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I posted this on the Boating Forum and got 2 replay I think this might be a better place to post this question. I really do need suggestion here. Most of the guys I fish with have outriggers but they never use them. So any info you can give me on what to expect and how to use them would be great.
(here is the question.) I am looking at TACO 270 with 18' outriggers. I spoke with someone ) at the FLBS and they said 18' outriggers would not pull a bait correct. Not sure about that since he was pushing 15' poles. He did sell TACO but his price was high with 15"ft and rigging show special was 1895.00. not much of a deal IMO. I was looking around and only found a couple that had outriggers on display, I have never used them before so I am open to any suggestions. I would like to do a double line on each and pull 2 baits with no more then 48oz cigar weight on one and a smaller weight on the other. I am looking at doing 5 to 6 lines total and maybe a dredge off a cleat if needed. Been watching too much fishing TV
Are you talking about for your 290? I think the 18 footers would be perfect for that. 15's are more typically found on smaller boats (20-25')
Pulling 48 oz cigar weights may be difficult on an outrigger, though. Typically they are used (at least in the southeast) for surface baits. Someone else may chime in with weighted lure experience, but with any releases I'm experienced with, I don't think they'd hold 4 pounds.....for the sake of perspective, I troll 7-8 knots or faster for pelagics (Mahi, Wahoo) and pretty much never use the outriggers for slow trolling, so that may make a difference.
__________________ -Rich-
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
SaltwaterSportfish.com
US & International fishing reports, gear reviews, fishing tips & more
Yeah are not going to be able to get that set up to work with that kind of weight. The resistance will be alot more than the weight of the lure you are pulling and will be amplified by how far back you set your spread which would have to be pretty far back because I am assuming you are trying to do some high speed trolling for wahoo. If depth at lower speeds is what you are looking for then planers or downriggers would be a better option.
If you could get a clip to hold you would likely bend a pole on strike esp. your long rigger. you wouldn't be able to pull a dredge at these speed either. what are you trying to do with all that hardware in the water?
Yeah are not going to be able to get that set up to work with that kind of weight. The resistance will be alot more than the weight of the lure you are pulling and will be amplified by how far back you set your spread which would have to be pretty far back because I am assuming you are trying to do some high speed trolling for wahoo. If depth at lower speeds is what you are looking for then planers or downriggers would be a better option.
If you could get a clip to hold you would likely bend a pole on strike esp. your long rigger. you wouldn't be able to pull a dredge at these speed either. what are you trying to do with all that hardware in the water?
I just want to get as big of a spread out as I can, more in the water better chance I am told. Maybe I am looking to pull the incorrect lures. I have purchased several large Wahoo lures as well as a few stretch 25 and 30's . Got a couple of spreaders made up as teasers etc. I did a sailfish charter and watch to see what they did so maybe I need to do another type and learn some more. I thought I might be able to get the baits down to different depths with cigar weights as well as a adding a planer board. Like I said before this is a new learing curve and is quite costly as well but if I can catch fish worth it. And yes it is on the 290 and I think 18' would be the way to go. This is where I am at now. I need to put the weight on the just a rod and use the down riggers at slow speed as well as pull lighter on the outriggers, How do you get the baits down 2 to 3 feet or more, Pulling at high speed 10 plus knots will pull the lures down w/o the weight? what I don't want to do is mess up a set of outriggers. Thanks for the help so far just keep putting out here I am reading and learning a new way of fishing.
I have 18 foot riggers on a 26 Robalo, I use them to troll stripers out of Barnegat inlet. I get a lot of ribbing on the radio (hey there is no tuna around here) but they hold stretch 25s and 30s at slow speeds. No money for downriggers and my cooler more often then not has fish in it. I also troll drail weights with bunker spoons or shad umbrella rigs for striper off the riggers it all works. I get the most false knock downs with the drail and umbrella but I do also catch a decent amount of this this way.
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1989 2660 Robalo Repowered with D&D Bracket and twin Honda 225's. 20k from to
Boobs or spark plugs if it has them it will be fun and give you problems.
pull your lipped baits straight off the rod tip. test them to make sure they run straight before you set several and end up with a tangled mess.
High speed wahoo fishing is a very specialized deal I would not try this if you are new to fishing.
If wahoo is what you are wanting to target I would pull 4 baits 2 rigger baits on the tips of the riggers prolly a b/w islander w/ a ballyhoo
I would then pick two deep baits to pull. I would pull a pink stetch 20-30' and another b/w / hoo on a planer about 20-30' below that
I would take the bigger is better approach with caution. I have pulled anywhere from 2-16 line spreads I would say the most any bodyjust out for a day of fun fishing is 5 4 if you don't have a center rigger. just bc you have a bunch of hooks in the water doesnt mean you will catch more fish I think it will actually cut down on your success.
cigar type trolling weights are only really needed if you are pulling spoons or some other lightweight baits otherwise they are used to keep normal trolling baits in the water at higher speeds
what are you trying to catch? wahoo and sailfishing spreads are VERY specialized and i think trying to combine the two is what is messing you up.
I would do alot more reading and talk to a few tackle shops before you made any purchases. If you are just looking for a good trolling spread I would pull a 5 position spread.
The longer the riggers the better, within reason. You get better spread, it may be possible to set up two halyards on each rigger and the extra height off the water can help the presentation of lures run from the tip of your rigger. You can improve the stiffness of your riggers by running a line from the rigger tip to the bow which will let you pull higher resistance baits but not things like 48 oz weights. Those you will need to pull straight off the rod tips and if you're high speeding for wahoo they will need to be pretty substantial outfits too. Most small boat outriggers are not as strong as big boat riggers and even if you stiffen them as mentioned you're going to need to carefully select the lures to troll from your riggers if you are high speeding because of the great resistance the gear will have at those speeds. The lure needs to be able to stay in the water at speed while not exerting too much resistance. Bart has a couple of long headed lures with a small cupped face that are designed for this application. Fortunately, at more normal offshore trolling speeds you shouldn't have a problem trolling smaller artificials or natural baits. Trying to run a deep swimming lure or bait from the riggers normally doesn't work well because of the extra height from the rigger and the high resistance of many of those lures (like deep swimming plugs). It's normally best to pull your plugs from the rod tips and run your surface or shallower baits/lures from the riggers. Adding weight to a bait will help keep it in the water at trolling speed but will not normally sink it very deep and if you are after sailfish you do not want heavy weights on your line. To go deep you need either lures that are designed to dive down like plugs or use a downrigger to take the bait or lure down deep.
As for the more stuff in the water increasing your chances... yes, sometimes, if all the gear is correctly deployed. But, one correctly set up bait or lure is more effective than six that aren't.
Last edited by Patudo; 11-03-2009 at 06:33 PM.
Reason: amending some bits
Thanks eveyone I am getting the picture here. High speed for Wahoo do on heavy poles with the 50's and for others like Kings etc use outriggers and slow the troll down. This info will help keep me from make a complete mess of things. I have been fishing for several years but trolling is new to me.
Long riggers are good but STIFF riggers are a must. If the riggers are whippy, they will bounce back and forth as the baits pull through the waves. Not good.
You can't pull heavy weights off riggers and you should not want to. If the idea is to get the weight down, why start the line higher than you need to. If we aren't pulling a heavy weight or bait from the rod tip, we tie the line down as low as we can get it with a Roller Troller release.
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Capt. Lindsay Fuller
June Bug Charters
Beach Haven, NJ
Member - Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association
Life Member - RFA & NRA
Thanks again. I got my AP up and working over the weekend and broke the transducer mount on a hidden just under the water stump about 10 miles out. It rolled out at the starboard engine, I am glad that was all it damaged. Well the speedo quit too but that is easy to fix. I tried running a stretch 30 on 1 rod and a 32 oz lead with a wahoo rig on the other, did great at 5 knots ran a 24 oz cigar lead and the 32 oz with wahoo rigs and they ran great. This was all just trial and error for me, I did have someone on board that knew something about what we were doing. I did run the 2 last baits up to 20 knots to see what would happen. They stayed in the water and ran straight behind me. I know 20 is high but like I said this was all trial and error. I have not purchased the outriggers yet but am looking to do so at the Miami show, gives me a reason to go to Miami show I can compare all the different makes and see the RUPPS I have not seen them any place yet. again Thanks for the info. This is like Christmas to me, Auto Pilot is GREAT. and the ability to troll and have the boat go where I want it to while I work the lines etc is just great.
i dont know many guys who use their outriggers for wahoo to be honest. you might get a lot of false releases on the clips and stress on the outriggers this way. i dont remember if you mentioned it already, but make sure to at least get 1 1/2" outriggers since they are strogner than the 1 1/8" outriggers. Lee, Rupp, and Taco are all great quality products. I believe people tend to say the Lee's come in at the top as far as quality (from what ive read).
when we go after wahoo, we'll usually troll two lines off the rear gunnel rod holders.
we've also done another 2 off of rod riggers at the same time instead of using the outriggers since there's so much weight and speed involved. the rod riggers will get you about another 6' of spread off to each side of the boat.
if you wanted to be conservative, you could run one line off the middle, and one off of each rod rigger, and have a decent wahoo spread.
help with outriggers
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