Just wondering from the guys that have lots of downrigger experience if running four downrigger is possible without have a headache on your hands? I have two cannon sport trolls already mounted on my 16 foot star craft and just received two cannon uni trolls that extend aways out just don't know how or if it will work. Wanting to target the kokes later this season at the gorge and the berry and thought four lines down would be sweet. Any ideas would be much appreciated if it can't be done guess I need to sell one set or the other what ones would you guys hold on too?
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What I've been experimenting with is two poles per rigger. You can hook one up normal then they make a clamp that connects to the cable. The only downside is if one pops off you have to reset the whole thing.
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In my experience growing up on Puget Sound, only the larger boats (+24 feet) can handle four downriggers. A lot of the fishing guides up there have four for Salmon fishing and it works wel because they have the space between them. l. I think you will be tangling a lot on a 16 footer.
TiteLines
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You absolutely can. I would put the long reach riggers off the sides to increase spread. Then I would keep them spread as if you are stacking because they're too close to run the same depth. Keep them at least 10 feet apart if they're next to each other. So say 20-30-20-30. I run 6 koke poles on three riggers all the time. Tangles happen but experience, proper spreading and boat control can reduce the tangles. If you have four riggers anyways... It's a better way to stack 4 rigs than 4 on two riggers. Don't get greedy and try 8 though. You have to have a very wide boat to pull that off.
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It will work fine Allen, there are many people that run 4 riggers, even a few on this site. Bduck is one member that uses 4 riggers on his boat and has no issues but of course you have to be careful not to make your turns too quick. He likes to run one rigger deeper than the other just for that reason and it seems to work great. He runs two rigger straight out the back of his boat the other two are on the side, like your boat. You have to be careful with the one that is near your trolling motor and that is why some folks will only run three riggers, so they don't have to deal with a rigger near their trolling motor.
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I like running 2 poles per downrigger with stackers. But that's just me. If I had a larger boat I might consider 4 riggers.
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I would not do It on a 14' boat
I use Three cannon elct. on a 20' boat and that works good for me I stack one. and in the spring and fall use a planner board. if 3 of use are on the boat.
I can hit a button and bring them up fast, if the bottom is coming up fast. I have lost downrigger balls by not watching the fishfinder.
the riggers on the side and toward the front should run deeper so you don't get them all hooked togather if the wind comes up and whipps you around you could end up having all the balls joined togather.
also fishing for kokes you need the lures apart so a koke can only see one
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Thanks for the great insight guys I think I'm just gonna do what curt suggested and I will just run 3 that way I won't have to worry about one close to my trolling motor. What size balls do most off you guys run? And I noticed last year that sometimes my downriggers would make a humming sound as I was trolling is this bad if so how to solve the problem I imagine if I can hear it the fish can hear and probably feel the vibrations
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The humming sound is good for fishing if your voltage is right
[url "http://www.protroll.com/books/?id=5"]http://www.protroll.com/books/?id=5[/url]
this is a good read it will help you catch more fish.
I use 8 and 10 lb balls and watch them on the fish finder.to put them just above the fish. but if you are using a diving lure you need to be up higher fish come up to hit the lure. you can see them on the finder come up.
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i set up my boat with thoughts of running four but the fourth one ended up to close to the trolling motor s i stuck with three and it seems to be working well. right now .
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If you have steel cable on all your riggers they will all hum depending on your speed. I have braided line of one of my riggers and it does not hum but the line is not as strong as the steel cable. As far a ball size goes, it depends on how deep and fast you are trolling but in general I use either 8 or 10 lb balls. I have never noticed the hum effecting the numbers of fish I catch. It might carry into the water but I doubt it or it would be a bigger issue.
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I run 4 DR's on a boat just shy of 20 feet in length. They work fine on this size boat. It might be tight quarters on a 16 feet; however, I think it could be done with some experience & if the desire were great enough.
With the two on the side, I extend the DR as far as they go and put a 6 lbs weight. Because of the lever arm with the extended booms, heavy weights put a lot of stress on the boat frame, along with the DR mount & fasteners. I use the lighter weights to keep from damaging things.
With the two on the rear, I keep them tight to the boat & use 10 lbs weights. The DR opposite the kicker motor I run straight back. The DR adjacent to the kicker, I skew 45 degrees to give me some distance from the prop.
I usually get a good tangle at least once a year either from a run away fish circling under the boat, or from the wind spinning me while I'm trying to reel a fish in. In my opinion, the juice is worth the squeeze so I have used the 4 riggers for 10 years now & absolutely love this type of fishing. I generally troll 6 bugs though the water (4 main lines & two cheaters on the rear DR's)
I run the 2 rear DR's deeper and further back (depth & length = 100 feet) and the two side DR's shallower & shorter (At least 10 - 20 feet shallower than the rear DR's & 30 behind the boat).
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I added your video to your post but there is a lot of good info at that link as well. It is really amazing to see all those kokes going after that lure. How deep were you trolling with your down rigger in that video?
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I also put a Gopro camera on my downrigger ball I have a home made bracket and I think OFC bought his, he gets better video than I do, but the fish will come right to the downrigger wire then go back to the lure
so I think the Electricity in the wire ATTRACTs FISH it is .65 volts
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[quote wiperhunter2]It will work fine Allen, there are many people that run 4 riggers, even a few on this site. Bduck is one member that uses 4 riggers on his boat and has no issues but of course you have to be careful not to make your turns too quick. He likes to run one rigger deeper than the other just for that reason and it seems to work great. He runs two rigger straight out the back of his boat the other two are on the side, like your boat. You have to be careful with the one that is near your trolling motor and that is why some folks will only run three riggers, so they don't have to deal with a rigger near their trolling motor.[/quote]
Having 4 riggers can be a headache if your not paying attention to how your setup. My long arms reach out 4' to the sides with the short arms off the corners. On port side is kicker which that cable runs right next to prop. A prop guard prevents cable from getting entangled. My short arms run deeper and depending the target fish I will use a lure that will still get a little deeper than the rigger weight. This helps with line tangle prevention. Also, I don't use long setbacks. When making sharp turns is when lines tend to tangle especially long lining. Before going to 4 riggers I use to stack. Premature releases kept me very busy and frustrated at times. Its easier for me to handle 1 rig at a time with less stress of keeping lines in the water. This problem is lessen when I would have company on board attending 2 riggers but line tangles are always a threat.
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As I recall, I was 20 to 25 feet deep with the ball.
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