Troubleshooting

Common Problems & Solutions

Weight comes up too fast and breaks away from the HP Downrigger.

The Scotty High Performance Downrigger is equipped with a high speed, high torque motor. Extra caution should be observed when jogging your downrigger weight near the surface. When retrieving your weight near the surface you may want to apply the brake while pressing the jog button at the same time. This will help you retrieve the weight at a slower speed.

This should only be done for the final few feet at the surface when you wish to lift your weight out of the water.

Downrigger runs backwards after installation.

Wiring may be reversed at either the battery or the socket.

Downrigger weight immediately drops back down after the auto stop trips.

Please contact your nearest repair depot or Scotty at 1-800-214-0141 for help.

Auto stop switch won’t shut off.

Be sure you are operating the auto stop correctly. Press and hold green button for momentary, controlled power. Turn and release the ring around the green button for hands free auto retrieve. Make sure that you have stopper beads on your cable.

Cable will not spool out.

Your rigger may need a service and cleaning. Please contact your nearest repair depot or Scotty at 1-800-214-0141 for help.

Cable jumps when spooling out or is bunched on one side of spool.

Your rigger may have a slight bend in the boom, causing the cable to spool unevenly and catch on itself. You may need to adjust the fairlead (if applicable), or straighten or replace the boom. This may also be caused by a lack of tension on the cable at some point in time, causing the cable to unwind and then catch on itself. Unspool and respool as much cable as necessary. Always keep tension on the cable.

Motor hums and won’t retrieve.

Motor may hum or growl if there is insufficient power to it. Check all your connections and your power source.

Brakes seem too tight or loose.

Click here to watch the Brake Adjustment video!

Release clip is not holding.

Pads may be worn—replace pads or release clip. Pads may have scent, lubricant or oil on them. Replace pads or release clip. Line type may not be compatible to release clip. Refer to replacement pads on product pages.

Cable hums when fishing.

Downriggers may produce a hum as the wire is dragged through the water. Normally this is not audible, although sometimes it can be high or low pitched noise that drives some fishermen crazy. It is not widely believed that this bothers the fish in any way. However, if the hum bothers you, it can be reduced several ways. Sometimes changing the weight size will do it. Another solution is to hang a piece of styrofoam or other floating material around the wire at the surface of the water to dampen the noise. Or use a ring or pulley on the wire and a cord tied onto the boat (or a bungee snapped from the downrigger to the wire). The 3025 Downrigger Weight Retriever can also be used for this application.

My gear keeps tangling when I put it down.

Make sure you start your trolling motion before you lower your gear. Reduce the speed at which you lower your gear. This will help keep it untangled as it descends. Do not allow the gear to freespool.