Pro Angler 12 Downrigger DIY mount

Ok, so after fishing last year in the Sound for salmon and getting a ton of Pinks, but no Kings, I decided I wasn't getting deep enough. I wanted a down rigger that could get about 150-200' and not be behind me in the PA12. I tried several iterations of mounts, but this one has stuck as the winner. It's easy to use, doesn't block access to my tackle, and super convenient (located in front of me but to the side and not blocking the pedals). If there is interest in the details of how I made this, I can take pictures and create a parts list so that you can make it too. Some things to note: I used two sheets of plexiglass to add support to the PVC pipes without adding a rot/rust component. All materials were sourced at my local Lowes on Aurora.



P.S. I know that it isn't painted all tricked out black yet, but I wanted to test it first. Works good in the Sound so far, and I'll be trying for actual fish tomorrow just for fun. I'll be off the Point at 6am trolling with it for a few hours.

xtort

nice design, looks robust, and makes me happy that we catch our kings here in 20ft of water (4oz cannonball weight off a spreader does the trick)...

kokanee however have me needing to get down as much as 70' and on my PA12 I am doing that using an Atwood hand downrigger from Cabela's that locks into a Roberts rod holder mount off the right side PA12 hand rail, I run a 4# weight (fine for 1.2mph koke trolling at 70').

what weight are you using on the downrigger?  cheers, roger

I have the same Scotty down rigger as you, but on my PA-14, I mounted it directly to the side board....also shortened the arm and removed the rod holder so I could raise it up for easier access and clear my left leg/knee...see the attached photo.

This photo has my 2.5# weight, but I also use a 4# weight for 70' + depths.

How wide is a PA12?

How wide is a PA12?

at the back of the black gear boards it is 35" wide.

36" is the max width...

I have the same Scotty down rigger as you, but on my PA-14, I mounted it directly to the side board....also shortened the arm and removed the rod holder so I could raise it up for easier access and clear my left leg/knee...see the attached photo.

This photo has my 2.5# weight, but I also use a 4# weight for 70' + depths.

I just purchased a used PA 12.  I was considering mounting a downrigger on the gear board, but it seemed a bit filmsy. Have you had any issues with a 4 lb ball.

Thanks for the pics and post

If you mount the down rigger close to the end as shown, it works very well.....you can always add a stiffing/angle bracket between the board and side vertical wall of the kayak.
This location makes it easy to read the line counter (my fish finder/sonar also reads the depth of the weight) and you can see I reduced/cut off the down rigger arm I found to be is important too.....I did not need a 24" arm..it only makes for more drag/healing and harder to grab the cable/line/weight when clipping  your fishing line..... The  Scotty rod holder and extension arms allow me  to easily reach my rod and clear my left knee while pedaling/trolling.
I did install the larger rudder on my PA-14 and found "tracking" improved when using the 4 # weight.....otherwise, all is good.
Regardless of what you decide to do, what ever is most comfortable for you is the best solution.

Thanks Doc,  now to go purchase a down rigger

To minimize the effect which a downrigger has on the steering of your kayak, install it so the cable is only about an inch away from the side of your kayak.  This can be accomplished by shortening the boom, and/or by rotating the base of the downrigger.  Another advantage of shortening the boom of your downrigger is that it reduces the stress which the downrigger places on the hull of your kayak.  However, it's tricky to shorten the boom of a downrigger which has a horizontal cable reel like the Scotty Depthmaster, because you need to raise the pulley to keep the cable feeding into the center of the cable reel.  It's much easier to shorten the boom of a downrigger with a vertical cable reel like the Cannon Lake-Troll, because the pulley feeds the cable into the center of the cable reel regardless of how much you shorten the boom.

I have the same Scotty down rigger as you, but on my PA-14, I mounted it directly to the side board....also shortened the arm and removed the rod holder so I could raise it up for easier access and clear my left leg/knee...see the attached photo.

This photo has my 2.5# weight, but I also use a 4# weight for 70' + depths.

Looks good. I like the PVC set up for mine, as even close to the edge, I didn't like the amount of "flex" I was getting. I'm small, so where I have mine doesn't bother me and clears my leg easily. I like the idea of shortening the rod so that the ball is closer to the side though. How did you do that?

Pauly

I like the idea of shortening the rod so that the ball is closer to the side though. How did you do that?

Shortening the boom of a downrigger which has a horizontally-mounted cable reel such as the Scotty Depthmaster isn’t easy, because you need to raise the pulley above the shortened boom so the pulley will continue to feed the cable into the center of the cable reel.  Here’s how I did it:





For a detailed explanation of how I made this downrigger mount, see http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=11954.msg132845#msg132845 . 

Instead of raising the pulley, you could mount a pulley wheel above the shortened boom to lift the cable up from the original pulley to the level of the center of the cable reel.  Several people have used the cable guide which comes with the Depthmaster to lift the cable so it feeds into the center of the cable reel rather than running over the edge of the cable reel.  This is what drsteelheadcatcher did, as shown in the picture in the previous reply.  For a picture showing how Nangusdog did the same thing, see the picture in Reply 14 in my Depthmaster thread.  I would be concerned that a steel cable would dig a groove in the cable guide, but Nangusdog says it’s working fine.

It’s way easier to shorten the boom on a downrigger which has the cable reel mounted vertically, i.e. on edge, such as the Cannon Lake-Troll, because regardless of how much you shorten the boom, the pulley continues to feed the cable into the center of the cable reel.  Shortening the boom on a Cannon Lake-Troll is a ten minute project. Here's a picture showing how I've mounted my Cannon Lake-Troll.



For a detailed description of how I mounted a Cannon Lake-Troll on my Revolution, see http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=12575.0 .

Both of these downriggers work real well.  Here I am with a 34.5" lake trout I caught last Saturday.



I find that I like using my modified Cannon Lake-Troll downrigger a little more than my modified Scotty Depthmaster downrigger, so I’d be willing to sell you my modified Depthmaster if you want to avoid a do-it-yourself project.