my dad rescently purchased a fishlander down rigger, i havent heard they were out of business. they are very similar to big jons, the rod holders are very nice to use. there site is working.

I don't have auto stop on my Big Jons, but have had no problems even when I do forget to stop the ball in time. My clutches are set low enough that when the ball hits the pulley the cable just stops moving. No damage, but it does make enough of a noise to grab your attention to fix it.

I have the Auto Stop on my Scotty's and would not go without them. They are very nice when your alone or only two people in the boat. I have not seen them fail yet, and I been using them for 7-8 years. just my experience. Roland

I have auto stop on my cannons and would be lost with out them.But mine work using electrical current to stop them I don't know about using a crimp sleeve on the cable.I think the scottys is a plastic pc that goes on the cable to stop the motor but I'm not sure.I don't think I would use the stops with a crimp It would cost me big $$ if I lost my temp probe and weight because of a bad crimp.Spend your $$ on something else and adjust your cluch so the reel will spin if you don't catch it in time.Just my 2 cents.

Erin