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Picture Of The Month



SD2OR with a trophy fall walleye

Topic: Preferred Downrigger for Kayak Install  (Read 6002 times)

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pmmpete

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Location: Missoula, Montana
  • Date Registered: Jul 2013
  • Posts: 1989
The size, weight, and cost of motorboat-sized electric downriggers and their batteries have discouraged me from mounting a standard electric downrigger on my kayak, but bb2fish and snowpro are making me think I should assemble an electric downrigger system which uses an electric reel.  When you take the weight of the battery into account, the total weight of such a system would be similar to the total weight of a manual downrigger, but most of the weight of the electric reel system would be sitting on the bottom of my kayak, which would keep the center of gravity of my kayak lower than when using my manual downrigger.  I frequently troll down to around 200 feet, and it would be nice to be able to retrieve my downrigger weight with the push of a button, particularly when I get a strike and am playing in a fish.  But I wonder about the durability of the electronics, bearings and other parts of an electric reel.  It would suck to invest hundreds of dollars in an electric reel, and have it blow up after only a year or so of downrigger fishing.


bb2fish

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Location: Oregon
  • Date Registered: Feb 2013
  • Posts: 1499
VERY NICE, SnoPro.  Great solution.
Where do you mount your scotty base?  I have a 241 base in my map pocket - this style mount would be ideal for getting the DR in front of me but still out of the way from my rods. 

Reliability and Maintainability of the Daiwa Tanacom 750 is excellent.  Replacement parts are available in the USA.   Sure if a motor or control board fails it will be expensive to repair (but that's true of any downrigger or power equipment).  The Tanacoms are easy to take apart and perform maintenance or cleaning/service, and easy to reassemble too  >:D .  As with anything surrounding saltwater, fishing or just powered devices in general - there could be failures.   In my opinion, the cost was worth the convenience and comfort to have a power assisted downrigger.  It's dual purpose for me to use the power reel for Halibut fishing too (so I chose a reel with more line capacity and drag).
« Last Edit: October 09, 2018, 10:30:37 AM by bb2fish »


Ronanmd1

  • Plankton
  • *
  • Location: Calgary
  • Date Registered: Mar 2014
  • Posts: 6
That is a very elegant solution. I agree that the Cannon (or Scotty etc) takes up more space and is certainly heavier than the electric reel (although to be honest, the smaller model with braid instead of cable is easily manageable) and requires a fabricated base mount to be anchored properly. However, once it is in position it does not interfere with seating or for paddling, since it is just behind the side of the seat and the boom can easily be pivoted out to the side if needed. Also, there is comfort in knowing that the base is solidly mounted to the rail of my yak, using the Hobie molded gimbal rod holder tube to take most of the force and the T-nut to anchor it down. Finally, the shorter boom of the Cannon DR (2 feet) and the ease of rotating it to a position where the arm is close to the kayak keeps the lateral torque minimized but still allows me to reach out to access the cannon ball without moving or needing to lean over the edge.

SnoPro/PM Pete - How do you find the lateral torque on the yak with the tip of the DR rod that far out? Also, does it seem to put any significant stress on the scotty gimbal base? Is it easy to rotate around or does that move the cannon ball too far away to easily reach?

Cool ideas...keep em coming. Regardless which solution fits your needs, I would certainly suggest going with electric over manual if you plan to be at any significant depth.  Worse case scenario, you can always hand crank up the ball if you have a mechanical/electrical failure or dead battery.


pmmpete

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Location: Missoula, Montana
  • Date Registered: Jul 2013
  • Posts: 1989
SnoPro/PM Pete - How do you find the lateral torque on the yak with the tip of the DR rod that far out? Also, does it seem to put any significant stress on the scotty gimbal base? Is it easy to rotate around or does that move the cannon ball too far away to easily reach?
I shortened the boom of my Cannon Lake-Troll manual downrigger so the pulley is only about half an inch from the body of the downrigger, and I oriented the downrigger so its cable hangs only about an inch from the side of my kayak.  This minimizes the stress which the downrigger puts on its base, and also minimizes the amount that the drag from the downrigger's weight and cable affects the tracking of my Revolution.  Even with an eight pound weight, the drag doesn't have any noticeable effect on the tracking of my Revolution, but this may in part be because I replaced the kayak's standard rudder with a sailing rudder.

I recommend that you position your downrigger where you can grab its weight and clip into its release while sitting completely centered and balanced in your kayak's seat.  Don't locate it where you have to lean way out over the side of your kayak to grab the weight and clip into the release, as that could cause problems if the waves get rowdy.  In addition, when you are deciding where to locate and orient a downrigger, I suggest that you put on a bunch of thick clothing and a PFD, and be sure that you can reach your downrigger weight and clip your fishing line easily with all that gear on.  If you locate your downrigger while  sitting in your garage and wearing a T-shirt, you may discover that a lot of clothing, a dry suit, and a PFD may make it a lot harder to reach the weight and release.
« Last Edit: October 15, 2018, 08:04:36 AM by pmmpete »


JohnMckroid

  • Krill
  • *
  • Location: South Florida
  • Date Registered: Oct 2015
  • Posts: 18
Agreed,  nice looking DR, look forward to an action photo, or seat in place, etc.  thx for sharing.

Sorry for the late reply, better late than never.  In the first photo, I am pedding along vertical jigging while the rod to the right is deployed on the downrigger.



 In the second photo, you can see that I am winding up the down rigger while a fish is hooked up on the rod.