Scotty Depthmaster on Hobie Outback - Install Complete

Trolling works better moving forward.

Hopefully next weekend? Planning to hit Berryessa for a weekend of camping some time soon.

on the 21st of March right?
I plan on doing a trip up there the weekend after next for sure. Let me know when your ready alex, I'll point you in the right direction.

That is one heck of a sweet looking setup! 

That's clean, well done!

Thanks, guys!

For anyone who might dig this up later, just thought I'd follow up with my solution for a compact, less "snaggy" thumb nut to replace the wing nuts.

It's a stainless steel "coupling nut" (hardware store) with a rubber vacuum cap (auto parts store) stretched over it. Makes for a nice compact fastner, but the rubber is plenty grippy to tighten by hand.

What thread are the mighty bolts?

1/4-20

Looks good.  I have one of those down riggers laying around and was thinking of a better  way to mount it.  Using the YakAttack track seals the deal for me.  Let us know what the ideal length from the kayak the pulley should be.  Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, Rob. I'll measure the piece of boom I cut off and post the number here.

Also, make sure you cut a piece off the base of the boom, not the tip. The little plastic cap thing at the tip of the boom (thing that keeps the pulley from sliding off the end) seems to be glued in place, so best to just leave it that way and hack off the other side.

If you set it up on the starboard  rail, you won't have to modify the brake lever like I did. I prefer to troll off the port side since I fish left handed reels, so I had to modify the DR to fit on the port side.

http://www.amazon.com/Reid-Select-Thermoplastic-Four-Lobe-Diameter/dp/B002IBERDA

Found this on Amazon. Might be a little easier/less snaggy than the wing nuts.

Those could work. I just didn't want to start ordering things without knowing whether they'd fit. Even those wing nuts were tight trying to make the whole thing fit a set of 8" gear tracks.

I think my coupling nut/vacuum cap creations are going to work just fine. With no lobes sticking out and only soft rubber I don't think they'll catch on much.

Thanks for posting.  Lots of good ideas presented that can work for all sorts of applications. 

Like your setup. If there are salmon in Monterey Bay this season they are likely to be deep as was reported last year and a downrigger would be a good way to get to them. The width of the Outback does provide more space to mount gear.

Thanks for the pictures of your project. Will help me to plan the installation on my own Outback.

What's up, guys?

I finally got a chance to try out my new DR. I only had a few hours, so I headed to San Pablo Res.. Didn't catch anything, but gave the downrigger a good shakedown.

I'm 100% happy with how this setup turned out. It felt rock solid. I really don't see any reason to shorten the boom any further. With the 6 pound ball, I could barely even feel any side pull. It didn't feel the least bit unstable, and the drag was very easily manageable.

I'm in the market for an 8-lb torpedo style weight for comparison.

Counting the days 'til salmon season...