3 or 4 Downriggers

[dstephe 1]

 What are everyones option on running 3 or 4 down riggers. pro and cons for both. 8.6 ft beam

[TrophySeeker 18]

Depends on the boat layout. I set up my boat for 5, but only have 3 in place. I'm a straight inboard, so I run one straight down the chute, then 1 on each side/back corner. 3 works really well for me. An outboard or I/O may need to be set up differently.

[John E Powell 29]

2 is often better than 3 or 4. Used to have 5, now almost never even mount the 3rd.

 

 

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[Sk8man 334]

11 minutes ago, John E Powell said:

2 is often better than 3 or 4. Used to have 5, now almost never even mount the 3rd.

 

X2

I've used three in the past but pretty much stick with two because sometimes less is more in terms of results. I use sliders on both riggers pretty much all of the time and with a third rigger with larger fish that want to go sideways the third rigger can be in the way or can get into the wire rigs on the sides. but it does very much depend on your particular boat layout as to how well it works Keep the 3rd one in my vehicle as a back-up😀

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 21 by Sk8man

[spoonfed-1 10]

Four and would like five but the kicker is in the way. 10 ft beam. Sometimes less is better and on those days I run less.

[Adm Byrd 5]

4 can work relatively shallow but 3 sometimes is too much with the currents, I have 8' 6" beam as well.

[Total Chaos 3]

I run 2 and do well. When they're on a rigger bite 3 would be nice but I have twin OB's so it's not an option. I'll stack rods if I have to.

Total Chaos

[jimski2 31]

2 riggers, 2 dipseys and 2 sideplanersw with leadcore seem to cover a lot of territory.

[Rich D 16]

I ran 4 riggers to start on my Thompson, but then went down to 3. I now run 3 riggers on my 11’6” beam, with kicker, run my chute rigger right over my kicker. 3 riggers, 2 dipseys 1-3 coppers.

Capt Rich.


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[Fishtails 13]

 10 guys will give you all different answers. How many riggers depends on your boat and how you fish. I had 4, went down to 3, and now normally run 2.   I'd like more for Brown Trout, but 2 is all I need for salmon.

  

With the clear water, fishing has changed.  Getting some of your baits further away from the boat can be more productive for salmon once the sun comes up so most guys are down to 3 riggers max. If you fish browns much, they love riggers!

 

Some guys still run 4-5 riggers with lots of success, but its really just a different style of bait presentation.  Depends on how you like to fish.  Its hard to deny that a rigger fish is much easier to reel in than a 600 copper fish.

[Tyee II 27]

Having the option to run as many as your boat can handle is the way I think. I am set up with 4 on both my Lund and my Grady. 4 is nice for a 12 rod spread, 3 is perfect for a 9 rod spread, and 2 for the 6 rod spread. 

 

I tend to run 3 most times with 2 riggers on one side working a team with a slider on the higher rigger rod so I am covering 3 depths close together. I feel naked running only 2 riggers since I added the other 2.

[garrymny 45]

My Boat came with 4. I removed 2. I use 2 Drs, 2 with divers, and a lead core if I want a 5th.

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[Yankee Troller 50]

I set mine up for 5. Not that I'd ever run 5, but it allows me to run 3 or 4. That being said I've never ran more than 3 on this boat. On smaller beam boats I think 2 is all that's really needed. Running multiple divers and junk lines can use up those rods.

[Sk8man 334]

I think Rick is right on the money with his answer. My boat is set up for 4 but I  have only run three max and not real often as it pretty much precludes running divers on that side where I have the third downrigger position with the boom out 90 degrees so I'm stuck with either boards or outrigger on that side if I run the rigger there. I always run two downriggers with sliders unless fishing very shallow when I omit the sliders

Edited December 4 by Sk8man

[Silver Fox 87]

I run 3 also. This past season, if i had a dime for every time I pulled the shute rigger because of a slow rigger bite then all of a sudden came to life, I'd have about 70cents. More is not always better today. Maybe in the 80's and 90's.

Silverfoxcharters.net

[Zinger11 9]

3 I have a I/O with a kicker. On the kicker side I run 1 and a diver. The kicker seams to suck in lures if your not careful when setting up   

[Hooked Custom Lures 5]

What about using wingers on the shallow riggers? would they act as a deep short diver? I know there are a lot of people that use them.

[jimski2 31]

Two riggers, two dipseys, four in-line planers are enough for me.


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[Wildcat 0]

I ran 3 on my old boat [10' beam] but on this boat [8'9"beam] I like 2 riggers, 2 wire dipsy, 2 copper. With clearer water seem to do better 2 downriggers. 

 

[Sk8man 334]

The recurrent theme seems to be the clearer water conditions have suggested "less might end up as more as far as the fish are concerned" regardless of beam width etc. Too often we tend to overcomplicate the situation with the good old American way of "more must be better" and it isn't always better..... sometimes just adjusting things by running lines further back or away from boat turbulence is all that is needed but often overlooked.

Edited December 5 by Sk8man

[Silver Fox 87]

How many times have you guys picked up for the day and said "look at the fish on the graph"!

Silverfoxcharters.net

[Tyee II 27]

One rigger bouncing or near bottom with a short stretch for Lakers, another rigger on the same side 10-20ft. above the bottom rigger with a SWR, and a probe rigger on the opposite side that changes depth with conditions is what I run most often in the gin-clear waters of Lake Michigan. If I am avoiding Lakers and not running the deep rigger close to bottom, I will still keep the tail gunner second rigger just above with the SWR, and don't have to worry about short stretches spooking fish down deep.

 

The fourth rigger gives me other options that still work in clear water like running a rod right in the prop wash for aggressive Coho. We are lucky to have multiple species to target for much of the summer in the southwestern basin of Lake Michigan and Grand Slams of 5 species are common at times. Having more riggers gives me more options to target more species, and you can pull it off in clear water if you can spread them out into productive areas of the water column.

 

 

[spoonfed-1 10]

1 hour ago, Tyee II said:

One rigger bouncing or near bottom with a short stretch for Lakers, another rigger on the same side 10-20ft. above the bottom rigger with a SWR, and a probe rigger on the opposite side that changes depth with conditions is what I run most often in the gin-clear waters of Lake Michigan. If I am avoiding Lakers and not running the deep rigger close to bottom, I will still keep the tail gunner second rigger just above with the SWR, and don't have to worry about short stretches spooking fish down deep.

 

The fourth rigger gives me other options that still work in clear water like running a rod right in the prop wash for aggressive Coho. We are lucky to have multiple species to target for much of the summer in the southwestern basin of Lake Michigan and Grand Slams of 5 species are common at times. Having more riggers gives me more options to target more species, and you can pull it off in clear water if you can spread them out into productive areas of the water column.

 

 

 

Theres one guy that knows how to fish 4 riggers

Edited December 5 by spoonfed-1

[Iceman 6]

dstephe

 

I have always run four riggers on my 20' Lund Newport, & my current boat 22' Hewscraft Searunner  for thirty years with no trouble (both with 8' beams).  I run out and down riggers with the rigger weight fin bent so it pulls the side riggers out, & away from the boat.  I often run four riggers as deep as 160' with no issues. Most days, all riggers take fish. 

 

tight lines;

 

John

[Gill-T 110]

4 riggers can be extremely stealthy with braid cable.