Re: downrigger help
Hi. Welcome to the forum. Sorry no one has responded, just rude I guess.
I own a Lund too. Depending on your year, Lund's have a built in Sport Track system where you can buy the down rigger brackets from a Lund dealer.
Not cheap though. I went with a Cannon downrigger and bought the accessories from places on the web like a pedestal base that raises it up and a bracket that allows the down rigger to rotate on the base.
There are several other popular brands but I like Cannons customer service and there are many accessories available readily for these units. Cannon is owned by Brunswick who also owns Lund.
I bought a practically new Cannon down rigger with a weight for around $80. But if I had to do it over again I would definitely get an electric one. I find it tough to have to do a few turns on your reel followed by a few turns on the down rigger and so forth just to pull up and change the lure or bait especially from 150 feet down.
Also, down rigger weights are not cheap and if the bottom comes up fast as you are trolling . . . you are going to donate that weight to the bottom. Electrics you need just push a switch and raise the weight a little.
I have the sport track system, but the brackets were not available for my rig as the gunnels are too narrow. I only run one down rigger and fish two rods off of one. So I bought two Cannon deck plates and mounted them in the back left left corner on top of rug area behind the hatch. I used two of them, one above the deck and one below and bolted them together with 4 bolts. This sandwiched the wood deck for added strength. I can take some pics if you need to see how I mounted it.
Look on Craigslist cause you can get a get a good deal on used stuff or Ebay.
On a fishfinder I have a portable Hummingbird one that was about $89 from another boat that I keep as a back up in case my main one breaks. The main one is a Humminbird 797c2 with side scan and it accepts the Navionics Gold fishing Hotmaps card (about $149 or buy last years chip for $99) which shows where and what species hangs out on lakes you are not familiar with.
Safety is my first concern, so the GPS can lead me through fog or darkness on hunreds of lakes or coastline as it shows the bottom topography.
It can also mark good fishing spots. But that unit is $1000. I've seen combo GPS/Fishfinder units that do just as much in the $300-400 range too.
Most of these combo units are pretty much the same. Each one has it's own bells and whistles. Some swear by Lowrance others like different brands but they all do the same thing.
I did a lot of research on my own and various forums outfitting my rig so don't be afraid to ask questions. Your first post is pretty non-specific asking about down riggers and fish finders. There is also a book you can buy off the web on down rigging called Cabelas Downrigger fishing Techniques and it will answer a lot of your questions. It's only $9.99
http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0019648016143a.shtml
Oh ya, a kicker would be fine on your rig. 2 strokes are lighter in weight, but 4 strokes don't smell. I have a 9.9 Merc 4 stroke and it's fine on my 15 footer. But I mostly use my electric Minn Kota when I'm trolling. Again, we need more info like where you will be using a kicker. What type body of water. What type of fish you are going after. I use the electric to save weight, but the trolling battery weighs 50 lbs plus another 35 for the Minn Kota and it's the same weight as my 87 lb 9.9 anyway! But it's quieter.
Good luck!
