How many Downriggers>?

[vogel451]

How many Downriggers>?

I recently bought a 19' Aluminum boat that came with 4 bigjon riggers.  Im used to running 2 on the same size beam 100".  Anyways whats the trick?  outside riggers go deeper?  I tried the inside ones depper and they tangled.  I kinda getting discuraged.  Can anyone offer me some advice?  I feel like I have to many riggers and to much going on at the back of the boat.  Plus the tangles are killin me.  Ive been told two pancake weights on the outside will make a difference.  I personall feel like ripping 2 off the boat and calling it good.  

[bandrus1]

I have a 19.5 sea nymph.. prob similar to what you have... I had 4 cannon mag 10's ... I only ran 2 at a time and used the other 2 as back ups.... if I want more in water I run cheaters or stack.

 

 

I recently switched to 2 scotty

[chinook35]

Pancake weights = tangles They take on a life of their own in currents and wind. Avoid them like the plague


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

[bandrus1]

Don't rip the 2 off... if one fails back ups are good

[whaler1]

Shorten your leads


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

[vogel451]

Well they are Bigjons riggers..  I ran bigjon for 5 years on my old boat and to be frank.. I dont like them.  Your post says you switched to 2 scottys.  does that mean you have 2 scottys and 2 cannons?.  or are you just using two scottys now?

[vogel451]

Whaler I did try today with shorter leads and deeper lines on outside riggers with some success.  is this how you run them?  deeper on outside riggers?  do you have a sequence of putting them down?

[whaler1]

I run two deep inside. Higher ones outside.


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

[bandrus1]

I now have 2 Scotty only

 

[relentless]

4 riggers on a small boat just seems like a mess waiting to happen. We run two riggers in the back corners with a wire diver on each side. I would not leave the dock with out my wire diver, does the most fish whether on ontario of the fingers. If we need more we will usually stack lines on the riggers or use cheaters. Also just one more thing to get in the way netting fish with 4 riggers. However its what works for you.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[lt119]

I wouldn't dream of running 4 riggers not only the tangling that's too much going on to close fish spook..i have 19.5 I run 2 riggers with cheaters use to stack but don't like the extra pull on wire of rigger and rods in the way while netting fish..ill run 4 dipsys 2 per side space out 100 ft different run mag on 1 and #1 on a 3 or 3.5 to avoid a mess or 1 run 2 dipsys and 2 in lines boards...play with it find out what you r comfy with sometimes less is more good luck

Sent from my SM-G928V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[John E Powell]

We have much clearer waters nowadays than in the past. There was a time 4 riggers were the norm, but two riggers on your size boat will be more productive the vast majority of the time than four. Most of the largest charter boats have reduced their rigger spreads from 5-6 to 3 and sometimes they may reduce to just 2. It's what works today. With riggers, less is more.


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

[Sk8man]

Some of the issue relates to the size of the booms on the riggers. I run three cannons with the extendable booms frquently and could run 4 without any trouble on my 18 1/2 ft Whaler. I locate one on port side at a 45 degree angle to stay away from the kicker, then on the otherside I run two one extended boom set at 90 degree angle to the starboard side and one set at either 45 degrees or straight back. I run wire rig on the port side and boards out on both sides. I stagger the depths of the riggers but run the back ones deeper than the one on the starboard outside with the boom extended. I have yet to get tangled. I also run sliders on each.

Edited May 16, 2017 by Sk8man

[kempie]

you should have at least 4 foot booms on the outside riggers and keep them high and the inside downriggers should be deep. you also need to keep them all as far back as you can get them. they should be mounted on a board.  2 riggers is fine with cheaters and dipseys, leadcore and copper as the other two lines. 4 poles is fine nowdays.  

[Tyee II]

I have 4 riggers on my 16.5 Lund and run them deep on the inside, and higher on the outside. I rarely use the 4th now for fishing, sometimes I just use it to drop a camera down to survey structure where I'm fishing. I find 3 riggers to be the perfect number these days...3 riggers, 2 divers and 4 board rods seems like the perfect spread on most days with the 9 rod limit I usually have on my small boat.

 

I have cannon adjustable booms that extend to 54 inches and I always fully extend them when using 3 or 4 riggers. With 3, I usually swing the inside rigger behind the motor, and swing it back out when I get a fish on. On my outside boom riggers I either run a short lead or a really long one. A 25' or so lead will usually tangle into the cable that is swaying back on my deeper inside rigger on turns. These days I mostly run SWR rods on my boom riggers since they are more productive most days in our gin clear water over here on Lake Michigan. I never have tangles with this setup, and I always stagger my depths by at least 10 feet depending on what baits I'm running.

[guffins fisherman]

A couple things to keep in mind running four riggers.  1)  Make sure you have the same amount of cable on all four.  Just like the spools on your reels, how much line/wire is on there affects the accuracy of your counters.  If one is short, it will not run in the water column where you think it is.  2)  To run four, the two outside weights have to be spread way out away from your middle two.  The long booms will do that, but a pain and dangerous to operate.  We put wingers, or planers just above the weight of our outside two riggers.  We run four almost exclusively, and almost never have a tangle, not even in sharp turns running structure in eastern lake Ontario.  The only time I have seen a tangle is when we unknowingly had a wire way shorter than the other three.

[Frogger]

A couple of adds, as some have suggested sometimes less is more but other times 1 rod on each rigger with cheaters is killer. Have to be smart. Don't send lines down on turns, I try to send inner back down deep first then outside shallower. If deep trips and I have to reset, I send it back down carefully going straight if possible.


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Chas0218]

I have 4 riggers on my boat (8' beam) but only run 3. I don't bother stacking rods, cheaters are much easier and work great. I have ran up to 2 cheaters on 1 rod without much of a mess. I run the 2 outside straight away from the boat then the rear one towards the middle of the boat. That one also has my temp sensor on it so it usually has a little more blow back anyway.