im wondering and dont know what they are called,if anyone knows where to find the things that you hook to your down riggers and set it and it keeps your down riggers on the bottom and raises up when the water gets shallower,or you can set it for 10 feet off the bottom and everything is run automatically.so you dont have to keep moving your downriggers up and down to adjust for shallow and deep water.you just set what you want and it automatically moves your riggerweights up or down dependind on your settings,any and all help will be greatly appreciated,thanks gorge attic
[signature]
i think youre talking about cannon digi-trolls. you can get the ones that interface with a bottomline sonar or the digi troll IV which has its own transducer. perhaps someone who owns one can chime in. heres a link to the digi troll IV. good luck, they can be pretty pricey!
[url "http://www.bottomlinefishfinders.com/site/html/htmlsite/cannon/digi_troll_iv.htm"]http://www.bottomlinefishfinders.com/site/html/htmlsite/cannon/digi_troll_iv.htm[/url]
[signature]
[font "Arial Black"][red][size 3] I think what you are looking for is a Bottomline 6300 or 6500 fishfinder. I believe that they do all of that automatic.[/size][/red][/font]
[font "Arial Black"][#ff0000][size 3][/size][/#ff0000][/font]
[font "Arial Black"][#ff0000][size 3]AFDan52[/size][/#ff0000][/font]
[signature]
i dont think you can just hook those sonars to any old downrigger. i believe you have to have a digi troll. (like this one-
[url "http://www.bottomlinefishfinders.com/site/html/htmlsite/cannon/mag20.htm"]http://www.bottomlinefishfinders.com/site/html/htmlsite/cannon/mag20.htm[/url]
[signature]
Bkidder is right, you have to have a digi troll down rigger and the depth finder and they have to be interfaced together so they can tell each other whats going on.
also one other thing to think about is, the line on the fishing rod, it will get skack when the ball raises and get tight when the ball drops. later chuck
[signature]
ive actually thought a lot about the digitroll IV because from what i understand you dont have to have the bottomline fishfinder. i think it has its own transducer and can run without the seperate sonar. if im right about this you could get all set up for around 12-1300 dollars.(much cheaper route than the mag 20 DT)
does anyone own a digi troll IV?
[signature]
[font "Arial Black"][red][size 3] Sorry , still kind of new to this downrigger thing myself.[/size][/red][/font]
[font "Arial Black"][#ff0000][size 3][/size][/#ff0000][/font]
[font "Arial Black"][#ff0000][size 3]AFdan52[/size][/#ff0000][/font]
[signature]
no need to apologize! im still hoping someone who owns one will chime in. i want to know what someone with experience thinks of the differences between the digi troll IV and the more expensive, interfaced, models. it seems that the IV has some real advantages, not just a cheaper price tag.
[signature]
thanks for the help you guys ,it would be nice to hear from someone who has one, and has the good and the bad about them.but these links will help. thanks gorge attic
[signature]
Well this probable isnt much help.I have fished with a digi-troll IV,but we were fishing for kokes.So I didnt get to see how it tracks the bottom in action.It was very user friendly,was nice to enter a pre-set depth then send it down and knowing it would stop where i wanted it too. This made it easier on the fisherman,but didnt help to catch any more fish then a manual downrigger would.
I fish with two mini -mag electric downriggers,and because of the price I sure dont see me up grading to a digi-troll any time in the near furture.I actually think that because they can track the bottom,this just means more work for the guy using it.Always having to tighten or loosen the fishing line ,as the weight moves up and down following the bottom structure.IMO a guy that is using a manual or a smaller electric ,can be just a sucessful.As long as he knows where his downrigger weight is ,and is watching his fish finder
[signature]
I own (2) Digi-Troll 4's and they are the only Downrigger's on the market that will bottom track. Now the information that has been said is accurate my downrigger's have a Bottom line transducer that plug's directly into the downrigger itself. I run the Lowrance 111 c as my chart plotter/ fish finder, so you do not have to have a Bottom line unit to interface with the downrigger as long as you have the Transducer that interfaces with it. Confusing I know but once it is set up you would never want to go back to anything else.
I speak from expirence, due to the fact that I own 3 Cannon electric's 3 Scotty 1106 Propack's and 3 Walker Tournament Downrigger's so I have tried them all and they are all "Workable" unit's the Digi Troll however is again the only bottom tracker of the group.
Well worth the initial investment if you plan on bottom trolling or multiple depth changes.....hope this help's and if you have any other questions let me know.
Jared Johnson Shasta Tackle Co.
[signature]
do you use your digitrolls for koke fishing too jared? i had been thinking about getting a bottom tracking downrigger, but i was a little turned off by the price tag of the bottomline sonars that go with the mag 20 DT. but, the IV sounds like the way to go. ive seen them on ebay, with the transducer, go for as little as 800 dollars. (but, who knows what you'll get from ebay!) ive been thinking of getting one for a while...perhaps next year. thanks for the info jared.
[signature]
I picked up both my Digi-Troll IV's from ebay a year or so ago for around $600/ea - one was new and the other slightly used. According to Cannon, Mag 20's will also interface with the Bottomline FF, though I am with Jared - Lowrance 104C is my bread and butter. I'm not a big fan of the Bottomline stuff as far as graphs go. I purchased the transducer that interfaces with them and the cable from Cannon. Like Jared wrote, they are the only ones on the market that track bottom - VERY handy when going for Mac or other fish holding right on bottom. Also easy when trolling for fish off the bottom a ways, as I use them set to bottom +20 or so often in other situations. I will say that the Cannon transducer that you use for them has the narrowest beam I have ever seen. Occasionally I'll have it pull the downrigger weight up and over a big fish as we pass over it. Getting your transducer set up right on the boat initally can be tricky, as you have to have it "looking" just forward of your downrigger weights in order to have it adjust the weights up and down at the proper time, otherwise your snagging bottom. Instead of carrying multiple type of downriggers on the boat, I just use the Digi's for everything. They have a real solid feature setup even with the bottom-track.
[signature]
so you bought a couple of the ebay ones huh? thats cool that they have worked so well for you. are they still covered by the manufacturer in case of defects? if you do have a problem are they expensive to have repaired? that makes me want to start looking at ebay again! thanks a lot.
[signature]
They are covered by the standard lifetime warranty - you do have to ship to them if you have a problem. They seem to be pretty fast and fair about warranty/repair work.
[signature]
Jared
Do you see any interferance from the downrigger transducer on your Lowrance fishfinder?
[signature]
And I'm one for simplicity...
I have 2 old manual Cannon mini-trolls, and a Lowrance X85 finder.
My dad just bought a new Alumaweld and asked me to set it up for fishing. He threw me his AMEX and said to get the best. (man Cabelas is a fun place with someones elses money !)
The Gorge is our main pond, but we mostly jig for the lakers, so I diddnt get him the bottom tracking stuff. But I did get him 2 Cannon electric sport-trolls ($499 ea.) and looked at the higher end fishfinders, but then I reminded myself that the old man can hardly operate a cell phone, so I setteled on the Lowrance X125 ($299 w/ speed and temp) just because it looked simple to operate.
I got all of the stuff put on and finally got it up to The Gorge last week.
First, I'm glad I diddnt spend any more money on the finder because that X125 is FANTASTIC !!! I paid $450 for the X85 6 years ago and this thing blows it out of the water, I will be upgrading soon.
The only beef I have with the electric riggers is that they move too slow for the way I like to fish. I tend to think the ball scares them, so I like to run my lure about 100 feet behind the ball, and then run the ball 25 feet off the bottom until I see fish, then make a quick drop of the ball to the bottom so that only the lure comes through the fish.
I can move my old hand-crank riggers up or down at 8 feet per second but the electrics only about 2fps. So basically that means that your bait is in the "fish zone" 4 times longer. Also, if you come up on a submerged cliff (often at The Gorge) you can crank the ball up and out of danger faster. Plus, no drain on the battery.
I kind of think that an X125, and 2 mini or sport-trolls provide a bit of an advantage at The Gorge. Not to mention all the gas and beer you can buy with $1500+ you will save...
Good Luck...
[signature]
on the electric riggers you should be able to just loosen the clutch to get the ball to drop as fast as you want. i always descend unpowered by loosening the clutch. it should work just like your manuals.
the manual vs electric debate all depends on what you want. i want to be able to flip a switch and have my weight delivered to me when i get the fish in and am ready to go. my brother can bring his manual in way faster, but speed isnt my goal. comfort is.
as far as being in the strike zone- the bottom tracker will put you in the strike zone 100% of the time. worth all of the money? all those who own them, that ive talked to, say there is no question... well worth it.
sounds like you got your dad set up pretty good!
[signature]
pinksnapper... You run lures 100' behind the ball?? If you are
100' down and 100' behind the ball, how do you reel in all that slack line?? Do you get hung up at all on inside turns?? I flatline up to 150 feet behind the boat, but rarely go more than 50' behind the ball. I'm not criticizing your techniques, just curious !! I run dodgers and squid/spoons at 6' to 10 feet back behind the ball !! I will run flatfish or Rapalas 25 to 50 feet back, any thoughts, anyone??
[signature]
if the fish are there and arent striking i will sometimes move the lure further back. i put it back as far as 100 feet at times. (especially on my top lines which are running shallow. as a rule if im fishing the top 20 feet of water i put out a lot more line to get back behind the boat) i dont have trouble tangling or snagging bottom this way. obviously the closer to the weight the tighter the turns you can make though. (near circles at times) also, if youre trolling something heavy, like a big flasher and squid, you do have to watch your inside turns if youre near bottom. but, most of the time if youre fishing down deeper you can stick pretty close to the weight. as far as the slack in the line- you just have to be quick!
[signature]