3rd rod options

[N2013]

Planning on starting to run a 3rd rod off the back of my boat and want to get some input on the best way to do it. I have a scotty stacker clip which I'll give a go the next while, but just thinking of something like running a spoon off a dipsy diver or mooching weight. Give it 30 pulls or so and let it do it's thing back behind the boat. Am I just asking for trouble and having this line get tangled up in my 'rigger cables?

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Planning on starting to run a 3rd rod off the back of my boat and want to get some input on the best way to do it. I have a scotty stacker clip which I'll give a go the next while, but just thinking of something like running a spoon off a dipsy diver or mooching weight. Give it 30 pulls or so and let it do it's thing back behind the boat. Am I just asking for trouble and having this line get tangled up in my 'rigger cables?

Lots of boats run 4 rods. You will be fine unless you are by your self.

 

[profisher]

Why not 3rd rigger? How big is the boat?

 

[capt hook]

i have run a rod middle of stern between the two downriggers without problems.
i put a 2-3 oz. slip weight about 10 feet from a manistee coho spoon....just like you say... 30 big pulls.
works great for coho....easy and fast to pull in if you get something on a downrigger rod.

 

[trophywife]

i run a third rigger but as capt hook does and does my ol man, 6oz slip, flasher/hootch or spoon! 30 pulls!

 

[advTHXance]

I have a 3rd manual downrigger out the back for when Im trolling fairly shallow. My boat is pretty small so I cant fish 3 lines deep with it unless I want to be untangling gear all day. When Im running 2 lines deep Ill sometimes put one out with a 1-2lb clip weight on a bead swivel about 15 feet up the line from the flasher. Sometimes Ill also run a banana weight with a spoon or plug on a long leader - no flasher. Most days the 3rd line is more trouble than its worth but for peace of mind its nice to cover some shallower water.

 

[N2013]

Why not 3rd rigger? How big is the boat?

16.5' tiller. Boat's too small for a 3rd downrigger. Most times I'm solo so I'll just run off my riggers, but it'd be nice to throw something out the back just to cover some more water. Especially later in the season while hugging the shoreline.

 

[Dogbreath]

Run a Dipsy Diver or smaller Deep Six they can be deadly.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

16.5' tiller. Boat's too small for a 3rd downrigger. Most times I'm solo so I'll just run off my riggers, but it'd be nice to throw something out the back just to cover some more water. Especially later in the season while hugging the shoreline.

Why run more then 2 rods when you are alone? Relax and enjoy the outing.

 

[gungadin]

Running a third line can be very productive, and is great when more then just yourself on board to handle the lines. Just watch out for other boats that might snag your trailing line with their downriggers.

 

[Rockfish]

One of my buddies runes three riggers off his 16 foot Double Eagle when he wants too with no problems and does not even bother to extend his side booms. He does, however use side planeing 14 lb disk weights on the sides with the large stainless fin tuned to plane out and give line separation and cover more fishing area. He also made a custom boom brace to support the long stern boom when extended out past his motor well and motors.

For myself I will run a third line out the back when hunting and the conditions are good for it using the largest size Deep Six and for safety and the social nature of fishing I never fish alone, so pulling gear on hook up is not a problem.

When conditions were good for it, I use to stack a lot with up to five lines out, but seldom do now unless hunting down fish, especially for a sockeye opening, but once I find them we usually switch to just the two side riggers, especially with Chinook. I think once you find a small school of large migrating summer Chinook it is more important to get back over them fast with two rods down (you now know the depth) with good bait presentation before the bite goes off; than waste a lot of time rigging and stacking extra rods and miss the bite or a strike for that matter.

 

[TenMile]

For a 3rd line, I often run a very simple Bucktail fly off a spinning rod and run it just behind the prop wash bubbles. The fly I use (white polar bear hair with some red highlights) has a 1oz weight on the nose so that it drags just below the surface. I set the drag on the spinning rod fairly loose and make sure that the clicker is engaged. Have hit many coho this way, even a few springs. I try to get the rod up high and usually set it in one of the rocket launchers so that the line doesn't interfere too much. Generally speaking, if someone has a large fish on one of the downrigger rods -- the Bucktail comes in first.

 

[TheBigGuy]

Everyone these days is used to running strictly downriggers. Sometimes top lines actually out produce the riggers, even for big springs.

When I used to fish Alberni every summer I actually experienced a drop in my catch rate the first year I owned downriggers. The next year it clicked, I was dropping to deep too soon. After that I made a habit of always keeping two lines on weights on the surface every morning until 8:30 - 9am. Lo and behold lots more big springs again I would usually run a flasher and hoochy with 8 - 10oz slip weights and 35 pulls. Caught many tyees there on that setup early mornings or late at night.

I still use weights a fair bit when fishing shallow depths like the 25 foot flats near Dundarave for coho. I used to fish surface lines far more often when the coho stayed resident on the inside strait in the old days. When I owned a 25foot boat I would sometimes run 6 or even 7 lines when the coho were around. That would drive my buddy insane, if there were only 2 of us to manage all those lines. 4 lines on the riggers, 1down the middle on a weight, and 2 off the sides with directional divers to plane the outside lines further outboard.

My boat is only 18feet these days so I rarely run more than 4,but I still do use weights at times. A Tomic plug off the middle line with an 8oz slip weight has caught some really nice fish at times.

If offshore, (and the coho are on top) for a blast there's nothing more fun than bucktailing on the surface with an ounce or two of weight. That is probably something everyone should try once in their life, as it is the most fun possible when using a fly rod loaded with mono and a simple home tied bucktail.

Surface lining is not dead, it is just rarely practiced anymore with downriggers being the norm on almost every boat on the chuck. Weights work fine at times, but it wouldn't hurt to get a planer or some dipsy divers if you want to get a little deeper. It never hurts to try something different, sometimes it pays off, when the usual stuff isn't on fire (especially if there's coho around) .

 

[Grace underfire]

We generally fish 3 lines, 2 stacked on one cable down rigger. For an 18' boat this works well under most conditions.
I've lost fish coming off the rigger and straight onto a centre line with a slip weight, so don't do that any more.
The one thing I will do, having been forced to when one rigger fails, is stack 2 lines on a rigger and run a slip weight on the other side. I had the same experience as TheBigGuy in Alberni when we did this. The surface line out fished the 2 on the rigger.