How far forward for planer board mast?

[RodBuster]

I have been running the same planer board mast set up for 20 years. Single Super Skis on port and starboard. The mast is positioned about 5' forward of the rod holder where the farthest rod forward sits. As you are aware if you have run boards, during a turn the outside tow line ends up closer to the rods on that side, in some cases touching. (One of my rods has been resting on the bottom in about 6' of water off Sodus for at least 15 years due to the tow line flipping it overboard). I am thinking about moving it forward, and seperating the mast from the retrieval reel. I have a hardtop, so the reel would be mounted to the side. My question is how far forward should I go. The longer the distance, the longer the retrievel line to reach the tow line when setup occurs. i just don't want to go too far.

Thanks for any insight.

[RodBuster]

Come on, I know you all have planer board set ups, BTT

[Tim Bromund]

You want the mast as far forward as you can possibly get it. when I had the little boat (19' Bayliner bowrider) I had the mast mounted in the front pedestal seat mount up in the bow.. Now with the 24' Thompson Hardtop, I have the planer reels mounted on the inside of each gunwale, running to a pully (small sailboat block) at the back corner of the hardtop and from there to a set of spring loaded pullys at the front of the hardtop. I just use my telescoping boat hook to reach out and grab the tow line. THere was an old thread here in the This Old Boat section where I had pics posted ofthat setup .

here's the link to that thread:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=5218

Tim

[IRISH56]

On my brother's boat we ran the tow line directly from the reels which were mounted on a post at the rear corners of the hardtop, worked OK. Last year we installed a couple of pulleys on the foreward handrails and ran the tow line from the reels forward to the pulleys and out.

Big difference with the pulleys up front, boards tracked better and about even with the middle of the boat. Definitely as far forward as you can.

DAN

[daker1979]

As is mentioned go as far forward as possible...... rather the getting out the boat hook, you can hook on a retrieval line, just carabiner type hook and rope

[jimski2]

I now run my Otter Boards off my downriggers, I turn the boom facing to the bow, clip them on and send them out. It is very easy to clip on a line from the back of the boat and when they need to come in, say someone does not give you any room, I just flip the switch and they come in on their own. The cables slide the releases out very well. This will save you a couple hundred bucks for a planer board mast.

[Jax]

Very curious jimski on this set up, are these your same downriggers you have mounted of the back of your boat? Id like to see how you set your rods up when running them off your rigger, This isnt something I would ever do but im curious to see some pictures or hear more about it.

Thanks

[jimski2]

I have 3 Fish on rod holders mounted on the gunwales of each side of the boat. Nothing on the stern. My 2 downriggers are mounted about 3 foot forward of the transom, this makes it easy to hook up my lines without having to reach way back and lean over the side. With the riggers facing forward, my boards are about 6 foot from the transom. They are easy to get to to hook on your releases. My stern is clear of all lines and downriggers so as it makes it easy to bring in a fish. The otter boats stay out as far as I want them and they do not close in when you have a stern quarter wind as some planer boards do. Having the power to bring the boards into the boat speeds things up when you need to move or make a quick turn around. Later in the season, we use in line planers with leadcore rigs and dipsey rigs a lot. This is to get the lines away from the boat. Actually we now use the downriggers very little. We have better success with the clearer waters getting the lines away from the track of the boat.