Downrigger question

[PhilK999]

Cut the plastic on the boat today and I am finished waxing it. Hope it is splashed tomorrow and I am fishing Saturday if the weather cooperates. Hoping to find some gannets everybody is talking about with some striped fish under them.

My question comes that I won a Penn Downrigger on ebay and not quite sure where the best place to mount it. I am leaning towards the port side of the boat juist behind the support for my hard top. My thinking is it will keep that deep rods clear of anything up in the water column rods.

But Skip said something about they can get caught in your prop if they are to far forward and you make to sharp of a turn. Any other opinions or options before I go drilling holes in my gunnel

Also can it be at a 90 degree angle to the boat or should it be placed on an angle?

[Spot77]

Originally Posted by PhilK999

Cut the plastic on the boat today and I am finished waxing it. Hope it is splashed tomorrow and I am fishing Saturday if the weather cooperates. Hoping to find some gannets everybody is talking about with some striped fish under them.

My question comes that I won a Penn Downrigger on ebay and not quite sure where the best place to mount it. I am leaning towards the port side of the boat juist behind the support for my hard top. My thinking is it will keep that deep rods clear of anything up in the water column rods.

But Skip said something about they can get caught in your prop if they are to far forward and you make to sharp of a turn. Any other opinions or options before I go drilling holes in my gunnel

Also can it be at a 90 degree angle to the boat or should it be placed on an angle?

I would also take into consideration which side of the boat you are most comfortable looking at.

Maybe you could have someone hold the downrigger in the different places that you're considering, then pretend you get a hit. How accesible is it? Can you see the rod easily from where it will be mounted?

Can't even guess about the angle.

When all else fails, listen to Skip. Hell listen to him before anything fails.

[PhilK999]

I was thinking about visability issue and that was the reason for going on the port side.

I wanted one of these things for a while to troll with hoping I can get some lures down deep and pretty much know what depth is and once a fish hits its just you and the fish, but never really thought about where to put it until now.

Spoke to Skip before I won the auction for his advise, but haven't had the chance to speak to him since and was just looking for some input.

On the angle part, I know Skip's are on swivel mounts, mine is not. Once I pick an angle that is where is gonna stay, so I need to make the right choice.

Was hoping to get some input from others who may have one on how far forward from the stern you can go and not worry about tangling in the motor on turns and what angle works. Won't really need it for a while so I have some time before I mount it.

[5th Tuition]

Phil; I don't have a downrigger. Don (Hunter) runs a poor mans downrigger with a stick off a double "outrigger" off the gunnel closest to the motor. The "stick" is only about two ft long (maybe like the arm on your downrigger). I wouldn't want it any further forward.

I run outriggers off the side gunnel but have a six ft rod extending horizintal to the water. This puts my lines out far enough to not have to worry about making turns and the line near the motor. If your arm is not very long; I wouldn't put it forward.

I agree port side for visability.

But before I drill any holes, wait for a response from either Don or Skip.

5th (Marty)

[Capt. Charlie]

Phil; I have run downriggers for years. Skip is right ,don't put it too far forward as the cable can get caught. With only one, do yourself a BIG favor and get the Rodholder mount that fits into the gunnel rodholders. Also get a swivel base. You will have all the options covered and NO HOLES. Mine are located in the two rear, corner mounts. When I don't want them. I just pull em' out and stow em' away! Also, if you haven't allready done so, get a HEAVY ball. I use the "pancake" style, salt water weights. They are shaped like a "Frisbee" and track deep and straight. There is a lot of drag when you pull umbrellas and you want your cable to be as verticle as possible.
Hope this helps you out.

[PhilK999]

Thanks for the input Marty and Charlie.

Charlie, I had considered the rod holder mount earlier so I did not have to drill holes, so on your advise I bought a used Penn rod holder mount on Amazon.com for 48 bucks, a real deal considering new it is 80.

I am going to hold off on the swivel mount a little to see if I like just using just the rod holder mount since the arm on my downrigger is only 2 foot. I will keep my eye on ebay for some one selling the swivel mount cheap just in case.

I also had won an auction on ebay that had some release clips I have yet to figure out how to use and 2 Penn 10 pound lead downrigger balls, all for 20 bucks, so I should be good on them.

Thanks again for the input, now if I can get good weather next weekend, maybe I can go fishing. Cancelled this morning because of the thundershowers, not quick enough to dodge lightning anymore :-)

[drichitt]

Phil - Like Marty said I have been using a 'poorman's' downrigger. Like you, I also picked up a couple of Penn Downriggers on Ebay over the winter, along with attached rod holders. Based on Skip's advice I picked up a couple of used swivel bases as well and a couple of 12 pound Cannon DR balls. Skip gave me the same advice as Charlie about wanting to keep the line as vertical as possible; Skip urged me to go straight to 12 pounders. The Penn literature says not to exceed 14Lbs. I do not plan to install them for the spring trolling as most fish tend to be caught up high and on the planers. I really wanted them for the late fall season and that would give me more time to plan how I want to position them; I currently plan to permanently mount them near the rear corners. Good luck......Don

[PhilK999]

Don,

Did you get the 24" arms or the 48" arms? Mine is the 24" arm.

In doing a little online research, people who use them suggest mounting the near the stern because of tangling with the motor, but move them far enough forward so you can get behind them to hook your lines to the releases without stretching too far out of the boat.

I am looking forward to the rod holder mount I just ordered so I can start experimenting, see how it works and where I might want to put it. My concern with the rod holder mount is someone not paying attention pulling the rod out with a fish on it and the whole thing going overboard. So I am going to rig a line up to the boat as a safety feature until I decide if I want to mount it permenantly.

With the mounting bracket that came with it you can remove them when not in use and make them a more solid installation. Once I feel comfortable in using it, I may rig up something with a 2X4 and few c-clamps so I can move it around a few locations and see where it works best, then either get the swivel mount or if the solid mount works at 90 degrees just install it.

I wanted them for summer and late fall fishing, especially if the spanish macs come up. I have caught them the last 3 years above the bridge and want to use some lighter tackle to catch them and limit the use of the down planers. Should be fun if they make it up the bay again.

Good luck with your new toys.

[Slayer]

I run two downriggers and they are on swivel mounts. The rodholders are on the downriggers. The only problem I have with them is when I swing them out, the rod tips will come in contact with my planer board lines while on a turn. I have my rods strapped in the holders so they won't go flying out. Just keep that in mind before you mount them anywhere.