Downriggers?
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Forum Post Guidelines: This Forum is rated “Family Friendly”. Civil discussions are encouraged and welcomed. Name calling, negative, harassing, or threatening comments will be removed and may result in suspension or IP Ban without notice. Please refer to the Terms of Service and Forum Guidelines post for more information. Thank you
Downriggers?
I am thinking about getting a downrigger for trout fishing. I've sort of looked into them and how they work, and i would like a manual retrieve downrigger. The boat i would put this on is a 10 foot Livingston boat. Could someone please give me some advice on a good all around downrigger and good rod/reel to buy to start out.
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zen leecher aka Bill W
- Captain
- Posts: 815
- Joined: Tue May 01, 2007 12:51 pm
- Location: Moses Lake
Re: Downriggers?
for a boat that small you might consider a clamp-on downrigger. It might make it easier to cartop it or carry it in the back of the truck.
Re: Downriggers?
Scotty and Cannon both make small clamp on DRs for small boats. I have the Scotty Laketroll. It maxes out at a 3 or 4 lb. weight, but that's sufficient for light tackle and low speeds. It works well, but takes some practice as these smaller DRs don't have auto locking returns, so have to juggle the rod, crank, and locking nut with two hands.
Re: Downriggers?
This may be a little late, but I recently purchased two of the Scotty LakeTroller Mini Downriggers and just used them extensively for three days.
They are rated for a 2-4lb weight...I used 4lb and definitely wouldn't go any heavier.
I wouldn't call them flimsy, but they do have their limits. I'm using the rod-holder mount downriggers, but they do make a clamp on mount as well. Lifetime Warranty.
I have found them to be very functional for a small boat. They store easily and don't take up much room when mounted.
Several times I found myself trying to land a fish and raise the downrigger one-handed. It is possible, but it takes some practice. For the $65 I paid, I'd gladly buy them both again...they worked great for me, trolling dodgers and spinners at depths up to ~35ft. Great small boat downrigger for trout and kokanee IMHO.
We used our normal trout rods and spinning reels.
I have twice as many scotty rod holder mounts than I need, but I found having a rod holder about 4ft from the downrigger (6.5ft pole) worked very well for us.
They are rated for a 2-4lb weight...I used 4lb and definitely wouldn't go any heavier.
I wouldn't call them flimsy, but they do have their limits. I'm using the rod-holder mount downriggers, but they do make a clamp on mount as well. Lifetime Warranty.
I have found them to be very functional for a small boat. They store easily and don't take up much room when mounted.
Several times I found myself trying to land a fish and raise the downrigger one-handed. It is possible, but it takes some practice. For the $65 I paid, I'd gladly buy them both again...they worked great for me, trolling dodgers and spinners at depths up to ~35ft. Great small boat downrigger for trout and kokanee IMHO.
We used our normal trout rods and spinning reels.
I have twice as many scotty rod holder mounts than I need, but I found having a rod holder about 4ft from the downrigger (6.5ft pole) worked very well for us.