guffins fisherman

I’ve never used magnum metals, but they look really nice. I have however, extensive time with cannons and Scotty’s. For me, the simplicity of the Scotty’s is hard to beat. They just work and can be serviced on the water if needed. If needed. With that said, I did have to replace a digital counter on my 2116’s last year. That’s it, since I’ve owned them. The other two get wet almost daily and keep on ticking. The only downfall to Scotty is they are large. On a smaller boat they would take up a lot of space. The electronics in cannons can be finicky. I did like the speed of them, but they went through some terminal gear. I added snubbers and didn’t care for the extended blowback. 

FWIW, I fish frequently on a 21' aluminum G3 with a 150 Yamaha 4 stroke, no kicker.  We put a bag out on each side and troll along at whatever speed we want for hours.  Been doing it for years.  The Yamaha is serviced by the dealer yearly, and is showing no signs of excess wear and tear.  We have talked about putting a kicker on that boat a few times, and the owner can't justify the cost of it and doesn't like the idea of trying to net a fish around another motor on the back of the boat.  

Sent you a PM. 

Interested. What’s your location?  

20 hours ago, pole setter said:

Wow that’s crazy. Glad it didn’t do any damage to your bag let alone prop. Thank you for your reply.

I was at the wheel and heard it start to rumble and act weird, and then start slapping the hull. Mind you, this was all at 2.2 knots. I hit neutral quick and knew what happened. I tried to reverse it out, and that was useless and shut her down. I carry a good mask just in case. I think it took me longer to decide I was going in, than it did to actually unwrap it. Quick action on the gear shift and the mask were key. 

Put it this way, I had one of my tow lines break, and sucked the Amish bag into my straight inboard prop. I got the boat into neutral fairly quick, swam under the boat and unwrapped it. Didn’t even rip, cut or crease the bag. Tough as hell, pull like mad. 

I bought a used X4D from the classifieds on this forum a couple years ago. It hasn’t ever worked right. I have tried everything short of sending the probe back. Finally I just gave up on the whole thing part way through this season. Lo and behold, my catch rate went up. I think that is due to just paying better attention to my rigs and fishing my program by using common sense and what I am seeing on the graph.  I agree, if I was fishing temp in several hundred FOW all the time, a FH would be useful. Fishing structure in 160 FOW or less, the FH is just overkill and something else to distract me. Moral of the story?  Be prepared to fiddle with it and be distracted by it, and ask yourself if you really need it. If so, great tool. If not….

I believe this boat has a motor box midship, in the middle of the fishing area, not on the transom. Usually nicely padded and a great place to put the cheeseboard, rod-watchers and some fishing gear. 

PowerPro or steel. Mono will stretch too much. I have been using 65# power pro and it doesn’t seem to wad up fleas any worse than steel. 

If you're running Scottie riggers, you don't need any of that stuff.  Depress the green "up" button until your weight is at the water surface, then lift hand over hand on the boom.  The weight and release will lift and swing right to you allowing you to clip your line in.  Slowly lower the boom back to the water and you're ready to send your bait to your desired depth.  If you're on Cannons, that's a different story.

Tough to say if it’s worth the drive for one person or another. Some days they are in close, some days anglers are running far and wide to get them.  This is a big fishery with lots of places to hide. Just depends on the day, the weather, your boat and how much gas you’re willing to burn.  

I loved my Trophy with an outboard, but boy did they make some design flaws on those boats.  Bilge pumps buried where they can't be worked on, fish box rain collectors, etc.  Good luck.  You may have to leave it and relocate with a new set up, or pull the engine.

I am in Watertown and pretty sure I have one on a cannon spool. It’s yours. I will be in Chaumont for the weekend. Let me check tonight to make sure I still have it, if you’re interested. 

I know several/most guides out of Henderson do not regularly catch their limit in addition to their clients, of whatever species they are fishing for that day.  As for myself, never intentionally.  The only time I do, is if we take a fish before I can get all the baits out of the water immediately following a limit for my clients.  If I feel I can throw it back and have that fish survive, I do.  If not, then I add it to my clients cooler at the end of the day.  

Totally agree.  The surface speed from the hawk is negligible, especially where you are fishing, which I assume is mostly the Larry.  Where you will find you like the hawk is the repeatability in your presentations.  As I am sure you aware, the river has lots of swirls, eddys, breaks, upriver, downriver, etc.  You will be amazed at what the probe tells you about your presentations down there.  When they bite, try to repeat what the probe is telling you.  If you have the X4D, even better.  You will get the actual depth of your probe/bait and the temp it is sitting in.  

Sent you a PM. 

I’ll take the two Coldwater 203’s, if you’ll ship to 13601. 

This may be a dumb question.  What rotation is it, and where are you located?

Matt

Honestly, I would guess unplugging the batteries after each use is not necessary.  My X4D probe has been attached, cap screwed on tightly all season and it is going strong.

All Seasons in Pulaski had a pile of them hanging. I bought two, just in case. 
 

Thanks everyone for the help. 

I know I’ll get some eye rolls for saying this, but they really are the best mass produced ‘riggers.  I especially like the softer stop upon retrieval. My terminal tackle hanging the FishHawk probe does too. This counter is the only problem I have had with them. However, I bought them used a few seasons ago, so doubtful Scotty will send me a new counter.
 

Matt
 

Looking for part #2134 digital line counter for Scotty HP 2116 downriggers.  I've called all over and nobody has one.  It had some condensation all summer, and finally went bad.  

Matt.

Frequently, 110 outlets are used for downrigger power.  They are cheap, easily installed and replaced, as well as the plug ends too.  My guess, two being present, would be downrigger power.  Chances are, they were poorly installed and directly to a battery/batteries and then the wiring was removed hastily at one time.  

 Not a cheap option, but the Scottie 2116’s have a lighted digital counter. It is faint blue backlight so to not negate night vision. Other than that, I can’t think of a cheap option. What about a cheap clamp on bench light?  Likely kinda overkill though. 

Never used a shoot thru, but have used plenty thru hull ‘ducers.  It is a really easy job that looks bigger than it is. I’d say two days max out of the water if you are fully prepared with all your materials. Day one is prep and install. Day two is letting the 4200(not 5200) cure and routing the wire. Two days and you’re on the water getting great images at just about all the speeds you’ll need. You’ll be glad you made the leap. 

They are def bigger on your boat, but the simplicity and reliability is unmatched. The 1106’s and 1116’s draw hardly amps on the way up so they can be ideal on smaller boats that are not carrying 2-3 batteries.