I think I may want to add a pair of downriggers to the arsenal next year. Leaning towards a set of Cannon Unitrol 10s. Does anyone have these or any input in them. I'll have to get manuals since the budget wont permit electric. thanks

I have Penn manuals, they are a PITA and spen 99.9% of their time in the garage.

Overrated.
I turned 1 of mine into electric kite reel. The other just collects dust.
Learn to fish mojo rigs
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I'm with these guy's... I dont even know where mine are... last used on lake Ontario over 10 years ago... wire does all my deep dirty work..

I have a cannon digi trol IV. I agree they are a PIA but they have their place. This rigger has it's own transducer and can be set to stay X' off the bottom. If the depth changes, the rigger takes in or lets out line as needed auto-magically. For me this was H U G E and is why I bought this particular unit. I used it from time to time in my CC and it worked very well. You can fish braid on light gear deep. You need to use an aftco roller-troller "clip" so the line can feed back and forth as it goes up and down. It does complicate things.

The good news:

It really works!! I have run directly over sand bars and to watch it reel in and let out again is pretty cool. MUCH better than wire. You KNOW the depth exactly and where your lure is. You can troll light or heavy surface or sinking lures without worry of snagging. Really light stuff can be a problem but is do-able.

The bad news:

It also takes up a lot of space to store on a small boat.
It is electric and just "one more thing" to break.
The connections will corroded if you don't cover them up with something.
It is awkward to deal with until you get use to it.
If you don't need it to catch fish...don't use it it will be in the way if the fishing is hot and heavy.
They are not cheap
It does complicate things more then they need to be most days. But there are those days when it is really nice to have.

It has been in the attic for the last two seasons (because I sold my old boat with the old transducer still on it. I just got another transducer and I plan to install it this year on my boat.

I am dying to slow troll live baits at key depths. And want to try it offshore with big game this year.

It also has this "Ion" feature which is suppose to emit thru the cable and attract fish. IMO this is all crap. It does nothing. I plan to remove the cable all-together (because it sings at higher speeds) and put 200# braid.


All that said...it does complicate things but to hook a fish deep on light gear is great and if that is what you are trying to do then this is the best way to do it.

I think I may want to add a pair of downriggers to the arsenal next year. Leaning towards a set of Cannon Unitrol 10s. Does anyone have these or any input in them. I'll have to get manuals since the budget wont permit electric. thanks

What are you trying to target with them?

Agree with the above, kinda a PITA, but have their application.

Jon