I am a complete newbee to modern salmon fishing equipment. I grew up near Cowichan Bay using huge Peetz reel with steel line and tons of lead; not a fun way to pull it a spring but it worked and we filled the pantry with bottled salmon every year. Career finances and family made it impossible the ocean fish for the next 50 years but retirement finally came along and the minister of finance (wife) allowed me to buy a little boat. It came with two Penn hand crank downriggers and they work pretty well but jumping up and down to crank them up (with arthritis in both knees) has become a bit of a chore. Everyone tells me to get some electric downriggers and I've been reading about them on a number of forums. I like to shop locally so in that regard the Scottys (made in Canada) would be my preference but a few comments on the forums suggest the Cannons may be better; primarily due to the 'power down' process. I can recall fishing with my brother-in-law on the west coast (with older Scottys) and when he let the ball go, it literally screemed to the bottom and he semed to have little control over the speed. After that very windy introduction, would the some of the experienced & knowledgeable folks on this forum please offer me some advice? It's a substantial investment for me (CPP ain't much) and I would like to make the best decision. Has Scotty 'fixed' the ball down control? Would I be better off with a different brand? Which model (remembering the limitations of CPP) would be appropriate for an old fart in a 16' Harbercraft?
Thank you in advance; twogone, Ladysmith
Thank you in advance; twogone, Ladysmith