Outriggers

[whycanteye]

I just bought a new to me boat & it has outriggers, I have used all kinds of boards for spreading my set but never outriggers. How many guys are using them for salmon? Pros, cons?

 

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[Sk8man]

They are a nice option to have in addition to the boards. I run mine during derbies as they can be much more easily seen from a distance so most folks avoid coming as close as they do with the boards in crowded conditions. You can run multiple lines from them and I sometimes run small to medium dipseys from them. If they are set up right (at the proper angle up over the surface of the water) they tend to do better than most boards (especialy inlines) in relatively rough water conditions. As far as cons since you already have them there aren't any they tend to be expensive for the good ones especially the holder mounts.

[stoneam2006]

They are a nice option to have in addition to the boards. I run mine during derbies as they can be much more easily seen from a distance so most folks avoid coming as close as they do with the boards in crowded conditions. You can run multiple lines from them and I sometimes run small to medium dipseys from them. If they are set up right (at the proper angle up over the surface of the water) they tend to do better than most boards (especialy inlines) in relatively rough water conditions. As far as cons since you already have them there aren't any[emoji38] they tend to be expensive for the good ones especially the holder mounts.

Can you explain proper angle better or refer something to read about that? Learning about them myself as I just bought a set

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[Sk8man]

Well basically it relates to  your boat itself and where you intend (or have available) to locate them. Thye can be mounted on the tops or sides of some hard top boats and onthe gunwales of other boats. A critical factor is how high off the water the gunwales are on your particular boat. A major reason for htis is that when there is a chop on the water the outrigger poles tend to bounce a  bit or tip (fiberglass poles are more prone to the bouncing the aluminums not so much) and you don't want them slapping the surface of the water. Mine are mounted at about a 35 to 40 degree angle or so off the gunwales which keeps the tips out of the water in anything I care to go out in. The holders are critical and have to be VERY sturdily mounted wherver they are mounted on the boat as there is considerable torque transfer to the base from the normally 15-18 ft poles.

Edited March 23, 2017 by Sk8man

[whycanteye]

Thanks for the input, I guess I have one more question then, how are you deploying boards on the outside of the riggers and not crisscrossing them?

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[skipper19]

Well not to be side ways about stuff, don't know why we are laying on our side!

 

Welcome to the outrigger! This is a photo of my 15 foot Taco aluminum ones mounted to the T top. This photo is somewhat out of proportion due to the panorama photo, but give some idea of angle and height above the water surface the way I like to run my coppers.

The T top sits about 8 feet above the water surface, and the angle I like is about 11 feet at the tips above the water surface vertical. The sweep angle is back to approximately stern even, so a little back from mounting position which would be 90 degrees in that case. I would say the poles are about 20 degrees back from the mounts so about 70 degrees from directly out to the side.

The position allows me to run coppers high above the surface and the first entry point into the water is roughly 30 to 40 feet behind the position of the boat while trolling. This opens up the back of the boat for easy deployment of riggers and dipsey without fear of tangling. When running a dipsy on them I will generally lower the poles and angle back a little less, but keep the tips out of the water. I only use braid on the dipsey off the outriggers release. You can use wire off them if you have good quality roller releases to help protect the wire, but I have had no real luck with the AFTCO as yet. One wore the wire on copper in two, another broke, and lost the roller on a dipsey wire, so I can't say that they are strong enough for dipsey. Blacks is what I use exclusively now until I find a roller that is built to take the strain of the regular dipsey with ring.

What Les said is true of the strength of the poles and mounts with a dipsey. There is a real considerable torque on everything so be aware of the capacities of all hardware and tackle used on the outriggers rigging.

As far as using boards with outriggers, I wouldn't recommend it. I chose to use one or the other depending on conditions and what I'm intending to deploy, long lines dipsy, or in case of tight quarters of traffic. Maneuvers are more easily accomplished with the outriggers since less things, planners, are in the water to keep all in a row.

Les said as long as you have them already, that's a great tool, and he is correct. They are expensive, and I believe in my case I would not have used outriggers had they not been part of the package on my particular vessel. I was comfortable with big boards, but find the riggers are being used 95 percent of the time just for the convenience and less setup time.

 

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[skipper19]

A couple of drawings of what is a typical trolling pattern for me. Not just the only pattern and some involve more than 2 dipsy on a calmer day, if I have enough bodies on board and want to find a specific bait or pattern that is working. When that pattern manifests in a good response from the fish, I will trim down to 4 to 6 lines maximum, and target that preference from the fish. Less is more, in terms of fun, relaxation, and fish, usually so, I tend to use the productive parts of the spread and pull the others for simplicity.


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[Sk8man]

Skipper is right on target and gave you great advice.

 

The only way I run boards is wth inlines run on the outside and the lines way back with just spoons or sticks and on the outriggers I run small dispeys off braid and with not all that much line out and with the setting on 0 or 1 at most. I also run the outriggers off the front  rather than that the side of my boat (I can do either with my setup and fish them off the side when solo) That way you are underneath the board lines with a fish or over the top of the dipseys if fish comes on board lines. It can be a problem however with a big chinook that doesn't listen to you while giving him instructions

Edited March 23, 2017 by Sk8man

[whycanteye]

Thanks guys!

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