3 or 4 riggers.. opinions wanted

[Custom Deluxe]

Hey guys,

 

Just upgraded boats to a 25' penn yan with an 8' 6" beam.  I own 5 electric riggers now and am debating on weather i want to run 3 or 4 on the boat.  I'm leaning towards 3, as i think it will be plenty, and 4 balls ripping through the water is not exactly stealth. Just curious how many most of you run and if anyone thought it'd be worthwhile to mount the 4th one and why?

 

Any opinions appreciated.

[holy mackerel]

I run the probe on the forth. Only drop it when I need it, and never run a line on it anymore.

[Just Fishin']

I run 3 by choice. With all the junk lines we run these days I never feel cheated that I haven't mounted the 4th. If it is a rigger bite the 3 give me plenty of action. No scientific answer for you, just feel 3 is enough in my situation. Charter fishing may give you a different answer when you have a need to put fish in the box.

[Iceman]

I run 4 traxtech riggers, & most of the time they all get bit.

[spoonfed-1]

When I got a good rigger bite going I want at least 4 in the water.

Can't do it if I don't have them.

[devilfishIII]

With all the attention u gotta spend on fleas 3 is enough IMO

[Shelby Lynn]

If you have room for four why not, you don't have to use them all. But sometimes one side of the boat takes hits and the other don't, in which case you have tow on either side.

[mudflat]

I have the same ride and went with 4 riggers.

 

If you go with 3 and mount a center rigger it will interfere with opening the rear compartment hatches and you would have to have a long boom to get past the outdrive.  You can mount 4 riggers easily on that boat and use short booms on your corner riggers.  This leaves the whole rear wide open for netting fish.

 

I usually only run 2 or 3 riggers most of the time but have run all four occasionally and sometimes I use one rigger just for the probe.  I did mount a rodholder in the middle between the hatches and that works great for deploying copper before I send it out off the side on an otter board.

 

Here's some pictures of how I rigged her, hope they give you some ideas.

[Custom Deluxe]

Thanks for the input guys, some really good points. Mudflat, who makes that kicker bracket? Very nice rig

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[bout time]

I have 4 mounted. I normally will run 3 with extra dispies and coppers out but like Glen said when it's a rigger bite have to have them. Also gives my more choices when fishing is tough and I want to switch from kings to browns to steelies.

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[mudflat]

The bracket is from Adventure Marine

A little pricey but excellent quality and solid as a rock

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[Richard]

I mounted four on my rig. If I only want to run three I can. If I want to run four I can. If one should break or something happens to one I can still run three.

[G-Daddy]

Our corner looks like Mudflat's except our riggers have cranks and not motors. We like four for the variety in depths we can target. We usually run at least one fairly shallow 35'-45' for the wandering steelhead.

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Age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm.

[reelintense]

I have the 225 Outrage and the beam is not that much less and I run 3, with that I think the big question no one has asked is if you are taking out a lot of newbies and inexperienced people or if you have a "crew" you are running with that knows what they are doing.  With 4 riggers running, you need to have people know where and how to move rods so that when you are netting fish, things are out of the way.  I agree the sea fleas pose a different problem to how often you are changing things out, which leads back to my original question of if you are the only person running around all 4 riggers, or if you have help.  With 3 riggers (2 which I cheat with free sliders), 4 dipsy's and usually boards out both sides, I don't really have a need for the 4th rigger, but there have been times when one rigger has stopped working, or it would be nice to have the 4th ready to go, if its that insane of a rigger bite.  I personally find my dipsy's give me more king bite than my riggers, so you also have to decide exactly what you are targeting and how often.  I guess it doesn't hurt to have it there if you need it, but I think on a 8'6" beam, its gonna be crowded if you just have it there as decoration.  If you had a 10m Trojan with a 12' beam, then there is so much room for a 4th rigger, this is a whole different conversation.  My 2 cents!

Jason

[crumcake1223]

agreed with jason. new to us this year also a 225 outrage. we put trans trax all over the back and normally run only 2 riggers off the corners  and a bunch of divers! with that said during tourney's our 2 spare riggers ride the cutty. if 1 goes down it takes us ruffly 1 min to get the down 1 off and a working 1 up, or if we decide we need more riggers poof there on and fishing. it is crowded with all 4 on the the old girl and we tend not to use 4 riggers mostly cause we lve all the working room we have at the back of the boat even with our kicker.best of luck, tight lines and safe waters

[Fish Hunter]

I've got 4 on mine too.

Warm rod, 2 at just below the break, and one in the freezer.

[dvdegeorge]

4 is the way I roll

[Firechief48]

I wondered the same thing earlier this year when I rigged my new boat and did put on 4. The first times out earlier this summer i was untangling line more than I wanted to due to the currents so I picked up 2. Last times out I ran all 4 without a problem. Like was said you can't run 4 if you need them if they're not there but you don't have to always run 4.

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