Recently discovery of an Edward vom Hofe late 1860s-1870s downrigger found local to Niagara Falls and the Salmon River area point to the reelmaker Edward Vom Hofe Brooklyn New York as the father of the modern downrigger. Prior it was thought that the great lakes Michigan anglers had invented the modern rig. However it was intended for the deep water basin fish listed above and most likely prior to the Hydroelectric plant being built on the Niagara River late 1870s. Somehow the device was lost in time due to the construction of the electric plant most likely causing a disruption in the Salmon fishing. Only one of these examples exist today. Not until the 1950s would a device similar to the Vom Hofe design reappear. It is possible that the modern downrigger introduced in the 1950s was copied from another Vom Hofe made device but for now that can not be proven due to the great time span in between the two designs. Edward vom Hofe was a premier tackle smith and reel maker.