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“How you mount your rigg’rs” deserves a bit of fore-thought. The more the better. Different boats and different owners require different things. I’ve had a lot of inquiries, curiosities & WTF’s at the launch about the board I built, so I thought I’d post what mine is all about.

Back in ’84 I decided to get smaller lighter boat. Although fishing was my motive, the family wanted somewhat of a fun boat. Something that could be pulled up on the beach for a picnic, go for a swim, water-ski with… whatever, as well as fish with on small bays or even the Finger Lakes. With a couple small kids, being deep & having storage space was very important. (As well as needed for on the lake) I ended up buying an 18 Ft aluminum BlueFin.

The problem was: How to mount a couple riggers & rod holders when faced with a deep run-about boat with an engine well that looks like this?

My 1st rigg’rs were a carryover from a previous boat. They were short arm fixed base manual Rivieras. I could have mounted them in the very back corners but knew I’d have a heck of a time reaching over that engine well & attaching lines. If I had swivel bases, I’d still have a rough time. Even with a hook, pedistal, swivel, or hinged base, I’d be bouncing the balls quite regularly. I also wanted to be able to easily remove the rigg’rs for the family outings & for security. I could have mounted them on the side but the bracketing might be a hassle for anyone climbing into or out of the boat. I was also leery of the turns & the cables going under the boat & into the lower unit. I also need to mention here that the boat is stored outside so I also didn’t want anything permanently sticking up & interfering with or cut the tarp cover.

My solution was to make a removable board with very low attachment points on the boat. Mount the board where I could easily reach the crank & the ball (without smashing the hull). With a board, I could mount it just over the engine well and actually be able to use the padded front of the well as something to brace myself against while cranking them up. If I made it about a foot wider than the boat on each side, it would help prevent catching the cable in the prop on turns. (Also give me a little more spread and help avoid cable tangles) If they were mounted at 45 deg, I wouldn’t have to worry about wear or cutting the rigg’r pulley with the cable and still not have to worry about the ball hitting the hull.

Sounded good in theory. There was only one problem. With a board wider than the boat, would I knock the heck out of something whenever I docked the boat…….??? Finding a solution to this is a lot easier today than it was then. It had to be hinged. But the hinges had to be real solid. Barn door hinges wouldn’t work. I certainly didn’t want the board to warp, twist or the rigg’rs to flop around in the breeze.

So…here’s what I did. I built my own hinge system. I cut a 2X8 board to the length I wanted then I cut off a piece from each end at a bevel. (Seal those bevels really well.) I then used some aluminum angle and used them to attach & support the cut-off pieces. The ends that attached to the main board were notched. (I’ll mention here that aluminum is very easy to work with. Any power tool that cuts wood [drill, band saw, etc] has more than enough power to cut aluminum. Just take it slow & be very careful of any chips. I.e. wear safety glasses & long sleeve shirts.) The notch is required if you want it to hinge. The longer the notch the more past vertical it will hinge.

On the notch end, I drilled a hole and went completely through the main board and through the angle on the other side. (Actually, I measured it off & drilled from both sides) On each side of the hole in the main board I put a small piece of aluminum with the same size hole in it to act as a “rub-plate.” (The angle would rub against this and not on the wood.) It would also act as a bearing for the metal rod that went through the entire assembly. The rod serves as a fulcrum or axle. The rod is threaded on both ends. To make up for the “rub-plate” thickness, I simply inverted another piece of angle on the cut-off piece of wood. This second angle also allowed me to really crank on the bolts holding the angle to the wood without crushing the wood. The rod I used was 5/16 diam. I double nutted the angles & used some acorns wherever I thought that mono or cable might come in contact with threads.

Aluminum & stainless screws for this project were bought at supply houses, not big name hardware stores. (Look them up in the phone book. You won’t regret the savings.)

My first board lasted until about two years ago and would still be going strong but I wanted to add an extension on the front of it for a scale & make new rod holders. Here are some pix of what I have now.

The way it is mounted to the boat is simple. A couple of threaded aluminum plates are permanently mounted on the boat back out of the way of anyone getting into or out of the boat. For hold down screws, I simply used flat head screws with a wingnut screwed on real tight upside down. The board has holes that are aligned with the bracket holes.

I should also mention that a couple years back I bought swivel base Cannons. In order to get at the release for the swivel without scraping my fingernails I put two pieces of ¼” aluminum under the swivel base & cut off a little of the angle.

I tension the hinge assembly by simply tightening up on the rod nuts a little.

Now some guys may say “Man, you went to a lot of trouble.” & of course I probably did. But in my view, with a simple rod holder costing $35 or better, I saved a small fortune and only had to put four small holes in the boat for two rigg’rs & 5 rod holders. Best of all, I’ve never seen another like it, it’s solid and it works great for me.

Tom B.
(LongLine)

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