(Xmas) downrigger advice

Hi All
This seemed like a great place to come for advice!
My hubby and I just bought a used 23' Proline this summer.
Our home port is Long Point and we fish the inner bay and in Lake Erie in general.
He has finally been able to resume his passion for fishing and its been awesome to see him so happy and relaxed. I wish we had done it sooner!
Anyway, Dan's father ran Walleye charters years ago, and Dan has spoken recently of Downriggers and how his dad had them on his boats...and how he would one day like to be able to have them on ours. (no idea why, lol)
I would like to get some for him for Christmas===I know he would prefer them to a housecoat and socks...but I know nothing about downriggers, other than they can be manual or electric and that they are mounted on or near the transom. Any suggestions/adivce would be appreciated.
I am hesitant to just go into a marine store, in case I end up with something he doesn't need or wouldn't want.
Thanks so much!
Merry Christmas
Cathy

Cathy,

Check out Cabelas.com and type in Downriggers. You'll find some good units by Cannon and Big Jon. I've had both brands and I like the cannon digitroll myself. The digitroll units are a bit more expensive but they are very well built and offer some nice features. However, at 12-1500 this model of cannon downriggers may not be needed. For around 375.00 you can purchase a very nice Mag 5 by Cannon. That is more than most people need. These are powered by a small electric motor that will actuate the downrigger for more ease of use. Unless you are fishing in 100 feet of water or more you can get by just fine on the hand crank up models and you can find them for under $200. You may want to wait and watch the Cabelas.com website as they always have some kind of special offer at the end of the months such as free shipping or money off on purchased around $150 or so.

As for rods you will also have to think about a good trolling rig with a nice 7-9foot trolling action rod with a good reel. Maybe even a reel that has a line counter built in. This could be useful if your husband wants to use Dipsy's or Jetdivers. As well they are great to figure out how far back you have to troll your line to get a bait to swim to a specific depth.

Good luck!

I'm running Canon Mag 10 electrics and love them. Not digital but work great on Erie walleye. I started with Cabelas rods and reels and still use most of them. You can buy the depthmaster II pretty cheap around 70 dollars rod and real but they are great to use.Also the sea lions are really nice. But I would recommend you only get reels with counters. When trolling its the only way to know whats going on. If he has run charters he'll want nothing less.