Out Riggers for trolling

[trueblue]

needed or not for a trailer boat?

does a 5 - 6 metre trailer boat get any benefit from running outriggers when trolling for billfish?

Is the boat wash wide enough to matter?

is there some sort of rule that helps to determine the correct size of rigger poles based on the size of the boat (if in fact the riggers would be a benefit)?

or would it be better to just use rod rigger attachments to stick the rods out wide off the gunwhales or off the T - Top instead of using outriggers

cheers

Mick

[jason p]

hi mick
dont know alot about out riggers but you will benifit from using them
1 they will give a better action to your lures(flat and cup) by raising the towing point.
2 you can get a wider spread, more lines=more lures/baits
with a mix of out and down riggers would be the best.
will b looking at some my self soon to fit to my 5.5m.

jp

[ShaneC]

You will definately benefit from them. As Jason has said I find the lifting of the lure makes some swim a lot better, lifts you leader right out of the water, and you will get more strikes. Check out the Pakula website, it has some great info on the use of outriggers to start with and you will eventually work out what does it best for you. A word of advice though mate.... don't go and buy cheap rubbish of efraud, do your research, work out what you can spend and buy the best you can. You definately get what you pay for.

Cheers,

Shane

[trueblue]

if its just the angle from above, wouldn't it be pretty much the same angle from a rod being run from up on the targa top, sticking out sideways?

[the baker]

Mate they are very good, they put the lure or the bait in the right spot just outside of the wash of the boat on your long lines.(which makes it easier for the fish to see the bait or lure) Mate I have them on my 14 ft dory, the riggers are worth there weight in gold if you can do it go for it. As the others have said your lines have a wider spread and you will find it easier to run teasers with more room

you may as well throw in a downrigger as well ;D

Dave.

[sleepygreg]

If you are serious about trolling for pelagics in the larger category..ie : marlin, y/f tuna, sailfish, wahoo, big dollies etc....then outriggers are an essential part of the equation. They allow a wider spread of more lures, and you can set up a trolling spread of different lures in various positions. Peter Pakulas site is an excellent source of this info. We started with riggers on the 4.5 quinnie lazeabout (25 years ago), and have added them to every boat since. A hint though....get good quality bases for them...its not the pole that causes the problems...its the mounting base and the fittings. Also experiment with your release clips and techniques,,,this can also be vital in successful captures. Its a whole new world of learning when using outriggers, and a very successful one as well.

Greg

[ShaneC]

if its just the angle from above, wouldn't it be pretty much the same angle from a rod being run from up on the targa top, sticking out sideways?

Not quite mate,

Your riggers give you the ability to run your lures in clean water (ie away from the wash from your boat).

They also have many other benefits (no tangling, can run more rods, different distances from the boat, witchdoctors/ teasers become a lot easier to handle... etc etc)

You would need really long rods to do this out of a targa, and they would not be suitable to game fishing at that length.

Hope this helps,

Shane

[trueblue]

so how do you work out what length riggers are needed?

3m or 4.5 m ones, on an 18 foot boat

was thinking of the reelax gunwale mount basic ones

cheers

Mick

[sleepygreg]

I used to run 4.5m telescopics on the 533 reefraider. (mainly for storage and transport reasons), reelax bases, roller troller release clips. I had them mounted on a side plate on the rocket launchers (custom built) to give better water clearence when spread. Had been on some mates boats that had them gunnell mounted and tended to dip in the water in larger swells/waves resulting in premature releasing when they sprang back.

Cheers
Greg

[trueblue]

yeah, I thought that the gunwale mount model from reelax would go better mounted up off the side of the targa on the side plates.

Is wider better? ie 4.5m instead of the little 3m poles?

4.5's could be taken off by lifting off pole at the spline and just putting the poles in the boat pushed up into the cabin for transport

Do you need to get the rigger lures out into totally clean water, or run the lure close to the side wash from the boat?

[sleepygreg]

Your lures on the riggers are usually at the back of the spread, though they can be staggered. Its more for lessening tangles when turning and increasing the stagger in the spread. Make sure you have correctly angled rod holders in your boat as well. We run a 5 lure spread, but have run 6. Check out Pakulas site, it has brilliant info on spreads of lures.

Greg

[sleepygreg]

Forget the 3m poles....waste of time on a 18' boat IMHO.