Electric Downriggers

[Eliminator]

The reason I am posting this here was to avoid the great responses associated with the age old question of what downriggers to buy... I currently have Big Jon Manuals and not very happy with them. I would like to upgrade to electric anyways but not sure of what to consider. As far as my manual Big Jon's I do not care for the clutch system. It was very hard to tighten the clutch hard enough to prevent slippage. I use 10 lb balls so I am not sure why they don’t hold.....

So my question is what do you like and dislike about your current downriggers?

I am a weekend warrior that usually has one other person on board. What would you recommend?

I would like to use 15 lb balls, what size can you run with your current downriggers?

I would like to purchase a set of good used if anybody knows of a pair laying around somewhere.....if not I will buy new come spring time.

[KJ pluggin]

I currently have Walkers and they work ok. A couple things I would like to change would be the weight capacity and the rod holders. For weight a 12# really slows them down, and for the rod holders I would like them to be a bit more adjustable. As far a customer service goes Walker has been pretty good to work with. For the price I think they are a decent unit.

[killerbe20]

i love my vectors, no complaints at all. love everything about them. not available anymore but Traxstech may be coming out with something this year.

had cannon prior to vector. i personally did not care for the plastic parts and the higher overall profile. I broke numerous parts and rod holders on mine, but they did get more of a work out then you may be putting yours through.

have lots of experience with walkers, again i do not care for the plastic parts. did not have any issues with many parts braking but this may be due to the lower profile. the ones i have used were not very fast but very reliable, like a tank.

this is experience based off of my time spent running/working on charter boats not casual, personal use.

[Priority1]

I have 4 older electric Cannons that came with Priority1. I never run more than 10# weights and have had a few issues with them. Since Cannon changed hands they are not as liberal with their warranty. I had some issues with some broken metal gears that were no longer available and some of the plastic parts. I was able to weld the gears and get by. If I used my riggers more I'd upgrade to some Big Jon electrics. If you decide to go with Big Jon's give Tony @ Lord of the Riggers a call. here is his link.

http://www.lordoftheriggers.com/

[1mainiac]

The new Cannons are very nice I might even buy a set. However I have had my Big Jon electrics for years I got them used at a yard sale and they were missing some parts a call to Big Jon solved that they even sent a few of the pieces at no charge. Since then I have upgraded the motors and the clutch's. They have been pretty much bullet proof since the upgrades but are now pushing 20 years old and need some of the bushings replaced. I run 15lb balls all day with them no problems and they are wicked fast. I guess my point is I am going into my 6th or 7th season with them and have well under 300 bucks in the pair total. It is also nice to deal with a local company that will answer the phone and talk to you and even remember you a year or 2 later when you call back. So don't be afraid to look at some good used riggers lots of guys will be changing out their gear so there should be some good deals to be had.

[fishsniffer]

i have the cannon mag 5hs...they are very fast on descend and retrieve(12lb).have had zero issues whatsoever with them..they are also quite reasonably priced

[Adam Bomb]

I have walkers, but theyre going for vectors. Trax tech is coming out with the riggers since they aquired them from Vector. Smoothest rigger ive ever used. Fast, pulls allot of weight, well built, low profile. Fished them extensively on my buddies boat. AWESOME Riggers

I have walkers currently. They work fine, but are slow, cant pull over 12# weights. Other than that, good riggers.

[Line Dancin]

A little insight on walker motors. They used to have two differerent motors a standard and a tournament motor. I have walker tournament series on my boat. I don't really like all the plastic but these things will pull 15 lb balls fast, 200 ft per minute. i had two of the standard motors on my side riggers (would not lift a 14 lb ball and really slow with a 12) and bought the bigger motors for those and installed them this last summer. The ones that the other guys are saying are slow and only rated at 12 lb are the standard motors.

Cannons i agree i dont like the high profile. Big Jons i like the brute series able to pull the 15 to 25 lb balls. Again i like the lower profile of my walkers. Vectors i wish i had the money for those things they are flat out AWESOME. Maybe on the next boat.

Franks Great Outdoors usually has a heck of a deal on the walker tournament series downriggers with dual rod holder and a swivel base at the fishing shows. I bought my two from them a few years ago. here is the link to franks if interested. http://www.franksgreatoutdoors.com/fishing/trolling-gear/downriggers-accessories/tournament-combo-pak.html

Also my two that i upgraded to the tournament series are from my dads boat. He bought them in 1981 and i have not broke the plastic on them (knock on wood) yet. I would in a heartbeat buy the ones that traxtec is going to come out with if they are as good as the vectors were. But the walkers do a good job if your worried about money.

[Yooperdad]

I too have 4 Walkers on my boat and have had no issues with them. Although I just checked with Ged for an approximate price to upgrade the motors and he said $120

Guess my setup is going to start looking weird now though, as the kids got together and bought me a Scotty 2106 for Christmas. Looks very nice and from the reading I've done, it's rated as very fast.

I think I know what to expect for Christmas next year already:)

[GLF]

I am running Big Jon Brutes. I have had them for a couple of season now and absolutely love them. Before the Brutes I had Big Jon Pro Tournaments. I run 15lb balls and the Pro Tournaments handled them well. Captains Packs will only handle a 12lb ball.

[Paulywood]

I'm running the Big Jon Pro Tournament riggers with 15# balls and love them. Dual rod holders with lots of adjustment and all aluminum. If I swapped out it would be for a pair of Brutes but I have other needs when the ones I have work good.

[Line Dancin]

I just thought of something you should know if you are looking at used riggers. If you look on ebay beware of what is out there. There are guys claiming to be selling used tournament series riggers when they are just the standard riggers. My friend got scammed by two different sellers in two different areas of the country. What they do is disassemble them, paint them flat black with that plastic paint, put on a tournament series sticker, to look like tournament series when they are actually the old grey standard riggers. The way we caught it was if you look into the webbing behind the spool they miss painting that as it is hard to paint. he had quite a fight to get his money returned and the riggers back to the sellers. luckily he used Am Ex and they got involved to help him out. They set them at a good deal for a reason.

[Eliminator]

That is my biggest fear of buying used on ebay. Craigslist you at least will meet the person. It is amazing what lengths people will go too for a buck. Its even more amazing what fisherman will do to fish salmon! LOL

[fishsniffer]

That is my biggest fear of buying used on ebay. Craigslist you at least will meet the person. It is amazing what lengths people will go too for a buck. Its even more amazing what fisherman will do to fish salmon! LOL

Don't forget about the craigslist killer

[killerbe20]

Don't forget about the craigslist killer

that made me laugh out loud!

[N II Deep]

I picked up a set of old Digitrol II off the craigslist Grand Rapids site. yes they sit high, not a big fan of the plastic, I hope the mylar touch panel never goes out. they are slow, but for what I paid they work great. only issue I had was an un-marked indian net out of Hessle two summers ago.

they did have no problem pulling up 15# just slow, did I say they were slow...

the nice thing they do have is the auto up function, so as soon as you start to fight a fish - just hit the button and the weight comes up to a pre-programmed stop point which I have set to 2' below the water, this way if we are out in rough seas the weights are not bangin on the side of the boat.

[Eliminator]

that made me laugh out loud!

That made my sides hurt also. I never thought about that, he could have had me " hook, line, and sinker...." Sorry, Bad joke Friday.

[Eliminator]

Well after much debate and finding GREAT deal on EBAY I did the auto pilot. It is a simrad AP14R. I still have a cable system so I was limited on my options. I cant wait to use it this summer. Do any of you use saved gps tracks for rotuine fishing grounds? Should I use a drift bag to reduce the on time of auto pilot system?

Only two more months, then let the fun begin.

[allout280]

my scottys look like lawn mowers but hell of a rigger i run 15lbs sharks on 250 power pro no hum in cable center rigger gets a 20 lbs shark onn coated cable for probe no power going down and they are very fast.

[Nailer]

Well after much debate and finding GREAT deal on EBAY I did the auto pilot. It is a simrad AP14R. I still have a cable system so I was limited on my options. I cant wait to use it this summer. Do any of you use saved gps tracks for rotuine fishing grounds? Should I use a drift bag to reduce the on time of auto pilot system?

Only two more months, then let the fun begin.

yes bags help a bunch.

Use trolling bags instead if drift socks.

I got mine from Dick Boyanjian, but others like Amish buggy bags.

Dick Boyajian in Manistee at (231) 723-0013

Amish buggy bags

[MY2SONS]

I have two Cannon Digitroll IV's, and a Cannon Mag 10 on my rig, and love 'em. Had Cannons in the past with no issues. Hopefully these work as well. Was going to go Big Jon, but didn't care for the motor being exposed although it's sealed, and heard about problems with booms breaking in the past, but I'm sure it's been resolved by now. Lot's of guys run them. Again, personal preference.

[Eliminator]

Well, looks like I was a good boy this year, on top of my auto pilot I also did the electric downriggers. I bought a pair of big Jon pro tournaments, I think they will work great. Next year will be a speed and temp probe.

Thanks everyone for your help and advice.