Making Outriggers For Myself

General Fishing Discussion
1

Hey y’all,

Okay, let give some background for my question here.

I’ve got four poles for trolling. Good enough for some Kings and Dolphin. Putting the rods in the four rod holders in the sides of the boat gets the lines in the water but with little to no spread, as we all know.

The other day, West Marine was selling clamp on rod holders, BOGO!! So, I took the bait and purchased two. Put them up on the sides of the T-top, and trolled with two rods sticking out of them, and two rods in the side wall holders straight back. A little better spread, but the trouble of getting them in and out of the T-top mounted clamp on’s, especially when a fish hit was a pain.

A while later, I found two 6 ft. plus metal rods in my back yard one day behind my shed, and this idea hit me, why not put them in the clamp on rod holders for “outriggers.” I put and eye bolt at the end, ran some kite string through them, tied a release clip in there, and secured the poles in the rod holders with some small bungee cords. They worked really well while I was fishing in NC a little while back. In fact, most of my strikes came on them, and not my planers.

So, the metal poles worked so well as “outriggers,” but only gave me a little over 6 feet each. As the metal poles get longer though, they get heavier. I was thinking about buying some PVC pipe, three segments, each getting smaller than the other creating a taper going to the tip. I’m looking for like 11 to 12 feet of length. If I put some stainless eye bolts down the length, buy a basic $40 rigging kit, I think I can make this work. The only issue I see is the weight of the poles and the “clamp on” feature of the rod holders. I’ve got to come up with some way to keep them from rotating under the weight of the PVC pipe. I’ve got some ideas for that, but nothing really good yet.

My question is, for those of you that use T-top mounted outriggers, how does this sound to you? Based on your experience using them, does this sound feasible? I mean, the clamp on holders

2

This is what I started out with. I have new poles, clips and new halyard line now though.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0031598017629a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=dotline&sort=all&Go.y=4&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&Go.x=28&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1

I still have the poles if you want them. I want nothing for them.

“Miss Amanda”
-KeyWest
-Bluewater 2020CC
-Yammy F-150God is GOOD!! ALL the time!!</font id=“blue”>

3

Lynn!! I’ll take 'em. You are the best. That would make my day. I’m literally doing back flips right now. Um . . . . . I’m in FL visiting my in-laws right now, and I’ll be back in town this weekend.

2003 Sea Pro 220
“Reelly Blessed”</font id=“blue”>
2002 Yamaha 250 OX66

4

I made some cheap poles from old 6/0 Penn roller rods worked for two seasons. I got outrigger poles if you want them also they are fiber glass . lynnmcd if Sirecks doesn’t want your outrigger poles I could use them I am not happy with the fiber glass poles they don’t work good for me with live bait to much bounce.

5

Okay, so educate a noob here, what’s the difference in the poles. I know that if I bought a Taco kit, they come with metal telescoping poles . . . . what is the story with the different materials and the fish you are trying to catch?

2003 Sea Pro 220
“Reelly Blessed”</font id=“blue”>
2002 Yamaha 250 OX66

6

fiber glass poles are softer poles if there is a thing. They bow to much for me slow trolling for kings. where as a aluminum type or Taco telescoping pole are stiff and can take a load with out bounce. Just my observation from OJT.

7

I’m guessing then that too much bounce moves the bait around too much, or . . . . ? In other words, what does too much bounce do that makes it a negative?

Sorry for the stupid questions.

2003 Sea Pro 220
“Reelly Blessed”</font id=“blue”>
2002 Yamaha 250 OX66

8

no stupid questions slack in my lines. I only use 15-20lbs test that little bounce in my line means a lot. When a fish hits i cant afford any slack in the line our pop goes the fishy and line. Need my lines to stay as tight as they can be only in a perfect world I know. Every little bit helps.

9

Oh, I see. So, when a fish strikes, if there’s give in the lines because the poles bend, it could foul up the release off the clips. Gotcha.

2003 Sea Pro 220
“Reelly Blessed”</font id=“blue”>
2002 Yamaha 250 OX66

10

for me when a king skies on a bait if the line is slack from the outriggers I have had the line pop. The main line found its way into the kings mouth from to much slack line in the water. Not so much the clip being the problem I only troll about 2-3 knots live baiting.

11
quote:
Originally posted by Sirecks

Oh, I see. So, when a fish strikes, if there’s give in the lines because the poles bend, it could foul up the release off the clips. Gotcha.

2003 Sea Pro 220
“Reelly Blessed”</font id=“blue”>
2002 Yamaha 250 OX66

That is right…and it will happen with pvc.

I assume your rod holders are standard and will probably take a 3/4 pipe. If so, go to Lowes or your pipe store and get about a 12’ galvanized or iron rod and put your eye bolts on them. Coat them with a heavy duty paint or lacquer. After that if you don’t care drill out 2 holes in you rod holders and two matching in the poles. Place the cotter pins that wrap around to secure them. that should be rigid and get the job done pretty cheap.

12

Thanks Lil2Sleepy. I think that is a great idea. If I can’t get these poles to work from Lynn I think that is what I’ll do.

2003 Sea Pro 220
“Reelly Blessed”</font id=“blue”>
2002 Yamaha 250 OX66

13
quote:
Originally posted by Sirecks

Thanks Lil2Sleepy. I think that is a great idea. If I can’t get these poles to work from Lynn I think that is what I’ll do.

2003 Sea Pro 220
“Reelly Blessed”</font id=“blue”>
2002 Yamaha 250 OX66

These poles are not high dollar poles, but I think you will be able to use them and like using them. I know I caught many fish while using them, including sails and wahoo…

“Miss Amanda”
-KeyWest
-Bluewater 2020CC
-Yammy F-150God is GOOD!! ALL the time!!</font id=“blue”>

14

watch the Harbor Freight adds when they have the flag poles on sale. They are telescopic aluminum pole with the eye hardware. They are not the quality of Taco or Lee outriggers, but for $29 each, they will work. You may have to remove the bottom section as its too large in diameter(loosing that length is not a bad idea as they will still be long enough). I wouldn’t recomend them as a replacement for true offshore outriggers, but they may be able to do what you’re after. Another idea was using heavy surf rods, check wallmart for the extra long surf rods that no one ever buys, they might work.

15

Thanks spareparts. I do appreciate the idea. However, I’ve got Lynn’s poles sitting in my garage right now. I’m going to be putting them on the boat today to see how the weight will affect the set up, but I’m pretty sure these rods are going to be exactly what I wanted. I do love Harbor Freight, it’s a great store.

2003 Sea Pro 220
“Reelly Blessed”</font id=“blue”>
2002 Yamaha 250 OX66

16

The poles work great!! The rod holders seem to take the weight just fine, and I even bounced the poles around a bit to see what would happen . . . . . solid!! I just have to get something to fill in the space around the pole, inside the rod holder (thanks for the suggestion Lynn!), and I’m ready to fish!!

2003 Sea Pro 220
“Reelly Blessed”</font id=“blue”>
2002 Yamaha 250 OX66

17

Excellent!! :slightly_smiling_face: I hope they work for you for a long time!!

“Miss Amanda”
-KeyWest
-Bluewater 2020CC
-Yammy F-150God is GOOD!! ALL the time!!</font id=“blue”>