Positioning the downriggrs

[Striper Sniper]

Hi guys, I am hoping to get the downriggers installed on my boat this week and I have a few questions:

1. I note from looking at lodge pictures that some are located very close to the back of the boats stern while others seem to be midway on the gunwhale. I bought the ones with the 48" adjustable boom and swivel bases. (Scotties) I am not sure where I should be positioning them... I will also want to use the bases for my pot puller if this makes any difference.

2. Does anyone have a name or number that I can contact to have someone come out to the house to install them? I live on the Comox Peninsula.

Many thanks, Seawolf 1

 

[totally tyee]

Seawolf, it will hellp if you tell us what kind of boat you have.

 

[Striper Sniper]

Hi Totally Tyee, it is a Seaswirl Striper 2101 with a 150 hp Yami 4 stroke and 8 hp Yami high trust 4 stroke kicker. This model has a live bait / prawn well at the back so there really is not all that much room. The motors are mounted on the stern and not a pod..... sooooo, great room for 2, would real tight for 4. Seawolf 1

 

[SIR]

On a boat your size you want them as far back as you can get them and still have them be usable and mountable. As you have the swivel mounts you can mount them on the stern if you have the width to do so. The further forward you go the wider your turns will have to be to not run your cables thru your prop. With that length boom and mounted at the stern you'll have to work pretty hard to put them in your prop.

Make sure you have good backing wherever you mount them on a fiberglass boat. Professional installation may be the way to go if your not sure about the strength of you mount point. If you want your pullers to be removable, meaning you can't hard wire them, and your boat config has a way to let you use the new electrical plug style which needs to be flush mounted thru a plate I'd go with that to avoid some of the corrossion issues. If you have to surface mount your electrical connection you are going to have to go with the old style connector. With the old style connector always have some emory paper in the tackle box so you can clean them up from time to time. If you go with the new style connector buy an extra male plug so you can cut the end off your ace line hauler and convert it to the new plug style. Make sure all your mounting hardware is SS.

When you are setting your auto-retrieve clips my preference is to set them so that the cannon balls completely clear the water. This way you don't have to worry about wrapping your fishing line around them while you are landing fish. The downside is that in rough weather they are going to swing around but with the length of boom you have your not worried about them hitting your boat and it's easy to drop them down a foot or two if you need to rather than HAVE to lift them every time to get them out of the way. Double up on the clips as it stops them from moving around as much.

Your almost there.... soon the frustrating part starts.... the actual fishing

 

[salmon9]

At the island outfitters website they have a photo of their 23ft? Seaswirl illustrating their downrigger locations. They are quite far back as SIR recommends. I have attached a link below. I have found a prop guard on the kicker handy and troll with my big engine in gear so the prop doesn't spin free - never had line or downrigger cable in my prop.

http://www.fishingvictoria.com/large.asp?ap=60
Go to photogallery in Island Outfitters website and third page on bottom right is the photo.

 

[Striper Sniper]

SIR, you are a godsend. I emailed you a little earlier, the booms are actually 60" if that makes a difference. I will definitely have them installed by someone knowledgeable, any suggestions for someone who would come to my residence in Comox to do so. Thanks, Seawolf 1

 

[Striper Sniper]

quote:Originally posted by salmon9

At the island outfitters website they have a photo of their 23ft? Seaswirl illustrating their downrigger locations. They are quite far back as SIR recommends. I have attached a link below. I have found a prop guard on the kicker handy and troll with my big engine in gear so the prop doesn't spin free - never had line or downrigger cable in my prop.

http://www.fishingvictoria.com/large.asp?ap=60
Go to photogallery in Island Outfitters website and third page on bottom right is the photo.

 

[Striper Sniper]

Salmon9, great link, thanks. Still learning the site and screwed up with my first attempted reply, my apology to the members, I will figure it out! Seawolf 1

 

[Time]

Give Parker Marine a call.
They are local to you, and, although they may not make 'house calls', will probably be able to do your rigging if you trailer the boat to their shop.
Also have them install a downrigger weight retriever (Scotty no. 3025)to enable you to safely and easily retieve the weight when the booms are extended to the full 60".

 

[wolf]

This was talked about earlier I go the other way as far up as I can go on the boat but a few things factor in.ill give you the goods as to why i did my boats the way I do 5 lodge boats and 3 of my own

1. If they are up as far as they can be you dont need to worry about them getting into the prop but in saying that off of sooke my deepest line will be maybe 100 ft down but that is not very often mostly 70 ft and above and it will not hit the side of the boat if your down deeper than that then you do need ot mount them back further on the stern as the drag will get into the prop the way I do it.

2. the main reason I have them mounted midship is for ease on me!!!!!! when I swival the bases back for setting gear its all in the back corner for me NO reaching over riggers set the clips move the base back and down she goes NO reaching and trust me day and day reaching over will kill your back.
now with them at mid ship "FISH ON" get all the gear in now I swival them forward weight ,downrigger completlty out of the way not even a factor with getting the fish in and I have seen enough guys hang there net up into riggers mounted on the back corners or worse yet the fish makes a turn wrapping the line around the cable SNAP fish gone.

3. Now all said and done I make my boats as user freindly as possable because if it can happen out there IT will we all get excited when a fish is on and we forget about the dangers and then we get pissed off we make the mistakes and loose a fish by the said mistake.


Good luck Wolf

 

[Striper Sniper]

Hey Wolf, all makes sense but I am still confused. I stopped off at Parker Marine and they seem like good people. The prop guard on the kicker seems like a good idea, coming from Alberta I thought it was for weeds, go figure..... thanks, Seawolf 1

 

[wolf]

I dont run a prop guard had one and took it off after it broke the skeg and the fin on my motor they will suck up wood and wedge in there and thats what happened to mine!!!!! what are you confused about??? here is a pic of my boat and you can see swivaled back where the riggers end

Wolf

 

[wolf]

Originally posted by wolf

I dont run a prop guard had one and took it off after it broke the skeg and the fin on my motor they will suck up wood and wedge in there and thats what happened to mine!!!!! what are you confused about??? here is a pic of my boat and you can see swivaled back where the riggers end

Wolf

 

[Striper Sniper]

Hey Wolf, no longer confused, fabulous boat, thanks, Seawolf 1

 

[SIR]

I buy Wolf's logic if you are fishing shallow to medium open water. Having swivels mounts towards the center of the boat would be damn convenient. I think however that if you are fishing deeper, in passes with stronger currents in one direction than the other, or over reefs with erratics/variable contours the stern mount leaves you a better safety margin...

When I'm fishing new waters and the bottom comes up on me fast sometimes the best way out is to give it some gas and stream the weights out behind you while you turn and pray for deeper water(note: VERY bad things can happen if you hook up a cannonball while trying this manoever but it saves a lot of time in lifting then resetting the riggers and lines). If you are very good on the throttle and the bottom rise isn't too steep you can slowly lift the lines but if you need to get up fast or you give it too much gas I'd be a little concerned about lifting the lines into the prop with a mid-mount...

My setting technique with the same long boom arms is to trail my line out behind the boat, set the drag loosely and put the rod in the rod holder. Standing just to the stern of the downrigger, and holding the fishing line in my hand closest to the bow, I lift the whole boom arm using the same hand holding the line. Using the other hand I clip the line into my 12-18" release clip, then lower the boom arm with both hands. This sytem requires you to connect your releases to the cannonball clips with very short leads on the releases. This is a bit unconventional (as most folks seem to use release clips corresponding to the length of their booms and pull them in with a gaff) but I've found the above system works really well for me and is very quick. I'm 6'3" though so that gives me some leverage on lifting the booms without having to lean overboard, may be harder for a shorter person but I have no problems even with 20lb cannonballs. As stated before I set my auto-retreives to bring the balls well out of the water but I couldn't afford the swivel mounts so I still have guide guests to watch the boom arms

Different strokes for differnt folks - find what's comfortable and easy for you cause like Wolf says double headers tend to make our brain shut down

 

[blueorca]

Seawolf1.....do what everyone else does...just start drilling and mounting...after a couple times out and a couple remounts...you'll be set.....
I hear MyEscape is having a little gathering...why not just haul your boat over there with a couple skids of Lucky...just make sure and hide your drive belts, he starting to stock up for derbies..

I have mine as far back as is usable because of the winter depths (300 feet) and turning that is required to fish the ECVI in winter. The prop saver has never touched a line but it has taken the lower tip of the skeg of (as Wolf has indicated too) when a small piece of wood jammed between it and the prop.

Stand in your boat and see what is comfortable to clip and swivel your boom (if you are using swivel bases). Realize too, that you could be pulling gear in wind and waves so you don't want to be leaning out overboard if you can help it.
I might be around for another week or less so drop me a line and I will see what I can do to help you if needed...I live 15 minutes north of Comox Valley....

 

[Striper Sniper]

Hi Blueorca, thanks! I just smoked some wild Spring filets and the wije is enjoying them... talk too you soon, Seawolf 1

 

[danthewire]

I have mine set up exactly the same way Roy does.For me it works perfectly,for all the same reasons,it also is much easier for my dad to knock the fish off with the net with nothing in the way.Use #10 wire minimum to wire them,and the last couple of boats that i've wired i put the plug up inside the gunnel with about an eighth of an inch exposed,just to get them out of the direct weather.We'll see how that works out. DAN

 

[Striper Sniper]

Hey Danthewire and everyone else that has responded, many thanks. I just pulled the wild spring off of the smoker and pigged out on it with Original Ritz and Helmans mayonize..... oh yeah, a couple of bottles of J.Lorh Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvingon,,,, I think you know where this going..... Merci Beaucoup (thanks in English) for all of your responses, one more glass............. Seawolf 1

 

[Brisco]

I have a 2101 and mounted my riggers at the very back.Of course if you turn to port too quickly the cable can go into the kicker.You might want to check out the Seaswirl owners website it's full of info.