Electric Downriggers

[dubob]

I have Cannon Mag 10 STX.  My next boat will have Scotty Dowriggers.  Cannon has terrible cutomer support and the electrical connectors are garbage.  I cut mine off and replaced with Scotty connectors and no problems since. 

5 years of electrical engineering school tells me positive ions are marketing.  The "black box" is a term in Engineering for something someone else makes and you only know the inputs and outputs and nothing in between.  If your boat is properly grounded, you won't have a problem. 

I also hate the auto up on my Cannons because I stack on my downriggers.  I replaced the cable with 400 feet of Scotty braid downrigger line.  No more auto up.  No more humming.  No more lost stacker releases.  No marketing with positive ions. 

I take my boat to the PNW every year and fish on the ocean.  It's closer to the Scotty factory, I admit.  But guess how many of those boats, that run in the salt every day they go out use Cannons.  I've seen 2 in 8 years.  They all use Scotty downriggers.

Plus, if you need one tiny little part, they can send you a tiny little part.  So when the screw on the front end of your Cannon base falls out because of the cupped washer, you have to order an entirely new base just to get the screw.  At Scotty you can get every individual part and a lot of times, they send them to you, postage paid, for free.

Cannon is popular here because it's on the shelf.  But that's the only reason.  I'm not going to buy new Scottys for the boat.  I've adapted my Cannons enough to do the job I want them to do.  But, like I said at the beginning, my next boat will have Scottys.

I'm a degreed electronic engineer and have over 40 years working on electronic equipment.  You and I could go round and round on what is, and what is not, the truth with regard to ion voltages on downrigger metal cables.  But I won't debate you about it on here because it wouldn't prove anything, neither of us will change our position, and others would just be by it all.  Lets just say that you and I totally disagree on the concept and the application and let it go at that.

You like Scotty's - I'm happy for you.  I like Cannons - I'm happy for me.  There are good and bad with either one.  If you were to go back and fish on any of the Great Lakes, you would find Big Jon outsells all the other brands combined on the thousands of charter boats running every day of the season.   There simply isn't a single brand of DR out there that is all things to everybody.  Tight lines to you and have a great season even though your are forced to use what you consider an inferior product.