A deep cycle battery in good condition should run two downriggers for two long days of fishing without a problem. I found this out by mistake.

As the battery drains, the downriggers will slow noticeably. The good part about this is that I found that even with the battery in this weakened state, there still remains enough reserve to start my 70hp Yamaha.

I have a Arima Seahunter and now run two batteries with a selector switch. Only way to go in my opinion. Originally the two batteries were in back side by side and that worked okay, but I found that all the weight back there(2 motors, 2 batteries, 16 gal main, 6 gal kicker, and downriggers) really made planing difficult, so I moved my batteries up front in the cuddy(they fit just perfect in the bottom). I ended up rewiring my entire boat.

So, is the hassle worth it? I think so.