Fish-Hawk.Net

Hi to everyone im new to this board, and have a couple of questions.
First i would like to ask about your opinion on DOWNRIGGERS ,im looking at three types (1) Scotty 1117 electric big water pro pack.
(2) Cannon electric not sure which model.
(3) Big Jon electric not sure which model.

Second question is i have a 100hp Yamaha two stroke motor on my Lund
and I'm looking at installing a kicker for trolling mostly on lake ontario
but not sure weather to install a Yama two stroke to match my 100hp,
or a four stroke also Yama.

Any info would be appreciated
Mitch

Can't comment on the riggers, I use Walker.

For the kicker your best option would be a Yamaha T8 or T9 high thrust 4-stroke, these are designed to be used as kickers. I'd stay away from a 2-stroke if you can, a 4 is gonna be better on gas and make a lot less noise when you're on the water all day.

Hey Lundman

I run Cannon Mag 10's with telescopic booms (53 inch). Like them so much I just bought two used Cannon Mini Mags to run straight off the back. I use a two stroke 8 hp Evinrude as a kicker and it does the job.

Hope this helps. Welcome to the board!
Billy Bones

HI Lundman, and welcome to the site.

I have had two Cannon Mag 10's on my 186 Princecraft since I purchased it 9 years ago, and have been completely satisfied with them - no problems what so ever.

I would highly recommend a high thrust 4 stroke kicker, and have heard nothing but good things about the Yamaha 8 hp motor. My own kicker is a 9.9 hp 4 stroke Evinrude disguised as a Johnson to match my 140 hp 4 stroke main motor. Last season I put my usual 30/40 hours on the big motor, but really gave the 9.9 kicker a good workout - over 80 hours of running time - saves a lot of hours on the big motor, and a lot of money at the gas pumps.

Hi Lundman . I to am new to this site. I have a Canon Mag 10a that is 20 years old and have had no problems with it. I also have the biggest Scotty model ,I think it is a 1159 or something close to that. The Scotty retreives very quickly but I find the Canon easier to use. I would recommend the Canon over the Scotty but it is close. Mitch

They are 3 major brands: Big Jon, Cannon & Scotty. The motor for the three are lifetime warranty.

Big Jon as stated are very good to bounce the bottom because of their flexible arm and that flexibility help you also to detect smaller fish. The rod holders (2) on the Big Jon are top notch. The boom can be lift up but there is no auto-stop except if you buy the kit from Big Jon. In the last 3-4 years Big Jon has improve the lift up speed with a model name Tournament Pro and now they have another one call Brute; this is the fastest Big Jon. Swivel plate comes with the Tournament and the Brute; for the Captain Pak you have to buy it.

Cannon are well known in the downrigger business. In the 2 years they came up with some improvements on regard of lift-up speed without raising the cost; they are Mag 5 HS, Mag 10 HS and Mag 20 HS. They also have other models.
Those 3 are coming with swivel and auto-stop feature. The 10 & 20 got extensible boom and single rod holder. You can't lift the boom on the Cannon.

I use Scotty for 10 years now and I'm very satisfied with them. They also have many models but the most popular is the 1116. It comes with 2 rod holders. Some people don't like the look (bulky). The motor is driven by a belt (never had a broken belt on mine) and they are using less current to operate. Another feature that I really like is the auto-stop; on the Scotty the auto-stop work with a little piece of plactic that you pinch on the cable so it permit to stop the lift anywhere you want, specially helpful when you set 2 + rods on the same rigger. The boom can be lift-up and the swivel is standard. They also come with a 8pd. weight and 1 release.

nothing wrong w/ an older 2 stroke,I have a '66 9.5 jonson,that my dad bought new,I just rebuilt it last winter,though it really didn't need it.,and it works well on my 18' caravelle,it cuts thru weeds and places that are way to shallow for the 115 merc. to navigate. it is pretty quiet at idle,and would never fail to get me home if needed.any old evinrude/jonson are very cheap to maintain and very reliable. I have a 4 hp merc,that is a little too radical at idle,I prefer the omc's for steady idle,and the big merc.'s for speed.

nothing wrong w/ an older 2 stroke,I have a '66 9.5 jonson,that my dad bought new,I just rebuilt it last winter,though it really didn't need it.,and it works well on my 18' caravelle,it cuts thru weeds and places that are way to shallow for the 115 merc. to navigate. it is pretty quiet at idle,and would never fail to get me home if needed.any old evinrude/jonson are very cheap to maintain and very reliable. I have a 4 hp merc,that is a little too radical at idle,I prefer the omc's for steady idle,and the big merc.'s for speed.