Abstract: A downrigger for use in controlling the depth in the water of a weight suspended from a boat and detachably carrying a fishing line to a desired fishing depth. The downrigger has a horizontally mounted reel driven through a selectively operable clutch device so that the trolling weight may be lowered by unreeling line or may be raised by winding the reel in the opposite direction. The downrigger may be positioned in selective positions on a boat and the line to the weight is fed through a deep grooved, swivelable pulley facilitating alignment of the trolling line and the downrigger for all of its selected positions. The trolling weight detachably holds the fishing line by a release mechanism which permits the angler to select the amount of pull required for the fishing line to release from the trolling weight.