Downrigger Question?

[Beardog]

Found this site yesterday Great Site . I have been researching downriggers for my new boat . I think
that I have narrowed it down to either a Walker Kokanee Electric with a two-piece, 3-ft. aluminum arm and auto
shut-off or a Scotty 1099 Depthpower 24 . I would like your opinions . One other thing, is there any advantage
to a positive-ion downrigger . Thanks for any info, Beardog

[The Quadfather]

Welcome to the forum. I fish with Scotty 1080 manual downriggers. While I don't have fancy electric DR's, nor a fancy boat... I will give you my two sense on your question about whether to buy "Positive Ion DR's"
I don't know the Walker brand....? Most people will tell you that Scotties have been around forever and seem to be well made. More importantly I think is that any decent sporting good store has all kinds of add on parts at your finger tips.

The point I was going to make is.... how much more expensive is the positive ion rig? Using cable on a DR sucks! If you put some braided dr line on it. )Comes in 150 or 300lb test. It is MUCH easier to work with with AND.. you don't have to worry or wonder if about any funky electromagnetic fields that that may be going down you CABLE.
What I don't like about cable is that it springs off of your dr. I love my braid. Let us know what you do.

[Anonymous]

I'm running two Scotty electric 1106's on my boat and I don't think I'll ever run anything else. Like Quad says above...Run braid and you’ll never have to worry about the ions. The longer boom on the 1106's allows me to run the riggers further out from the side of my boat because I had to mount my riggers further forward on my boat than was ideal...having the downrigger cables/braid a long way away from my props give me lots of comfort during tight turns.

[eightballsaul]

I agree with BigD. I run 2 of the same Scotty DR's on my boat and absolutly will not use any other brand. They are easy to install and real easy to operate. I also use the braid and it does make a huge difference in drag and noise reduction.

[Toni]

I have a Walker but it is the manual version. I like it. I don't know much about downriggers as I just got one this year. They are made in Canada.

[Matt]

From my understanding Scotty is the leader in downriggers as far as quality goes. Their stuff is just hands down the best, rugged, functional, and easy to find parts. I'd say a close runner up would be Penn systems, although in recent years I think cutting corners has led to increasingly sub-par products. On par with pen I would say are the Cannon's.

Just get scotty

[wintersteelhead]

Scotty also has Lifetime warranty on parts and service. They stand behind it also. Now there are two Scotty service shops in the north end.

[hewesfisher]

I'll echo the positives for the Scotty's I have a pair of 1101's we use on our Hewescraft.

[Dave]

I recommend the Scotty electric. I've had my two Scotty 1099's for 7 years now and absolutely I love them. They are quick, dependable, and easy to operate.

[sickbayer]

well Ill fly the lonesome flag for Penn. I have two electric 835 and i love them, programmable way point system, electric up and down.
http://www.rivermarinesupply.com/xcart/ ... igger.html

[G-Man]

I'm with you Sickbayer on the Penns. I like just flipping the switch to lower the ball instead of having to slip the clutch. I do, however, not like the fact that parts and service are hard to come by.

[sickbayer]

That is just it G ive had them 3 years no problems whatsoever...However when and if they do go ill find out how much i love them, i do have a mate who has had his for over 10years and they havent give him any problems

[Bodofish]

Are you sure about that??????

[sickbayer]

Are you sure about that??????

i dont know you tell me mate i though he bought them 10years ago and if im right they still work.

[Bodofish]

With some replacement parts and I've glued those too.