Cannon Lake Troll downrigger

A few years ago, I picked up a Cannon Lake Troll downrigger "used" (it had never been installed). I'm just now getting around to installing it, and the first job was to shorten the boom. It seems most people cut it off and attached the ends together, but I got the bright idea of drilling out the old stub, and that worked out well.

I modified the base, as sliding it in from the side (rather than from the back) is easier when on the water. It was a pain, as the spacer needed to be slightly less than 1/4", and all I had was 1/4" starboard plastic. Anyways, I eventually got that to work. Also, I cut off the knobby part on the back end, as that interfered with my leg when pedaling.

I tested it out on the water yesterday, and the clutch is way too "sticky", as it won't lower without manually turning the spool. It also is too hard to crank up. So, today I'll disassembly the clutch/crank mechanism and hopefully make it smoother operating. I do like the vertical cranking vs the horizontal cranking of my old Scotty Depthmaster DR (which you can see on the aka bench in the second picture below).

To be continued...

I took it completely apart and lubed the parts that needed lubing (picture only shows it about 1/2 taken apart). Unfortunately, to completely disassemble it required removing all of the line from the spool, which was not easy, given that I put on 900' of braid, and the spool would not turn smoothly.

Anyways, to get at the area that requires lubrication, it's necessary to do a complete disassembly (which, as mentioned, requires removing all of the line from the spool). I can foresee that being a regular maintenance issue, which would be a hassle.

The line counter is on the end of the boom, and that wasn't working, so I disassembled that too. It turns out that a small pin was broken, which caused a small gear to be loose, and sometimes jam. There was no way that it could be repaired. I did get it re-assembled, and the pulley works fine, but there's no line counter. Actually, that is not too much of a loss, as the line counter was on the "wrong" side of the boom, making it impossible to see when I'm seated (which I would be when lowering the DR ball).

So, now I've got a DR that I'm confident will function really well, but lacks a line counter. I'm looking for an aftermarket line counter...

Very cool!

I scored two Cannon Easi-Troll downriggers on Marketplace a whole ago, one for the kayak and one for the small boat.

I mounted one on the kayak a while back, but have only used it once. I used a rotating mount base, and kept the boom long. All in all, it's a great setup. I really like the vertical spool and the release mechanism to let out line - I can deploy my lure with one hand while steering the kayak with the other.

I still need to swap out the cable for braid, but I don't plan to use it saltwater anytime soon. It's mostly for freshwater trolling, and I know my local lakes pretty well, so I'm not super motivated to swap it out right now.