that scotty i refered to is in my opinion the best "Clamp On" model
if you have the room for a bolt on and you wanted to stay manual i would go with the cannon easi-troll HS at About $150
the smaller lake troll ones that have the line counter out on the end of the boom annoy me i like the real linecounter at the spool.

Big Jon Manuals are a pain in the butt you need 3 hands to run them. Don't buy them.

I started out with Big jon manual down riggers and I still have them. Ones a clamp on and the other is a runabout manual. They can be a pain if you space out and run up onto shallow areas while trolling. But, I still like them. Just my 2 cents
Dan

Almost everyone starts out with manuals.. I did... but it was more like work than fishing. Cabela's took it back in exchange after I had used it a half dozen times and hated cranking. You took the "words" out of my mouth.. buy 1 Big Jon electric and another one next year. That's my take.

it took me 15 years to get an electric, the manuals take up too much time that could be used for fishing. they are harder to set up, you hit bottom more often with them and have to stop the boat more often, then your rerigging everything as your lures are now hung up on bottom. dropping the line down is clunky, not smooth like an electric which pops the line releases just trying to get the lure down. the electrics are soquick to setup that changing lures is quick and painless, and changing depths is so easy that sometimes you can just keep your hand on the button and almost jig your presentation up and down a few feet.

hey brain f iput a thread outa day ago.if your looking for manual downriggers i have two cannon easy trolls for sale they are brand new only used 1 time at the end of last season. im selling them for $275.00 for the pair..if your interested give me a call.(603)765-2256 thanks JOE S....

That easy troll YO Adrien mentioned is nice and one hand operation. He recommended it to me for little boat that I use a few times per year when the gas gets up to $3/gallon. Had good luck with it last year when I was using the big boat.

Thanks for all the replies.

I never saw the big john model I mentioned until the other day (online).

What I might do based on all of the advice is to pick up 1 manual scotty 1050 for this season use it for a bit and decide after using it for a while. My boat is not that big and I don't troll that much. Well last year I did so maybe that is changing. :)

Again thanks.
-Brian

Believe me Once you catch Your first Monster You'll be hooked LOL God know's i sure was LOL Now if i can just catch the Monster Salmon i Donkeyed at Squam last year I'll be happy LOL Either that or another monster laker on the Yo, Cool Water, Slipknot, or Sampson Barge and I'll be equally happy LOL Take Care God Bless And God i can't wait to Graduate and Start Fishing UGHHHHHHHHHHHh LOL Dave From up North