Downrigger setup for my driftboat

[CleaverID]

Hi folks, I am an Idaho steelheader that is wanting to expand his horizons and start doing a little trolling out of my driftboat and am looking for a little gear advice. My friend and I both have 19' pavati warriors outfitted with new 9.9 Honda's and Lowrance HDS finders. We would like to get downrigger setups so we can do some trolling for Kokanee in the local lakes near Boise and also make some trips out your way to troll for salmon. (Upstream of Goldbeach and any other suggestions you may have that are deep enough to warrant using a downrigger. Probably don't want to attempt the Columbia near Astoria though We have been looking at Cannon unitroll downriggers but I wasn't sure about the boom length, if the extendable boom was preferred or not or how far over the gunnel the boom needed to extend. I realize that snagging the bottom with the ball and having a long boom can be a bad deal. I also wasn't sure if it would be better to go with smaller electric downriggers right off the bat if I find a good deal. I have used Scotty manuals fishing for Kings out of Port Hardy, Canada a few years ago so know a little on how to use them but would appreciate any advise you may have. Since we won't be using the downriggers too often I would prefer to not get a mint wrapped up in gear and may be looking at craigslist specials to save some money. Open to any model suggestions, (Penn debthmasters ets...)

Look FWD to reading some words of wisdom!

Cleaver

 

[halibuthitman]

Electric scottys... or nothing, hand working downriggers all day is annoying.. for kokes I would just use leadcore and forget the down riggers, I only use downriggers for Lakers and german browns.. Rainbows and kokes are a leadcore approach for me- Good luck

 

[Irishrover]

Welcome to the forum. I don't use a downrigger much anymore. But when I do I run two Penn Fathom Master 600s. I used to use a set of Cannons but when a backlash occured as they do from time to time, it was a real pain to fix. The Cannons had a shrouded reel that held the cable, so you would have to remove it to fix any problem that happened withthe reel or cable. On the Penns the reel is open and a cinch to work with. Neither were electric I don't use them enough to warrent that. On the Penns I got rid of the cable and went to braided line. With the braided line I don't have to listen to that line noise. The only place and time I use them is in the ocean when I'm going deep for chinook. I prefer to use deep six divers when fishing instead of the down riggers, but it is another tool in the box and they do get you down deep. Those Penns I have are old and I doubt they make that modle any more.

Do you fish Anderson Ranch Dam? Back in 1974-75 I was stationed at Mt Home AFB and used to get up there when I could. Nice country up north of Mt Home.

 

[CleaverID]

Thanks for the replys guys! I have mostly fished the south fork of the boise over there and not the lake. The river is blue ribbon catch and release for trout. Plan on getting to Anderson and Arrowrock a bit more too. Lucky Peak is fairly busy with boaters on the weekends so we usually make the drive to Arrowrock to avoid the crowds and the boat ramp comedy shows. The gravel road deters a few. We are originally from Montana and make several trips home to fish also.
I may have to give lead core a try again also. Used to do it when I was a kid on Holter lake near Great Falls but like the idea of knowing how deep I am fishing and not guessing on my depth. There must be some kind of formula with the line to know how deep it is running.
That is good info on the Cannon downriggers. I have found several Penn's for @$100 used. I would love electric but too much $$$ for the amount they will get used. Do the Penns retrieve at 1 to 1 ratio or do they do 2:1 like the cannons? The manual Scotty's became a bit of work for sure at 1 to 1. I have some deep sixes also. Maybe I'll use those and give a manual penn a whirl before I get too much invested to see how well it works.
Thanks for the input guys!

Mike

 

[Irishrover]

We spent most of our time on the South Fork too. Dam pretty river with lots of big rocks. The Penns are 1:1 but the ones I have, have an 8" reel with a big crank so it moves those ten pound lead balls ok. If I used downriggers a lot I would go electric, but a few time a year, I'll just hire one of the grand kids to work the crank!

 

[Chromatose]

I would go with a longer boom, the shorter booms are usually fixed. x2 on the Leadcore. Do yourself a favor and buy it/use it until you save the dough for electrics. Much cheaper way to go IMO.