water, reliable electric motor, easier than not on amperage draw when in use, preferably with both power-down AND power-up toggle, 150-180 lb. test cable (though I may trade it out for 250-300 lb. test braid for various reasons....

And if possible, fish-catching guarantee from the manufacturer....

OK, maybe not the last part...

I've looked at the Scotty 1116 Pro-Pack, among others, but there's major polarization in reviews at one site in particular, and references to many plastic parts. Also, the Scotty 1116 doesn't power down, it powers up, only.

Anyone??

Click to expand...

GO for the scotty why would u need power down ? just back the brake off and shes down in seconds some have a feature that will drop the cannon ball to the depth you hooked up.. as well get the braided line way stronger and doesnt kink or separate like cable does givng ya jaggers and losing balls ..ive got two scotties for the chuck up here in canada ocean fishing and love them they run off your battery ,stainless and plastic dont rust

Thanks.

I looked at downriggers in town today, when I went in to get some luggage.

Cannon offers the power-down (I like the thought of slow release, and controlled stop, without the inertia taxing the thing by relying on a free-fall and brake system; primarily the cause for my thoughts about a power-down option).

But Cannon also makes their boom out of some reinforced heavy-duty glass, if I saw correctly, whereas Scotty has stainless steel on the boom.

The Scotty 1106B is attractive. They want a fair bit more for the pre-loaded braid, but from what I understand, it not only offers the bennies you mentioned, but it also causes less drag in the water, and creates less 'noise' cutting through the water.

And as mentioned, Scotty comes with their limited lifetime warranty.

Which ever one, I need to get it here soon, so my machinist acquaintance can fabricate my reinforced platform to mount the thing to..

Thanks again. Personal experience counts a lot..