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Quick answer: For shallow water and the odd session, a manual downrigger is cheap, reliable and all you need. Fish deep or reset your lures constantly and an electric rigger with a clear depth counter saves your arm and a lot of time. Run enough boom length to keep two riggers from tangling, and use a ball heavy enough to beat blowback. Most anglers end up running a pair for a proper spread.
Fish hold at particular depths, and on many days they ignore anything that passes above or below them. A downrigger puts your lure at an exact depth and holds it there while you troll. A heavy ball on a strong cable carries the lure down, a release clip pins your line to the cable, and when a fish strikes the line pops free so you fight it clean, with no weight between you and the fish. It turns depth from guesswork into a number you can set and repeat.
The units run from a compact manual rigger to a full electric model with a depth counter and auto-stop. Between them sit fast-retrieve electrics and heavy manual riggers built to last a lifetime. Here is how they differ and how to match one to your boat and the depths you actually fish.
Quick Picks
- Best reliable electric: a low-draw electric with a long boom and great support.
- Best high-speed: an electric that clears gear fast on a strike.
- Best feature-rich: an electric with preset depths and bottom tracking.
- Best manual: a fast-retrieve manual with a one-hand clutch.
- Best bombproof manual: a simple, tough manual with parts everywhere.
Choosing a Downrigger
Three questions settle it: how deep you fish, how often you raise and lower, and how big your boat is. For shallow water and the occasional set, a manual rigger is cheap, reliable and perfectly good. Fish deep, or reset your lures constantly to chase a changing depth, and an electric rigger that drops and retrieves at the push of a button saves your arm and a great deal of time. Do not buy a full electric if you only fish shallow now and then, because a manual does that job for far less and has nothing electrical to fail.
The rigger must handle a ball heavy enough for your depth and speed, and this is where most people come unstuck. At trolling speed the cable angles back, so the lure fishes shallower than the length of cable you let out, an effect called blowback. Here is the myth worth breaking: the depth counter does not tell you your true fishing depth, it tells you how much cable is out. A heavier, more streamlined ball, up to around 9 kg for deep, fast work, cuts the angle and keeps your real depth close to the counter. Troll deep or fast and you want a heavy ball, then actually run one.
Boom length is the arm that holds the cable out from the boat, and it sets how far your weights sit from the hull and from each other. A longer boom spreads two riggers so their cables do not tangle and keeps the ball clear of the transom in a turn; a short boom is fine for a single rigger on a small boat. A clear depth counter is what makes the whole thing repeatable, letting you return to the depth that produced a fish, so treat it as core rather than a luxury. Spend on an electric with a good counter if you fish deep often, and save with a solid manual for shallow, occasional work.
The Downriggers
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The reliable electric
The electric workhorse a huge number of trolling anglers swear by. A Scotty 1106 Depthpower pairs solid retrieval speed with low power draw, a long boom and famously good support, and owners report a decade or more of trouble-free use. The mechanical auto-stop works with wire or braid using the right stop, and the swivel mount swings out of the way for docking. Simpler and less power-hungry than the feature-laden models, it is my default recommendation for most boats that fish at depth. Find the right Scotty 1106 Depthpower downrigger on Amazon.
The high-speed electric
The speed champion for anglers who reset constantly. A Scotty 2106 High Performance retrieves at up to around 295 feet per minute with a heavy weight through a strong 12V motor and a tough drive belt, getting your gear up faster than most factory models when a fish is on or you need to clear a hang. If you run multiple lines and reset often, that extra speed is worth the premium; if you set and forget, you will not miss it. Fast, robust and serviceable. Browse the current Scotty 2106 High Performance downrigger listings on Amazon.
The feature-rich electric
The tech-forward electric for systematic depth fishing. Cannon’s flagship electrics, the Optimum and Digi-Troll 10, add programmable controls, preset depths, power-down, auto-stop, and bottom tracking that holds the weight a set distance off the bottom when paired with a transducer, plus integration with modern boat electronics. Retrieval is quick at around 250 feet per minute. For the angler who wants to set a depth and walk away to tend other rods, the feature set is unmatched, though it is more to buy and more to go wrong. Look over the current Cannon Optimum and Digi-Troll 10 downriggers options on Amazon.
The quality manual
The standout manual rigger. A Cannon Uni-Troll 10 STX offers a fast 2:1 retrieve so there is less cranking, a one-hand clutch for controlled descent, a dual-axis rod holder, and an enclosed boom-end pulley that stops the line jumping the wheel, a common manual annoyance solved. The vertical crank is easy on newcomers and quick to teach crew. For a small-boat angler who wants a quality manual without the electric price, it is a top pick and gives up little on convenience. Compare today’s Cannon Uni-Troll 10 STX downrigger prices on Amazon.
The bombproof manual
The simple, tough manual choice. A Scotty Depthmaster keeps things straightforward, with a built-in depth counter, a low-profile spool for compact storage, and the real advantage that Scotty parts are stocked at practically every tackle and marine shop. Anglers report decades of service replacing only the odd part. For reliability, easy servicing and a manual rigger that simply keeps working long after fancier units have failed, it is hard to beat. See how the Scotty Depthmaster downrigger options stack up on Amazon.
Comparison
| Downrigger | Drive | Retrieve speed | Depth counter | Best use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotty 1106 Depthpower | Electric | Moderate | Yes | Reliable all-round electric |
| Scotty 2106 High Performance | Electric | ~295 ft/min | Yes | Frequent resets |
| Cannon Optimum / Digi-Troll 10 | Electric | ~250 ft/min | Yes, with tracking | Set-and-forget automation |
| Cannon Uni-Troll 10 STX | Manual | 2:1 crank | Yes | Quality small-boat manual |
| Scotty Depthmaster | Manual | Crank | Yes | Simple, serviceable |
Frequently Asked Questions
Manual or electric downrigger: which should I buy?
It comes down to depth and how often you adjust. A manual rigger is cheaper, lighter and trouble-free, and it is all you need for shallow water or occasional use. An electric drops and retrieves the weight at the push of a button and can stop at a set depth automatically, which is a real advantage once you fish deep or reset all day. Buy manual for simplicity, electric for deep or frequent trolling.
What is blowback and why does it matter?
Blowback is the way the cable angles backwards as you troll, so the lure ends up shallower than the amount of cable you let out. It matters because it makes the depth counter optimistic, and depth is the whole point of a downrigger. A heavier, more streamlined ball reduces the angle and keeps your actual fishing depth close to the number on the counter, which is why ball weight is worth getting right.
How heavy a downrigger ball do I need?
Heavy enough to hold your depth at your trolling speed with minimal blowback. Shallow, slow trolling needs less; deep or fast trolling needs a noticeably heavier, streamlined ball, up to around 9 kg, to keep the cable near vertical. Err on the heavier side within your rigger’s rating, because a ball that is too light lets the cable sweep back and leaves you fishing well above where you think you are.
Do I really need two downriggers?
Not to start, but most trolling anglers end up running a pair. Two riggers let you fish two depths, or the same depth on both sides of the boat, and cover more water on each pass. If you plan to add the second later, buy enough boom length now so the two spreads sit apart and their cables do not tangle on a turn.
The Bottom Line
A downrigger is the difference between hoping your lure is at the right depth and knowing it is. Match it to your fishing: a manual unit for shallow water and the odd session, an electric with a depth counter for deep water and constant adjustment, and enough boom length to run a clean spread of two. Use a ball heavy enough to beat blowback, note the depth that produces, and you can put a lure back in front of the fish time after time.
Pair it with the rest of a trolling setup: our guides to the best trolling lures, best fishing rod holders, and the best fish finders help you build the rest of the spread.