i had extended arms on my manual penns ( the best for manual downriggers) and used the pulleys for bringing in the balls and attaching my lines. Now i have the electric scottys. i have only used them once but not sure if i like them more then the elec penns on my friends boat. the penns descend on power which is nice because of the controlled rate of decent. the scottys clutch release ( which is better then the cannon manuals but not as good as the pen manual) is a little touchy. I have only used it once so maybe i have to get used to it. a great trick that many guides and a few friends use is to have release clips long enough to reach the boat. what i mean is from the point that you clip the release to the cable to the end of the release, where you attach the line, is a foot longer then your boom.Now all you have to do is find a thin broom handle , the alum. ones work great, and screw in a open hook to the end. This way all you have to do is reach out with the hook and snag your release and drag it to the boat . no leaning over the side , no rotating your mounts. the added benefit is the longer release cables allow you to detect the little shakers better then the standard 18 in cables. your rod tip has more room to bounce this way, it really works. Another benefit is that the pole and hook can be used to release native fish in the water with out netting them. just put the hook around your line and run it down to the fish, snag a hook and shake... off goes the fish.
