Lookin' for an electric downrigger

[Knot Reel Seine]

I'm confused by all the features on electric downriggers. I've looked at Scotty, Cannon, Big Jon, and Walker. None of the forums I've found so far, has discussion on the relative merits of each, or even the features that are most valuable to have.

I have an open 23' boat which I brought north from Florida, and am trying to switch my thinking from mackrel and snapper, to lake trout and walleye. My limited experience has shown me that manual downrigger operation is cumbersome and tiring at the required depths. Electrics are very expensive and loaded with features of questionable value.

Surely, some of you can enlighten this rookie as to what features are worth the extra bucks and who builds the best unit for the money.

All opinions and ideas are most welcome..... Thanks.

[Aerotus]

Welcome to the forum.
I'm not familiar with other brands except Scotty electrics.
I too did my research when looking for an electronic downrigger.
I found that Scotty has excellent customer service,
the downriggers are very easy to maintain and durable.
When you drop the downrigger, it uses no energy, so you
don't drain your batteries when release it. Only time it uses
juice is when retrieving.

[Zander]

We've been runny Scotty riggers on our test boat for 3 seasons now and they are as good as the day we installed them.