I just bought a 16 foot Smokercraft and have decided I want to get a pair of manual downriggers for it. . Two quesitons: Which brand do you like best and is there a good factory built mounting system designed to mount downriggers on aluminum boats that have a narrow top edge on the sides.

Don't know about mounting systems,but the best one to get of the big three (cannon, pen, scotty) is the one that costs you the least. If you were buying electrics I would say scotty but for manuals any differences would be minimal.

For manual 'riggers I like Canon.

As far as a mounting bracket goes I would look at a boat that is similar to yours to see how they have their 'riggers mounted. Or check a local tackle shop.

Ditto above. The manuals are about the same. If you intend to use them much I would strongly advise electric. The manuals will work your butt off especially fishing deep like we do in the sound etc. Of the electrics, Scotty are the best buy.

I really like the penn manuals better then the cannons becouse even thought they both say they offer one hand desent the cannons always requrie that you use two hands. one on the handle and one on the spool. if you don,t that spool will take off on you and pop your release. the penns have a much finer adjustment for playing out cable. Just my two cent. for the mounting n a thin side. if you have 4in of surface to work with I would go with the flush mount rod holder with a gimble mount insert. theres the link http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templa...=index&rid= with this set up you can take the downriggers out and not leave the mounting plates. it looks really good.

My 15' aluminum boat has flat plywood benches running across. I have custom welded aluminum 4-sided boxes on end bolted to the benches near the gunnels w/ the d'rigger mounts on top. Works good. Also makes a little shelter for beverages. Makes for zero stress on the gunnels.

Two mannual Cannons have been on my boat for several years with great results. I have friends with Penns and they like them too, so I think as has been said, Penns, Cannons, or Scotties are the three big dogs. The boss says I can buy a new set of electric Scotties with my OT check! Wah Whooo!

The usual problem you have with Smokercraft and others is that you can't get underneath the mounting surface to install T-nuts or to bolt things on. The solution is stainless toggles, like the Toggler brand, do a search in Google and you can find them. Problem is, I need 8 and they come in boxes of 50 for somewhat over $100, haven't found anyone who will sell them individually. Any hardware salesmen out there who can help me?

Hey Surecatch-

Whenever I pop my head in somewhere to see if they have a used Penn 825 (Anybody have one for sale?) I always see a bunch of manuals of all kinds that people traded in or came off a used boat that was traded in.

In most cases they are almost new, before dropping the big dime on whatever brand you choose, check out all the local sport boat co's and see what they have on hand....might save you a few bucks.

Don't forget E-bay
2 Canon digitroll II' s
350 bones....
Run you search every way you can think of including misspellings...the ones I got were posted as downreels mine was the only bid....

Surecatch,
What model Smokercraft do you have? I have a Smokercraft Tracer and had Downrigger mounts put on. They were $25 each and well worth it. Gives me a permanent flat mounting place for my riggers and I dont have to mess with the gunnel mounts. They are also cheaper than the gunnel mounts, I think those run about $45 per.

I would also recommend the Scotty Electrics over manual 'riggers. I started with Scotty manuals but went to electrics in no time. Those manuals can be a lot of work when you are fishing 150 - 200 feet, especially if you ever go out alone. Try fighting a big King with one hand and cranking up the downrigger 200' with the other, it sucks!

If you look into electrics check out Tyeemarine.com they have the best prices I have found.

Good luck!

Surecatch
I welded up a bracket that bolts on with 3 bolts. Get a hold of me and take a look at mine I live in Woodinville also

Any electric you buy now is gonna turn out to be the best buy, cause the next thing you'll do if you buy manual ones, is buy electrics, and when you add in the price of the manuals, it gets really expensive.

No way was I gonna spend the kind of money they wanted for an electric downrigger(hell neither one of my kids cost that much)

I was lucky my buddy had gone through
it, he still had the manual penns in his garage.

I have a 17' aluminum boat ( welded) so it was an ez deal to mount them. That was the last ez deal about them. Crank up from 120' set the release, start it back down, forget to loosen the drag, trip the DR, crank it back up,reset release,set drag, DR set, fish for twenty min, crank it up check the bait, reset at 120', (no problem now I got it down) fishing buddy gets a fish on, crank up the ball, boat along side gets a fish on, crank up the ball.
Finally, I get a strike, grab the rod, try to crank ball up, never mind buddy will crank it up, oops gotta steer the boat, crank the ball some more, etc etc, crank up, etc etc, crank up, put the gear away give buddy back his manual D R, Thank him for his genorosity.

Bought electric DR

Went back fishing Hit auto-up

herm

(What the hell I got enough kids)

I must agree that saving money on manuals is a mistake, because you WILL buy electrics sooner or later. If you must buy manuals I had cannon ez trolls for years and never had a problem. As for using 2 hands, I never had to use 2 hands to operate my down riggers. If you have this problem the clutches may need to be replaced (very simple to do when doing regular maintanance). As far as mounts I had the pedistal type mounts that I bolted through the bench seat. They had a piece of 1/4" steel backing on the under side and worked well. Make sure if you do weld on mounts that they are in a very solid place on boat so you don't get any flex in the side of your boat from the drag of the down rigger.