# Crestliner rigging - I am lost



## stockrex (Apr 29, 2009)

Greetings,

I just bought a new 17 ft crestliner.
It comes with a factory install 55 lb trolling motor and a 90 hp 4 stroke merc.

Radio - I bought a Standard Horizon gx1700 marine radio (with built in GPS)
I have a Lowrence hds 5 (with gps andmaps) , I will use instead of the Lowrence 3x on the boat now.

I bought a few of the crestliner factory accessory mounts for the suremounts.

I need suggestions for the following please:

1. Rod holder
2. Down rigger
3. tree/rocket launcher that can be easily removed

What is the break in for the Merc motor and lower? run it like I stole it?

Do I need to register a MMSI id? do you guys have AIS receivers?

[seemourbutts] I plan on upgrading to an ONIX 10 after I win the lottery, but for the time being I will use my hds for the downscan and a gps enabled tabled for the navionics lake maps cached. I just need to get a waterproof case for my nexus.


----------



## tubejig (Jan 21, 2002)

The first thing i would do is upgrade the bow mount to 80lb if you plan to troll. The break in for the merc is in the manual, and be sure to follow it, they put it there for a reason. 

As far as rod holders go, it depends on how many sure mounts you want to buy. I suppose you could use the down rigger sure mount bracket for trees. Realistically, you need to look at some holders first and decide how many and where you want them. 

Sent from my GT-P5210 using Ohub Campfire mobile app


----------



## phantom cls (Nov 7, 2008)

as tj said read the manual. if you run it like you stole it, you won't have a motor to run.


----------



## Jimbos (Nov 21, 2000)

phantom cls said:


> as tj said read the manual. if you run it like you stole it, you won't have a motor to run.


Mercury has some pretty ridiculous break-in procedures. Your whole first summer would be for breaking in.

Their ass covering, as I can't believe their tolerances are that tight.


----------



## stockrex (Apr 29, 2009)

I don't have possession of the boat yet, but I reviewed this:





So, basically vary rpm (2500 to 4500) for first 2 hours to seat the rings and then another 2 hours of varied rpm with wot but not sustained

I will definitely follow break procedure, the only thing is finding a body of water where can run it at varied rpm for 2 hours, probably have to go on lake mi on a calm day.

Which downrigger do I go for? how do I figure out which arm length I need?


----------



## triplelunger (Dec 21, 2009)

stockrex said:


> I don't have possession of the boat yet, but I reviewed this:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


If your crestliner is like mine with the narrow gunnels, you will need a slim base downrigger. I have one Big John gadabout with the slim base that has worked great, and I plan to add a second.
Big John also makes a slim base rod holder that I like. 
I have a total of 4 scotty mounts as well that work fantastic.


----------



## salmonslammer (Jan 28, 2001)

Might want to consider a track system so you can move rod holders around.... Its not cheap but you will only have to buy it once. I'm outfitting my boat now so I feel your pain! 

As far as downriggers.... I like the shorter arms and run mine off the sides. The "new" boat has a swim platform so I'm planning on 2 shorts on the sides and a pair of 4's off the back.


----------



## 23offshore (Jan 29, 2013)

salmonslammer said:


> Might want to consider a track system so you can move rod holders around.... Its not cheap but you will only have to buy it once. I'm outfitting my boat now so I feel your pain!
> 
> As far as downriggers.... I like the shorter arms and run mine off the sides. The "new" boat has a swim platform so I'm planning on 2 shorts on the sides and a pair of 4's off the back.





stockrex said:


> Greetings,
> 
> I just bought a new 17 ft crestliner.
> It comes with a factory install 55 lb trolling motor and a 90 hp 4 stroke merc.
> ...


 Always curious when I see a post like this or " I just purchased a whatever brand boat, what prop should I use " Did the dealer not go over the break in procedure with you and give you suggestions for rigging the boat with downriggers, rod holders, etc. Makes me think that many dealers are just interested in the sale and not customer service or maybe they just don't know these things, if they are in the business of selling this type of boat they should learn how to discuss these things with the customer.


----------



## thill (Aug 23, 2006)

I use Traxtech plates for my fishhawk. I can mount and remove my riggers in seconds.


----------



## stockrex (Apr 29, 2009)

triplelunger said:


> If your crestliner is like mine with the narrow gunnels, you will need a slim base downrigger. I have one Big John gadabout with the slim base that has worked great, and I plan to add a second.
> Big John also makes a slim base rod holder that I like.
> I have a total of 4 scotty mounts as well that work fantastic.


I bought a vision, and I am going to use the suremount side accessory mounts to mount rod holder, so I am not sure if my gunnel width matter,

For downrigger, can I use the crestliner suremount downligger mount?

I like the suremounts as I can slide the item to any position and lock it again.


----------



## stockrex (Apr 29, 2009)

salmonslammer said:


> Might want to consider a track system so you can move rod holders around.... Its not cheap but you will only have to buy it once. I'm outfitting my boat now so I feel your pain!
> 
> As far as downriggers.... I like the shorter arms and run mine off the sides. The "new" boat has a swim platform so I'm planning on 2 shorts on the sides and a pair of 4's off the back.


No swim platform (though I wanted one),
the boat has a built in track system (suremount), I bought 9 accessory mounts and I am thinking of buying 2 downrigger mounts


----------



## stockrex (Apr 29, 2009)

23offshore said:


> Always curious when I see a post like this or " I just purchased a whatever brand boat, what prop should I use " Did the dealer not go over the break in procedure with you and give you suggestions for rigging the boat with downriggers, rod holders, etc. Makes me think that many dealers are just interested in the sale and not customer service or maybe they just don't know these things, if they are in the business of selling this type of boat they should learn how to discuss these things with the customer.


offshore, you have hit the nail on the head, I have been asking for the break-in info from the dealer for about a week.
I picked up the boat few days back and the break instruction did not match the on in the users manual.

I enjoy reading what other people have done and why, hence my request for others to share what they have done and why.


----------



## stockrex (Apr 29, 2009)

thill said:


> I use Traxtech plates for my fishhawk. I can mount and remove my riggers in seconds.


thumb screws? how do you remove a rigger?


----------



## thill (Aug 23, 2006)

stockrex said:


> thumb screws? how do you remove a rigger?


Yes, two screws on each plate. I'm trying to post a picture but I'm having trouble with the server. I'll keep trying.


----------



## thill (Aug 23, 2006)

stockrex said:


> thumb screws? how do you remove a rigger?



Traxtech swivel mount (apparently upside down).


----------



## stockrex (Apr 29, 2009)

tubejig said:


> The first thing i would do is upgrade the bow mount to 80lb if you plan to troll. The break in for the merc is in the manual, and be sure to follow it, they put it there for a reason.
> 
> As far as rod holders go, it depends on how many sure mounts you want to buy. I suppose you could use the down rigger sure mount bracket for trees. Realistically, you need to look at some holders first and decide how many and where you want them.
> 
> Sent from my GT-P5210 using Ohub Campfire mobile app


Don't have the $$$ to upgrade the trolling motor now, I will table that as a future item

Break-in fiasco
Book says 
2 hours - 2500 rpm to 4500 rpm
6 hours more of same with wot for a min max.

I found 2 big Jon rod holder and 1 canon in my stash 
I will use these for now till I can figure what I need


----------



## Sampsons_owner (Dec 30, 2005)

For the break in on ours last summer we just put in on the river and went for nice ride. Everyone got familiar with how the new boat operated and enjoyed a nice sunny day on the river. Steve


----------



## stockrex (Apr 29, 2009)

thill said:


> Traxtech swivel mount (apparently upside down).
> 
> View attachment 220922


Thanks,

The big jons come with set screws that I could probably sway with thumb screws of the same thread pitch.

Speaking of Big Jon
Where can I get parts? I am missing a base for a big jon rod holder.

Fish finder,
I have a full windshield, I am finding that it is pretty tight on the dash, I don't think I can fit a 10 inch hummingbird on the dash.


----------



## kroppe (May 7, 2000)

stockrex how is the rigging coming? Do you have any pics of your new rig? Would like to see how you have it set up.


----------



## stockrex (Apr 29, 2009)

Had to take the crestliner back to dealer for some little stuff.

Kroppe,
Been busy buying tackle and researching rod holders how best to make of the little space on my boat.

In my stash, I have 2 dipsey rods, bunch of dipseys, 2 linecounter reels, 2 big john rod holders (hand me down, one is missing a track base),

Fish Finder: I am going to take out the factory hummingbird 3x and put in my lowrance 5hds, I am eyeing a Hummingbird 10 Onix or 8 but I will wait till black Friday/Christmas to buy it.

Downriggers: are out for now $$$ are just not there this now, I will have to use dipseys, copper, JB Spoons to get em down to 50 ft to 80 ft. No bouncing the bottom for greasers for moi ;-)

Rod Holders: I need 2 more, How about the canon adjustable rod holder? I like how they are simple and they are like $86 a pop, I can just mount them on to the crestliner suremount accessory mount.

So 2 dipseys on the side and 2 wire/jbs down the back.

Marine Radio: I bought the standard horizon gx1700, this has a built in gps, it was $200 with a $40 rebate

Marine Radio antenna:
I need help here, I read online found that GAM SS-2 is a viable option, this is a 4ft antenna, I bought 2 4 ft extentions, so I could mount it 12 high 
1. GAM SS-2 will work ? This antenna has to cut for a certain sweet spot (frequency), what length do I cut it to?

2. Can a suremount accessory mount take the strain of a 8ft antenna? I want to mount the base on a sure mount so I could take it down and lay it down the middle of the boat for winter storage.

Chartplotter:
I have subscription to navionics and I tried it on my Nexus pda with 500 ntu brightness, so it is easy to see in day light, I bought a mount for it for the windshield, it worked but I need to fine tune it.
I will get a Samsung galaxy s tablet, they are also very bright, they have built in gps too. so being android based I am going to use this and my navionics subscription to look at lake maps and chartplot.


Pics of Der Fishing Machine:


----------



## stockrex (Apr 29, 2009)

Pic of below the dash










Pic of the power fuse box


----------



## stockrex (Apr 29, 2009)

Sampsons_owner said:


> For the break in on ours last summer we just put in on the river and went for nice ride. Everyone got familiar with how the new boat operated and enjoyed a nice sunny day on the river. Steve


I like that, I went to Muskegon Lake, I need to run it another 5 hours, total of 8 hrs.


----------



## kroppe (May 7, 2000)

Looking good!


----------



## yoopertoo (Nov 23, 2005)

stockrex said:


> Greetings,
> 
> I just bought a new 17 ft crestliner.


Which model?


----------



## stockrex (Apr 29, 2009)

Vision 1700


----------



## lodge lounger (Sep 16, 2005)

Not sure if you have made a decision on your rod holder set-up, but I went with the Bert's track mount and ratcheting holders on my 25 Proline. Very solid set up, great holders for heavy dipsy fishing, pull 'em off and pop in the step plate in minutes and your boat goes from fishin' machine to pleasure boating. Pricey, but in my experience worth it.

http://berts-tackle.shptron.com/c/berts-custom-tackle_rod-holders


----------



## stockrex (Apr 29, 2009)

lodge lounger said:


> Not sure if you have made a decision on your rod holder set-up, but I went with the Bert's track mount and ratcheting holders on my 25 Proline. Very solid set up, great holders for heavy dipsy fishing, pull 'em off and pop in the step plate in minutes and your boat goes from fishin' machine to pleasure boating. Pricey, but in my experience worth it.
> 
> http://berts-tackle.shptron.com/c/berts-custom-tackle_rod-holders


Hey lodge thanks for the details, I checked them out, I like the racheting holders, but my gunnel is too narrow plus it is a solid gunnel,

More in my Rigging Part Thread, I am retiring this thread.


----------

