Anyone try scotty laketroller?

[steelseeker]

Hey guys was thinking about getting the man. Mini laketroller DR for my 12' alum cartopper.I would like to pay a little more and possibly get my $ worth, but it being a car(truck)topper the convenience of a clamp on sounds very manuverable, and convenient.I some research on this and heard good and bad reviews,was wondering if anyone has tried one or what they have to say.any input appreciated Thanks.

[BentRod]

I have one. Bought it for targeting deeper sections of the local lakes for RBs. For the $ it works. It was a toss up between the Scotty and Cannon at the time and I went with the Scotty (can't remember why). The Scotty mini DR does not come with a rod holder, so unless you already have one in place you'll definitely want one. Holding the rod the entire time while it's loaded gets old quick. The mini DR is only rated for something like a 3# or 4# weight and have found at the low speeds (less than 2 mph) and minimal depth (less than 50') required for trout gear, it's sufficient, but think it's a bit light for anything faster or deeper running unless one might switch out the DR cable with braid that might cause less blowback. I did find that 2# was not enough. If you need a heavier weight then you'll need a bigger DR. It also doesn't have a depth counter, so have to count the number of turns (~1ft/turn) of the handle. If you have a depth finder then you can use that to verify depth, which is what I do.
The clamp works well, but I found that with the rail on my aluminum boat I have to place a small wood 1x4 block on the outside of the hull just under the rail for the DR mount to clamp to, otherwise it won't sit right. Not a huge deal, just one more thing to take along.
Additionally, it really needs two hands to raise and lower. One to loosen/tighten the locking nut on top and the other to then crank the handle. You can do it one handed while holding the rod, but it's a bit of a challenge. Another reason to have a pole holder.
Again, for the $, it does the job and have not had any problems with it in the time I've had it. Setting up and taking it off isn't too much of a headache and I carry a small duffle bag that I throw all the gear in to transport between truck and boat.
Additionally, on my aluminum it does hum pretty well and will really reverberate through the hull. I bought some 80# dacron this last season that I think I'm going to try swapping out for the cable to see if that makes a difference, but didn't use the DR at all this last season, so not sure when I'll get around to testing that out.
FWIW.

[Lou Smith]

My first downrigger was the laketroller. Finances dictated the choice, $59 at Auburn Sports. It is a one-foot-per turn with 100 feet of cable (you are the line counter). It pulled a lot of kokanee out of American Lake. After finding a 1050 at Sports Authority on clearance for $99, I moved up, but still keep the Laketroller close by for emergency substitution or a boat guest.

[steelseeker]

Thanks for the good info.any more good/bad info is great to know!

[jd39]

These are what I use, I have the ones that you attach via a bracket. I love them but to echo above comments the deflection is quite severe when trying to troll above say 1mph. I just let out extra line to account for it and get to the depth I want. I use them for Sammamish cutts which is a faster trolling fishery and they've worked fine even with the deflection problem. To get to 20' I'll let out 25-30 ft of wire. I want to mount 1050s but am concerned by the amount of stress a 8-10lb ball will put on the freeboard of my 12' livingston. I use 4#ers on the laketrollers. My buddies and I caught a lot of trout and kokanee with them last season.

[iwilfish]

I use both the scotty and the cannon clamping downriggers. Pros and cons:A) the scotty has a longer boom than the cannon by about 6 "., but it is only about 16 or 18 " B)I found that the scotty (at least the one I have doesn't translate to exactly 1ft per turn. I discovered this because upon loading the scotty first with 100 turns of cable from a brand new pkg of 200 feet, I only had 85 turns available for the cannon. C)the clamp on the scotty fit my gunnel better than the cannon. the cannon clamp screw was too short I had to add a piece of wood to the face of the screw to get it to come into contact with the hull. D) the capacity of the spools of both DR's was only 100ft. if you want to target lake trout or anything deeper in a very deep lake like chelan you couldn't get deep enough. E) as said above, they only take a 3 or so # weight. I think this would be the case with any clamp on. It might exert too much torque on the hull in one spot to keep it stable.

all that being said I love mine, both of them, but I want larger ones for the future. I have seen larger ones mounted in small boats by adding a small box bolted to the seats level with the gunnels to mount the DR's to.