Downriggers

Looking for advise on setting up a couple downriggers on my 2011-620VS. I would prefer a temporary set up if possible since I don’t believe I’ll be using them very often.

Also any tips on what kind to buy (used if possible)would be appreciated.

take a look at one of the track systems offered by Traxtec or Burts. They make any rigger quite easy to add or remove

2nd the trax set up you can retro fit to mount them on top of your current rails with out drilling.

Penn Fathom Masters all the way!!! My dad bought his used 30 years ago- they still work like new!!! I have never been impressed with Cannon- the whole dang boat shakes when you let those suckers down….

For temporary there are many configurations you can run.

I have used the redneck winner of them all when we first tried riggers on LOW, a 2×6 tied across the hand rails with our riggers mounted on the end. That said TT and Burts make an aluminum beam rack that does the same and looks way better.

However, I now have Traxtech 6′ tracks on my current boat. They are the cats meow for having a system that works well for trolling ML and then switching out my holders and adding riggers for superior. ( I have not moved rigger mounts to the tracks yet as I dont have riser plates yet)

As far as riggers I have had great luck with my Cannon uni-troll 5 and parts are available for cannon everywhere. I began with Walker riggers and I will never buy them again due to breakage and tiny spools that require many more crank turns to bring up a ball.

If you have any more questions I’d be happy to help, you know how to find me.

Mark,
What kind of downriggers do you have in the picture? Are they manual?
The first picture in particular. Thanks

Mark, That is a really cool set up you have there. Looks like it would work just fine.

Sorry to disappoint guys, those were just examples of setups I have put together for others. The pics are from the web.

Don’t have any pics available right now but I have a pair of Lake Masters on the 16′ Tracker. THe LM’s have a bolt on mounting plate I put on the gunnels that allows you to remove the downrigger when you do not need it.

The Other option I seriously considered was the 2 x 6 plank across the stern but this option worked out to be cleaner for my rig.

Units are manual, not terribly expensive but work just fine for what I do an how much I get to fish

Here is a picture of what I had last year, and what I went to this year. I had a machinist friend of mine make some mounts for me last year as it was my first year both with my current boat and salmon fishing. Didn’t want anything permanent as I wasn’t sure how much I would fish salmon. The mounts fit on the rails and had support screws that went down to the gunnel to keep it from twisting. I used sections of plastic cutting board under the screws to keep from scratching up the boat and to spread out the pressure. Used the riggers with 15# balls on about 6 trips last year. Switched to electric riggers this year so I cut off half of the back section of the rail and put permanent mounts on. Had to cut access plates in to get to the underside of the gunnel, but I don’t have issues with cutting holes in my boat, and some people would never do that.

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Mark,
What kind of downriggers do you have in the picture? Are they manual?
The first picture in particular. Thanks

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Those are Big Jon downriggers. Same ones that John Schultz has in his picture below.
There not bad for beginner riggers and they work fine with a 12lb ball but they won’t stand up to a 15lb ball for long as John & I both found out.

I ended up totally rebuilding both of my Big Jon’s. Kind of fun to do if you have access to the equipment but on the other hand, they’re still manual!