sherman brown

Good deal!

You're always better off buying new if they are in your budget. Not putting buying used down, but you still run the risk of getting a lemon. The very old cannons that came on the used boat my son and I bought are still working great. If you buy used, just make sure, as sure as you can, that they are working when you buy them. You could get used that will work for years or puck on you the first season! Usually, if they run when you get them, they should make you a great set of riggers.

I used a trolling plate for 30 years, but we found a set in the middle of the road, and after trying to find the owner, we just put them in the boat. Sometime later, my son, who fishes with me, talked me into trying them, and I have never regretted it. I had tried a set of drift bags a few years before we tried the trolling bags, and I didn't like using the drift bags at all. The set I found was 36" and worked amazingly at getting us down to 1 1/2 MPH with no problem, and if we needed to go faster, we just bumped the throttle up to get to the speed we wanted. I think you should go to a larger bag than you have listed to be sure they will slow you down enough. Don't they have some 44" or something like that? I had a 21' Cobia open bow glass boat with a 350 Vortec 315 HP I had put in the boat. After using the bags for years, I tried turning the idle back to see if I could get it slow enough that way. I was going 3.5 at idle at 750 RPMs, and I idled it down to 500 RPMs, which got me down to 1.6 without using the bags. And I couldn't believe how smooth it ran at 500 RPMs.

I thought hard about trying the walkers with the auto stop on them. I really liked the way the auto stop works on them. The auto stop on my Big Jon's didn't work long before they stopped working. I'm still not sure why they stopped working, but if I had tried harder to get them working, it probably was something simple. And we used the ball retrievers, and the bead kept hanging in them. I switched to the Traxstech ball retrievers, and they worked so much better, but when the auto stop stopped working, I removed the beads and just use them without the auto stops, and I still love them.

I have never used the Penn electrics, but the manuals were my favorite brand. I have nothing to add on the Scotty riggers, but I have heard good things about them. My first set of electric riggers, I bought a new set of Big Jon Pro Tournaments a few years ago, which I love. Then, my oldest son bought a new to us used boat that came with a pair of Cannons, which we have been using and haven't had any trouble with them at all, and these are old riggers, and that's all I know about them. In my opinion, any of the major brand riggers make good riggers. Something you might think about is getting a good used set and try them out. I'm not sure of the warranty on the others, but Big Jon puts a lifetime warranty on most, if not all, of their electric riggers. But make sure to register them for your warranty.

The way I filled my Daiwa SG17 LC3B reels was to put the amount of braid on 1 reel first, then filled it up with my backing. then spooled that line back on another reel, and I knew how much backing to put on the other reel or reels and how much braid to put on top.

I have a 79-115 Mercury inline 6 tower of power that checks out with good compression. But it had a small miss when I first started trolling, but it would smooth out after a while. I had all 3 carbs rebuilt and a tune up, which didn't help. but cost the same, LOL. I put it back in the shop and spent another 288.00 that made it worse. I took it back, and this time he said it was running great. It was a couple of months before I tried it, and it idled great on the trailer with muffs and revved decent, but on the water, as soon as I put it in gear, it started dying. I was in FL fishing the bridge at FT Pierse. So, I used it by starting it and hitting the throttle to get out to our spot. When I got home and took it back, he said it had been too long for him to do anything about it, even though the weather was too bad to test it. But we made the trip to FL on the 1st of Jan and used it for a month to get out maybe 200 yards each way out and back to the ramp. I ended up getting another boat with a good running motor, just like the one I have, and pulled the motor off and sold my old boat without a motor. I think the mechanic didn't have any idea what he was doing, but one that know anything about these old Merc motors could repair it in no time. If you might be interested in it, if you want the controls and the power trim, I could maybe ship it to you complete for 1000.00. The old pumps sell for around 200.00 to 250.00, and a good lower unit will be another 350.00 or more. Plus, I'll refund 300.00 If it can't be repaired. Message me either way, please.

I always felt the Penn manuals were the Cadillac of manual riggers. I love them as they were so smooth to use and very dependable.