New Cannon swivel head

[TrollNFisher]

After talking with SuperD on another discussion on KFF he pointed me in the right direction and I ordered one of the new cannon swivel heads to replace the older model to try out. Installation was literally less than ten minutes and the results in my opinion was a change for the better, it created a smoother and quieter motion when sending the rigger down and retrieving it back up. This install was fairly cheap as well.


TNF

 

[SuperD]

Throw the old one in the bowels of the boat for an extra. I've had the lexan snap a couple times on trips and lost a downrigger for the remainder of the trip.

 

[dragonfly]

or you could cure the problem all together and switch to the scotty 2106 mast and the 2 axis swivel and not worry about breaking at all laugh hyst I made the swap with my digi troll 10s

dfly

 

[mrmike]

My wife request we add two more down riggers she tired of stacking/we have two mini cannons that work well. Its seem its like chevy vs ford scotty or cannon been doing some research look funny with two cannons and two scotty. Its been more toward the scottys as Ollie Damons folks said there warranty is so much better and easyier to repair

 

[SuperD]

Yep, if someone gave me a pair a Scottys I'd thank them and give them back. I used them on a friends boat on the ocean this past weekend and they were a POS in my opinion.

 

[dragonfly]

I have 2 digi troll 10s on the rear and 2 scotty 2106s in the middle. I like both and they do different jobs I like the scottys better for speed, tomahawking,and mack fishing when dragging. I like the cannons for kokanee fishing, there ease of use and the programmable line stop so its the perfect depth so when I pull the ball retriever over my chamberlains are in the perfect spot every time thumbsup. the scottys need beads for the auto stop but I stack with chamberlains and they are in the way so I just watch and stop when I see them in the water and that is about right depth to pull over to the boat and reset. the scottys are bullit proof probably don't use as much power because they are gravity down. the cannons out side build quality is lacking with the newer units with whatever plastic they switched to with the breaking mounts and pulleys that snap and they don't want to update . I don't know if they will replace the downrigger if there mount breaks and you loose it over the side of the boat 101whocares101, that is why I have a tether on mine. ether one pulls your weight up and down, you just need to get the one for your fishing style, dfly

 

[SuperD]

The mechanics of a Scotty are not as user friendly as my Cannons. With my Cannons, I can loosen the clutch and spin the spool up or down a foot in a couple of seconds. This past weekend, the Scotty I got stuck with would go into weight free fall every time the stop bead would enter the housing when I tried to retrieve the weight. It made for a very long day. I would have probably checked my bait or changed lures more frequently had the downrigger operated the way it was supposed to. If Scottys are bulletproof, someone used armor piercing rounds on the unit I had.

 

[mrmike]

Thanks, very much appreciated. Nothing beats experience

 

[dragonfly]

Dave sounds like that one has been abused and neglected (or your buddy wanted to make sure you didn't out fish him) it defiantly shouldn't do that. I will say I like the clutch adjustability on the cannon better. but I like the security of not worrying about loosing my scottys off the side of the boat. I know I can go with the ss mounts and swivels for the cannons but I don't want to spend the 450 bucks right now dfly

 

[Propnut69]

I upgraded to those swivels heads last year,on my mag-5's. After a year of steady use,they have yet to jump the track, like the old one's did.

 

[Mr. D]

I agree, the "new" Cannon's are built much better, IMO.. BUT, "DO NOT TRUST OR USE THE MOUNTS". Cannon did not upgrade the swivel bases and all 4 of my "new" bases cracked within 3 months. I almost lost a rigger to the depths of New Melones. I contacted Cannon and told them of the issues and how upset I was about this problem. I also sent them pictures that show just what was happening along with a dated & signed letter just to cover myself in the event one or all my riggers go over board, like this will help but who knows. I stoped into FW and spoke with Craig and he told me that he was waiting for over 30 of the bases to come in from Cannon for repair/replacement and that it had been over 6 weeks wait. I for one will not trust the Cannon bases the way they are so I had a friends son machine 4 out of solid aluminum. He drew up the program using the old bases and once done the machine can punch out one every 2 min. Amazing work on the new bases in fact much better that the Cannon. No slop at all and look just like the Cannon's but are aluminum. I had Marshall produce 15 extras and all are gone to fellow anglers to upgrade and not worry about losing a rigger to the depths!!! I'm thinking of having the top plate done so I will have a complete aluminum setup just like the SS Cannon offers but much better IMO... and not as $$$$. If any of you have the bases that Cannon supplies with their riggers, check them often. It seems the "new" models (STX) are having more issues. The older units seem to last better but I would still check them. I do like the the units for speed and the other upgrades, profile, rod holders, swivel head, etc.. but the bases are junk and one would think that since that is what holds the rigger to the boat it would be strong enough for the job, but it's not. Mark

 

[dragonfly]

I to called cannon and asked about if the unit is covered if the base breaks and falls into the water and he said basically no unless you fished it out 101duh101 but they would replace the base because that is what failed not the downrigger. but with further talking and telling him if you lost it in the ocean it would be impossible to retrieve, he did say if you had pictures and serial numbers proving you own one and had it mounted to the boat so you weren't trying to rip them off they would look at that as an individual case. so I have a cable tether that goes around the base of the mast and to the railing just in case. and when talking to them it doesn't seam they are in any hurry to fix the problem other to say buy the cannon SS ones which is another 450.00 bucks on top of the 2400.00 bucks for the pair of digitroll 10s I just bought and modified. if it weren't for there above average electronics and easy to use and program features which is there saving grace, I would never buy another new cannon. they must have changed there plastic composition because the older ones never had this problem. dfly