 |
||||
|
Rig
and Equip your trailer boat for Success
By: Russell Gahagan
The
majority of anglers fishing the Great Lakes own a boat twenty-one foot
or less. In this article we will discuss how to rig and equip your boat
to have a ton of success fishing salmon and trout on the great lakes this
year. The first thing you have to look at when rigging your boat is your
motor or motors location. Do you have outboards, inboard or an I/O? This
will be a determining factor on downrigger number and placement. The other
determining factor will be the beam of your boat. Most small boats will
select two, three or four downriggers. If you have an Inboard motor I
would recommend rigging your boat with three downriggers. There has always
been something about a middle downrigger down the deepest that produces
lots of salmon. If you have an outboard or an I/O motor two downriggers
or four downriggers will suit your boat best. The determining factor of
this decision is your boats beam. I would recommend if you have less than
an eight foot beam you should rig your boat with two downriggers. These
two downriggers can be placed as either boom downriggers or corner downriggers
depending on your boats layout. If your boat has an 8 foot beam or greater
you can use four downriggers. I would recommend setting your boat up with
four downriggers because even if you don't use them every day there will
be plenty of times you will be glad you have them.
We
have now selected the number of downriggers we will rig our boat with
and were we will place them on to diver rod holders. The number of diver
rod holders you will want to rig your boat with is opinionative upon the
number of divers you like to run. Rigging your boat with four diver rod
holders is recommended even if you tend to run only two most days. The
extra holder will come in handy if you decide to run four holders and
as an extra holder to move rods to and from. When selecting a rod holder
for diver fishing you must take into consideration the pressure a magnum
diver puts on a holder. You will want to rig your boat with quality aluminum
machined rod holders like Big Jon Sports heavy duty diver rod holder.
This rod holder is built to absorb the stress divers put on the holder
and your boat.
Determining
the position of your planer board rod holders can be overwhelming with
all the options on the market. One determining factor will be do you have
a hard top, soft top or no top at all. A radar arch is a very common way
to mount your planer board rod holders to. If you have a hard top you
can mount the holders on a rocket launcher directly to your hard top.
Rod holder trees are the newest innovation in planer board rod holders
and the preferred method for most small boats. I have rod holder trees
on my boat and really like them. They are heavy duty and durable and can
hold as many as four rods at a time. Getting quality heavy duty trees
will also reduce the stress planer boards put on your boat. There are
a few different brands to choice from when selecting a pair of rod holder
trees my advice would be to go with heavy duty trees not the ones with
the plastic rod holders.