do you think it's important to have line counters on down riggers as well?
Depends on how accurate you want to be with setback from the ball.Also, repeatability.But my answer is no.I fished riggers for 20+ yrs successfully without line counter reels.Do I use line counters now - yup!
so the 2 "downrigger" rods I have are 8'6" rated for 10-20lb line both with line counters on them. I also have a 6'6" medium heavy ugly stick with a bait runner reel on it. given the options, how would you set up each rod and reel and what would you use them for? Could I make do with the Ugly Stick and just buy one more set up? What would you recommend for a 4th set up?