Downrigger recomendations?

Hi all, I'm still getting my first round of gear set up and thought I'd ask about downrigger recommendations to take advantage of during the Black friday sales

I own a '22 Hobie Outback (still breaking it in). I'm up here in Nor Cal, fish Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay and I plan to use the downrigger for Salmon next season and anything else that would make sense.

So far as I can tell this seems to be what others use: Scotty #1073DP Laketroller Manual Downrigger, Post Mount, Display Packed BLACK, Small. It's on sales for 20% off, so it seems like a good time to buy.

Anything else anyone would recommend? I don't like to continually upgrade, so if there is a better model that I'll eventually upgrade to (within reasonable pricing), I'd actually prefer to buy the first time.

Thanks

JonM

If you want to try out downrigger trolling from a kayak without spending much money, a Scotty Laketroller downrigger is an acceptable way to do that.  However, the Laketroller is a primitive downrigger which is awkward to use.  It doesn't have a brake or clutch; the cable reel is locked and released by tightening and loosening a hand nut, and it's tricky to operate the downrigger with one hand.  And it's only rated for a four pound weight, which limits how deep and fast you can troll without blowing it back out of the cone of your sonar.

The Cannon Laketroll downrigger is a much better downrigger.  It's easy to operate, it has a sensitive brake or clutch, it's easy to shorten its boom, and it easily handles an eight pound weight, which will allow you to troll much deeper than you can with a 4 pound weight.  For an explanation of how I set up my Revolution for downrigger trolling with a Laketroll, why I set it up that way, and how to downrigger troll from a kayak, see my post at https://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=12575.msg138905#msg138905.  It's easy to mount a downrigger on an Outback because you can bolt its base to a plate or rotating downrigger base mounted on the H-Bar/gear track pair next to the cockpit. See the picture below of a rotating downrigger base mounted on an aluminum plate which is mounted on the H-Bar/gear track pair on an Outback - it's in front of the reclining kayaker's right elbow.  If you're at all serious about wanting to downrigger troll, I recommend that you forget about buying a Scotty Laketroller downrigger and get a Cannon Laketroll downrigger. 

I’m a big fan of the Scotty Depthmaster. It’s some work to install on a kayak, but well worth the effort.

Whatever you get, use braid instead of wire and carry a knife that you can use to cut the line in 2 seconds or less.

About a year ago, I got a the Canon DR that pmmpete mentions. I have not installed it yet, mostly because I’m not convinced that it’s better. It seems to me that braid will easily slip off of the pulley, which would be a disaster if the DR ball was deployed.

Thanks to both pmmpete and NowhereMan - this is great info and it's clear I need to dig in a bit more before buying anything. I'll look into both posts and links.

Thanks much on this

JonM

I run the Scotty depth master with 150# braid on my 2020 outback. I use the Snipe Air Industries armor plate for mounting it and put a swivel base on to make it easy to move it out of the way. I also use a 6# fish shaped downrigger weight from fathom offshore. I’ve used several different downriggers on my kayak over the years and this one by far is my favorite set up.

About a year ago, I got a the Canon DR that pmmpete mentions. I have not installed it yet, mostly because I’m not convinced that it’s better. It seems to me that braid will easily slip off of the pulley, which would be a disaster if the DR ball was deployed.

I've used a Canon Laketroll downrigger for many years with braided downrigger line, and have never had the line come off the pulley at the end of the boom when the downrigger ball was deployed.  And that has never occurred to me as a potential problem. However, I have had the downrigger line come off the pulley and get stuck between the side of the pulley and the inside of the pulley casing when I was transporting the downrigger.  When this happened, I had to cut off the downrigger weight, feed the downrigger line back through the pulley, and tie the weight back on.  To avoid this hassle, I keep the downrigger line under tension when transporting the downrigger.  I've installed a hook on the base of my LakeTroll downrigger so I can hang the weight on it when I'm not trolling so the weight won't swing around as the kayak rocks on waves.  I keep the weight on the hook when I'm transporting the downrigger, and keep the downrigger line tight so it won't come out of the groove in the pulley. 

Thanks for the additional info, pmmpete.  I’m going to finish installing the Canon Lake Troll this winter and give it a try next year.

Everything said above about how the Laketroller sucks is true. But there’s one more thing: it’s very light and small, which, for me, is the decision factor.
The pulley on the Laketroller got unscrewed and fell into the water when I was using a 6lb weight. What happened is, the pressure from the weight created too much friction between the pulley and the center screw that the pulley unscrewed it. I ended up replacing the pulley with my own mod.
I also color code my line so I know exactly how much I’ve released.
Maybe one day I’ll be fed up with it and get the Canon…

I've had two Laketrollers for my TI that I bought in 2016. They've helped us catch many salmon in that time and they're still going strong, though not without their flaws. They're a little wobbly when you crank them in and the tension knob has some how come loose on its own once or twice. But overall, they're great. They're light, inexpensive, and best of all, they fit onto a standard Scotty mount.

I'd say start with the Laketroller and if you hate it, move up to something bigger, heavier, and more expensive.

I run the Scotty depth master with 150# braid on my 2020 outback. I use the Snipe Air Industries armor plate for mounting it and put a swivel base on to make it easy to move it out of the way. I also use a 6# fish shaped downrigger weight from fathom offshore. I’ve used several different downriggers on my kayak over the years and this one by far is my favorite set up.

+1

I've had two Laketrollers for my TI that I bought in 2016. They've helped us catch many salmon in that time and they're still going strong, though not without their flaws. They're a little wobbly when you crank them in and the tension knob has some how come loose on its own once or twice. But overall, they're great. They're light, inexpensive, and best of all, they fit onto a standard Scotty mount.

I'd say start with the Laketroller and if you hate it, move up to something bigger, heavier, and more expensive.

Mine also became wobbly after a few years of use, but I was able to tighten them back up with this

Yeah the laketroller has some warts…but its compact size makes it easy to stow away for surf launches and landing. Simple and gets the job done

Just curious how deep anyone has been able to troll with the Scotty Laketroller. I'd think it would be difficult to go down  below about 50', whereas the Depthmaster can go to virtually any depth. Of course, it's no fun to crank up a 6 pound (or heavier) ball from the depths, but on a Hobie, it does provide for a full-body workout...

Just curious how deep anyone has been able to troll with the Scotty Laketroller. I'd think it would be difficult to go down  below about 50', whereas the Depthmaster can go to virtually any depth. Of course, it's no fun to crank up a 6 pound (or heavier) ball from the depths, but on a Hobie, it does provide for a full-body workout...

I think I've been able to get down to about 70'. I suppose the best way to know for sure would be to put a dive watch (or another type of depth-measuring device) on the downrigger ball.
It's true, you can't go super deep with these, but we rarely need to anyway.

Just curious how deep anyone has been able to troll with the Scotty Laketroller. I'd think it would be difficult to go down  below about 50', whereas the Depthmaster can go to virtually any depth. Of course, it's no fun to crank up a 6 pound (or heavier) ball from the depths, but on a Hobie, it does provide for a full-body workout...

When downrigger trolling, the maximum depth that you can see your downrigger weight on your fish finder before the weight gets blown back behind the cone of your sonar depends on (a) the speed at which you're trolling,(b) the weight of your downrigger weight, (c) the amount of drag created by your lure, (d) the amount of drag created by your steel downrigger cable or braided downrigger line, and (e) the width of the cone of your sonar (i.e. the frequency setting).  When trolling at about 1.5 mph with a four pound weight on a Scotty Laketroller, using a low drag lure and 175 pound low drag braided downrigger line, and with my fish finder on a wide cone setting, I can see my weight down to about 70 feet.  When trolling at the same speed with an eight pound weight on a Cannon Laketroll, using the same lure, braided downrigger line, and fish finder settings, I can see my weight down to about 220 feet.  But with either downrigger, if I go faster and use a high drag lure like a Flatfish or Kwikfish, my downrigger weight will disappear from my fish finder screen at a much shallower depth.