The two downriggers I am most familiar with are the Scotty electric 1101 Depthpower and the manual Scotty Compact 1060.

My favourite has to be the electric model thanks to the extra functionality. Raising it is done at the touch of a button. After a bite, hit the button and the ball is automatically raised until it reaches the stopper which is placed just short of raising the ball completely. The draw on the battery is minimal – just five amps when the 10lb ball is retrieved at just under 70 metres a minute.

A levered clutch plate allows the angler to control the descent of the downrigger ball with one hand while feeding line off the rod at the same time. If there is going to be a cock-up, it will most likely occur at this stage. To prevent this, put the rod in the holder with a small amount of drag applied – not enough to pull the line from the clip but still allowing it to come off the reel. When the desired depth is reached as indicated by the manual line counter, wind the fishing line up until a nice bend appears in the rod.

The multi-positional swivelling base gives the angler more options. The downrigging operation is refined with an enclosed pulley system attached to the end of the downrigger boom, a fairlead guide to ensure the cable is laid well on the spool, and a stainless steel coastlock swivel at the end of the standard 77 metre (250ft) 150 lb stainless steel cable.

For serious deep dropping, the cable can be replaced with 200lb braid. On a recent trip to Canada all the charter boats ran downriggers for their salmon fishing, and almost all had replaced the steel cable with heavy braid. They say it was easier to use, had less resistance in the water and was less likely to tangle.

One of the benefits of downrigging is you can accurately set the depth you want your lure or livebait to run at. All Scotty ‘riggers have mechanical line counters that ensure you are putting your lures in front of the targets showing on the sounder.

The Depthpower comes fully assembled, load-tested and ready to fish. It also incorporates a multi-positional removable base, along with a boommounted multi-angle rod holder. Anglers can accessorise their ‘riggers with a range of pedestal mounting options, rod holders, and removable gimbal mounts.

These are perfect for smaller boats where space is at a premium. They offer all the advantages of the electric Scotty models with the key point of difference being they are ‘Armstrong’ powered, not electric. As the name suggests, the crew provide the retrieval effort, otherwise the results are the same. And like its big brother, no assembly is required.

Downriggers, regardless of whether they are electric or manually operated, offer anglers another dimension to their fishing. To see how downriggers work, check out the Scotty videos available on YouTube.