Anyone use downriggers as hand gurdies?

Mattroller · Post by **Mattroller** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 11:22 pm

I've been hand trolling with rods now for two years and have been considering moving up to hand gurdies for coho...maybe even kings in deeper water. Before I spend the money for some real commercial gear, I am considering trying a couple of manual downriggers as gurdies. Has anyone tried this before? Can you get downriggers strong enough to use as hand gurdies.....with maybe a 12 pound weight and 4 or five leaders on each wire? I think it might work for coho but what about kings? Any suggestions would be great!