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They are expensive (like 1400 ea+ opt's and acc's that you need) and it put me off from buying one for a couple years until one day there was a ad in the fisherman and a guy had 4 of them new (for a new boat he was buying, the boat deal fell thru next and had dowriggers and no boat) and was selling them all for 700 each and wanted to sell them all. I told him I would buy one for 700 if he was interested. We made a deal. It was brand new in a sealed box from cabelas so I decided to go for it. IMO they are worth 700...you've got to really be into downriggers to pay 1400 for one, it is more of a novelity for me. I checked ebay and used ones were selling for 700 so I thought I was getting a good deal. (I like to try everything related to fishing, like most of you I have a ton of fishing crap, alot of which I don't use anymore) I do use this thing though numerous times each season but it is usually when I by myself and don't have to explain the user inferface to the guy in the cockpit.....again it over complicates fishing somewhat but it is cool. I caught a lot of fish with it this fall. It also emits an electrial current into the water but I have not played with that feature...sounds freaky but there were several technical papers included that showed how fish were attracted to weak electrical fields. I left that part off, it is involved enough as it is.
For the real geek you can hook up to 4 of these units to a separate contol mount at the helm with large LCD panel showing what each one is doing. You can raise/lower set one to jig, or contour and do just about anything all from the helm. Like most things boating or fishing, you can spend a ton of cash on a full blown set up with 4 riggers and contoller transduers, etc.. Not for me but it is cool to read about what you can do. I have seen ads for the salmon guys on the west coast where they advertise they have these full blown multi headed downriggers units You can easily drop 10K on a maxed out system.
IMO the problem with all this fancy stuff is that it will probably break eventually and you are stuck with new $1400-10K anchor. My advice is keep it as simple as possible. Do they work? YES! but it may be more involved then most guys want to get into for a day of fishing. For me a good day of fishing can just involve a lead sinker, a hook some bait and some good company. I don't like reading manuals on how to program a fishing device while I am fishing but I did it to check it out. I will probably include this device in the deal when I sell my boat.
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