Well I finally got it set up. Got the Cannon DigiTroll IV that I bought last winter rigged up on the boat and gave it a test spin this past week. It REALLY WORKS!! It is most amazing.
It has it's own transducer and knows the depth, you just program what depth off the bottom you want to maintain and adjust the gain for the sea-state. I was able to keep a lure 3' off the bottom and troll right over a sandbar ...the depth change went from 50' to 8' and back to 25' (hedge fence). I did not have to adjust anything, it track the bottom auto-magically. It was sweet to hear it wind up then let out as need.

Next week (post izzy) I put it to the real test. Trolling tube and worm and other plugs around various well know up-island hotspots as well as cutty. So far though it is a nice machine!!

Sandman
I have been using a downrigger for the past few months, I do not use it for lures, only for trolling live bait from Shad to eels, and I can tell you that it works fantastic. The one you are using sounds like one hell of a downrigger.

Just curious.....what happens to the slack in the (fishing) line when the bottom goes up from 50 to 30? Do you have to man the reel to deal with giving line out or in?

Nice rig !!!!

Now if only they were smart enough to swing sideways and avoid pot lines. Big problem in my area.:af:

Let us know when you catch fish with it...

It really is a clever rig. How it works is like this...I let out about 100-150 feet of line on the surface, then I run the BRAIDED or MONO line thu an Aftco Roller Troller clip that is attached to the 13# lead ball. This ball baring roller clip allows of the line to feed in and out as the weight moves up and down. So in essense the lure is moving closer to and farther away from the boat as the weight goes up and down but maintains the depth of the ball. I suppose you could get into touble if you hit a really deep spot, but you program the max depth to let out (reguardless of the water depth) so you don't hit the end of the cable ((which is like 200 or 400') I have mine set to a max of 125' so I don't think I will have a problem.
I want to take that cap't andys broken back lure, slide an eel skin over it or a tube and worm set up and troll that baby around old man rock about 3' off the bottom.

I only have one now (they are pricey) so I will troll one wire and one on the rigger this year. We will see how it works out. If it does what I think it will do I will pick up a second this winter and make a permenant install on the boat. (you can daisy chain these together to work of the same transducer...up to 4.)

I had a buddy on board who never heard of it before and when he saw in in use he said " that is without a doubt the coolest f*@#*%G fishing deviceI have ever seen!..it has GOT to work!" So far I have not really fished with it but is sure works as advertised.

Speaking of wire...I had a lot of problems with that wire that Charley Soares suggested. I ended up stripping it off and putting back the ss which seemed to feel a lot better. (although more springy) There was a bizzare grabby friction effect between that wire and the hardened rod tip guide that actually made it difficult to reel in. Switched back to ss wire and the problem went away. Maybe it would work better with a roller tip, I do not know. Also, that stuff tended to splinter when tieing it it off. Maybe I got a bad batch but it was very difficult to work with. I still have a few spool if anyone wants it (free).