Electric Cannon Mini-Mag Downrigger on PA-14

I do a lot of downrigger trolling in my 2013 PA-14 and have been happy with my Scotty 1050 Depthmaster....except it's a manual system and when trolling at 30' - 70', it takes a bit of cranking while at the same time, you recover the fish on the end of your fishing rod....a mini-Chinese fire drill!
I once owned a 18' Jetcraft and had this Cannon Mini-Mag, 12 volt downrigger, that I retained when I sold the Jetcraft 6 years ago.

I wondered if the Cannon would run when powered by a 12 volt, 9 amp hour rated battery....so I measured the DC current and found it was around 3 A DC in operation.....

I did not want to remove my Scotty Depthmaster mount, so I was able to make an adapter for the Cannon mount using 1/2" thick plastic cutting board material.
I also reinforced the Hobie Black plastic side mounting board as it would flex as I deployed and recovered my 4 pound downrigger weight.
For this I used some 1/4 x 20 SS threaded rod, fender washers and double nutted to the deck and side mounting board. It's very rigid now after reinforcing.

The following photos show the start to finish sequence.

Scotty base as mounted to the cutting board


Black mounting board after 1/4 x 20 SS threaded rod reinforcement


Cannon base mounted to adapter...note this base has the swivel adapter that has 45 degree alignment adjustment to it.


Back side of mounting adapter with Cannon downrigger installed.


Front side of Cannon ready to deploy 4 pound weight....Note, I cut off 14" from the Cannon arm, so the weight is closer to the side of my PA when deployed.


Battery inside a plastic case I had laying around.....it just sits inside the front storage bin and the cable is fed under the lid....this works well.

I went fishing yesterday in the driving rain......The battery measured 13.2 V DC prior to fishing and 12.89 V DC after 4 hours on the water and 5 changes of lures. I downrigged fished from 35' to
50' and everything worked like a charm......having the electric up/down is a "dream come true" for this old guy

I assume you guys with the new PA's and H-Rail system can make this work too.....I just don't know what Hobie thinks about how much torque can be safely applied to the rail system.

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Dr.SteelheadCatcher
Warrenton, OR

Today I hooked this 23" long, 5# 15 oz. German Brown while downrigged at 35'......the electric downrigger made a huge difference as the weight is automatically recovered while I focus on the fish.
German Browns are true predators and hit your lure like a freight train!

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Dr.SteelheadCatcher
Warrenton, OR

I've been following your posts on down riggers for a while, Doc. Now I'm glad I waited to get one, I suffer from a dose of AARP myself. I'll have to look into an electric outfit option for next season. I would like to find something a little more compact if possible.

Beautiful brown by the way. Tight lines.

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Just a Kid to the End