Are scotty 2106 worth the money?

[the butcher]

I am considering upgrading my 1106s to 2106s. My 1106s are reliable and have never let me down. I know the 2106s have a faster retrieval and beefier motor that allows you to use heavier Canon balls. But if I sell my 1106s I figure I would have to fork out another grand on top in order to upgrade to the 2106s. Question for guys who upgraded, was it worth the money? Would you say the retrieval is 2x as fast or only 50% faster?

 

[Rain City]

100% worth it especially when fishing deep. Seconds matter when the bite is on!

 

[MadJigga]

I got both my 2106’s through Facebook marketplace. One was new in the box, the other was new and unused(was kept as a spare) paid a grand for both.

 

[John s]

100% worth it especially when fishing deep. Seconds matter when the bite is on!

x2 on what rain city said

 

[Gear'n'beer!]

I have 2106's but I fish with guys with 1106's......checking bait on there boats I'm like "man I could read a book here"

But they are both pretty damn good. Personally I run the two 2106 and an 1106 as my third/spare out the back and never deep.

 

[the butcher]

I got both my 2106’s through Facebook marketplace. One was new in the box, the other was new and unused(was kept as a spare) paid a grand for both.

You basically got them for 500 each?

 

[Klob]

How many seconds are we talking about in a 200' retrieve with 15# balls?

 

[the butcher]

You guys have problems with the LCD counter? If I buy a used unit and I am not the original owner, scotty won't replace. Their warranty is only valid with original owner.

 

[Gear'n'beer!]

I think the LCD counter is only warranteed for a year or two anyway. I had both mine go and were replaced, and given a spare due to condensation but they have fixed that and I haven't had any problems in many years. Mine are like 8 years old now.

 

[John s]

Ya that’s one of the problems with the 2106. I always have two spare lcd counters on the boat , We usually have one a season quit working. Easy to change out. But it sucks when your off shore and it’s rough when ya have to change one. I also carry a spare switch for the 2106. We had one of those quit last season. We ran into bamfield and pick up a new one , change it out and continued on fishing. It would of sucked if we couldn’t of pickup a new one at the time.

 

[Rockfish]

I run 2106's and before that 1106's. For those who fish a lot and who's boat can handle them, they are absolutely worth it but they have their down sides. The 1106's and earlier model slower speed riggers are reliable and proven technology and have some advantages over the 2106's. For example the mechanical counter does not have an independent small battery that can wear out and it costs much less to have them as spares to swap out as needed and there has been some problems with the computer chip counters being less reliable in the past. I understand the latest model counters can now be turned off so the batteries will last longer.

The much greater speed with the 2106's comes at a cost as they burn more power and I mean a lot more. That will add considerable more demand to your boats electrical system and batteries. We run two very large batteries and replace them every few years years so they are fresh because our main motor (6cyl Opti) is a power hog and needs a lot to start it and our pot puller also uses up a lot of power along with the 2106's. Our kicker does charge well. I would not run the 2106's if you use a single battery system and have lots of power demands like we do including, window defoggers, radar etc.

All that speed is also harder on the rigger cable and rigger gear such as the pulley, (more likely to cut wire groves) connections and terminal tackle, as greater speed means greater friction and stress which is compounded by the heavier balls you will now use. In short rigger gear is likely to fail more often on the 2106 than with a 1106. We learned to redo out wire connectors more frequently with the 2106's than with the 1106's to reduce failure rates.

The 2106's are also much less forgiving to operator error and it is much easier to make mistakes with them. Everything you do with them happens much faster and errors often have greater consequences as in lost balls etc. It is very easy for example to tap the up button when the ball is up to clear the water while playing a fish and ram the gear into the arm pully and break off the ball etc. They take some getting use to and you will likely find you may lose some gear in the process that you would not have lost with the old slow speed riggers. Even when you get use to handling them, if you are like me you will have others fish on your boat and if they are use to slow speed riggers they may get some surprises and not in a good way.
On the other hand that high speed can sometimes save your butt, such as when you notice late that you have a lot of cable out and are heading for a high wall of a reef and need your ball up 70 feet super fast to clear it.

I noticed you said you would sell your 1106's. I would advise keeping one as an emergency back up spare. That's what we do and have used it a fair bit when something screws up with the high speeds and we need to get back into the fishing fast.

 

[MadJigga]

You basically got them for 500 each?

Yes

 

[Rain City]

You guys have problems with the LCD counter? If I buy a used unit and I am not the original owner, scotty won't replace. Their warranty is only valid with original owner.

I got one warrantied because of condensation but didn't actually replace it until it was done-done. The guys at Pacific Angler just gave me one and said to bring the old back when I changed it. Benefit of dealing with a local shop.

How many seconds are we talking about in a 200' retrieve with 15# balls?

Well with 15s at 200' you're talking maybe 8-10 seconds but I wouldn't dare run 18s or 20s with the 1106 at those depths. I realise 8-10 seconds doesn't seem like a lot but it's an eternity when you've just accidentally popped the clip for the second time 200' down.

 

[fishin solo]

Once you switch you won’t go back

 

[Gear'n'beer!]

I know @Stosh has done some retrofits on 2106's to add the 1106 counter as a back up. Maybe he will give a bit of a tutorial.

 

[pescador]

The good, Fast and smooth, the cover comes off easier and they handle more weight. The Bad, higher amps, counters die. Now, Scotty has never asked me for a bill of sale so I don’t think resold units make a diff to them. I’ve had mine serviced several times over the last 5 years and never been asked for my bill of sale. Scotty came out with a new counter last August that is supposed to fix all the previous issues. I tho always carry a spare counter. Redundancy on a boat is a best practise.

 

[Doug]

I know @Stosh has done some retrofits on 2106's to add the 1106 counter as a back up. Maybe he will give a bit of a tutorial.

Stosh retrofitted my 2106 down riggers with back up manual depth counters. Same counter used on the 1106 models.
He did an excellent job and they worked perfectly when ever (2X) the digital read stopped working.

 

[Rockfish]

The good, Fast and smooth, the cover comes off easier and they handle more weight. The Bad, higher amps, counters die. Now, Scotty has never asked me for a bill of sale so I don’t think resold units make a diff to them. I’ve had mine serviced several times over the last 5 years and never been asked for my bill of sale. Scotty came out with a new counter last August that is supposed to fix all the previous issues. I tho always carry a spare counter. Redundancy on a boat is a best practise.

The cover may come off easily but it is not attached on the 2106 as it is on the 1106 when in the open position, so they have been known to fall overboard in the opening process while mounted at sea. Probably why you can now find the whole cover for the 2106 in the parts section of tackle stores (not cheap).

 

[Rockfish]

Stosh retrofitted my 2106 down riggers with back up manual depth counters. Same counter used on the 1106 models.
He did an excellent job and they worked perfectly when ever (2X) the digital read stopped working.

Stosh could probably start up a little side business. I would like to have mine retrofitted. Being mechanical counters they do wear out from use on the 1106's. I had assumed that the reason they went to the electronic counters was that the mechanical ones were not going to be able to handle the high speed and would have early and more frequent failure if used on the 2106. I assume the added mechanical counter works all the time when retro fitted to a 2106. How long has it been working for you? It would be interesting to know what Scotty's development testing showed concerning the reliability and longevity on the mechanical counters on the high speed riggers, assuming they did that testing. Anyone know how accommodating Scotty is concerning warranty on counter modified riggers if it is in addition to the electronic counters? I assume they would not make an issue of it.

 

[ExFlyGuy]

The cover may come off easily but it is not attached on the 2106 as it is on the 1106 when in the open position, so they have been known to fall overboard in the opening process while mounted at sea. Probably why you can now find the whole cover for the 2106 in the parts section of tackle stores (not cheap).

I also lost one on the highway... not sure if one of the clips was loose or what. I picked up a new lid with counter at HC for $100(tax included). I assume that this is a common problem after seeing the box of 20+ they had in stock!

I wouldn’t go back to the old style riggers though.

I picked up mine brand new(2) in the box with swivels and (2) 20lbs cannon balls from a member of the forum for $1100 when he decided not to pursue his project boat any further. So there is deals out there.

Pirate days at HC is coming up as well!