# Small boat setup advise



## SWMbruiser (Jan 25, 2012)

Would like some advise in how to better troll more lines on a smaller boat. I have an 18.5' Lund Tyee with Bert's tracks. 2 rod trees , 4 ratcheting holders, a big jon downriggers and cannon downrigger. 

I can run 6-7 lines no problem. 

1 rigger in each side.
1 Magnum dipsey (braid) on each side set on 3
1 300 copper on each side of planers
And usually the full core on one and and 7 color on the other side.

My lead cores have not been producing very well for me. so until I can get a 150 copper, I am considering running 2 dipseys on each side, and ditching the lead

Would like to get up to 9 or so rods. I would like to run 2 dipseys off each side, but setting my Magnum dipseys on 3 does not really seem to get it out to the side very far in my opinion. So I am afraid if I put another first on 1 as a low diver I will run into tangles, either with my riggers or the other dipsy. Does anyone one else with a smaller boat have a setup that works well for them, to get up to 9 or more rods? How do you run it? Thanks


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## jmiller (Nov 16, 2011)

What you listed that you usually run is 8 rodes, which on a small boat is plenty. The more you have out the better chance of a tangle, the only thing I would suggest is a shorter core on both sides or stack your downriggers


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## SWMbruiser (Jan 25, 2012)

I thought about stacking my riggers. Used to do it quite a bit. But my down riggers don't seem to produce like my dipseys or copper.

Have moved to just using a free slider over stacking if I am gonna do that


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## steelyspeed (Apr 10, 2016)

SWMbruiser said:


> I thought about stacking my riggers. Used to do it quite a bit. But my down riggers don't seem to produce like my dipseys or copper.
> 
> Have moved to just using a free slider over stacking if I am gonna do that


Just make a slider set up for your rigger rods, this means two spoons/plugs per rigger rod. I typically run 10rods=2riggers, 2divers, 6 boards. This time of year I run 2riggers 4 divers and just 4 boards. I set mag divers on 1, high divers on 3. 4 divers is tricky and can only be done when boat control is perfect. For example last Saturday I could only run 2 divers because of wicked wind and current. See my report we still caught 6 nice kings with running 6-8 rods.

Also when getting bit on the rigger you need to pull fish to opposite side asap as it will want to tangle with low diver.


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## Huntmich (Sep 4, 2008)

I had a 18 foot bluefin before I got the boat I do now and I ran 9 rods a lot, sometimes 10. 6 planers on the trees, 2 dipsys and 2 riggers. If I got crazy I'd through one off the back. Tangles did happen, but for the most part, it wasn't too bad


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## Johnnydeerhunt (Apr 27, 2005)

Yeah, this ^. Also, shortest cores and coppers go on the outside. You can do a 150 - 225 - 300 copper on one side and a 3 - 7 - 10 color on the other. That plus the 2 divers and 2 riggers is 10. Should be able to catch them with that. I hate stackers on the riggers.


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## danthebuilder (Nov 22, 2011)

The biggest limiting factor in an 18' boat is how many people do you actually want to fish with in that small of a boat. The side of your boat is no different than the side of a big boat. You can run as many lines as you want. You will occasionally tangle but so does everyone else. The chute rigger is kinda out of the question due to needing a spot to net a fish. Other than that you're no different.


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## Salmonslayer24 (Aug 16, 2011)

I just recently this year bought a 16' blue fin and have already ran 10 rods off of that with no problems on a nice day. Usually only six but thats because number of people in the boat. 2 riggers 4 dipsys 4 leadcore on planers.


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## thill (Aug 23, 2006)

I have an 18 1/2' crestliner which can only fish 3 adults comfortably, so I don't run more than 9 lines. But when I do I run:
2 board off each side (lead on one side, copper on the other) = 4 rods
1 slide diver set on 2 on each side = 2 rods (I set the diver on #2 setting so my diver shows up on my graph)
1 rigger on each side with one side stacked. = 3 rods

If I bring a nephew, I will sometime stack the other rigger for 10 rods, but it's often more trouble than it's worth.


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## kroppe (May 7, 2000)

Why aren't your riggers producing? I would work on the answer to that question. Lots of guys, myself included, catch lots of fish on them. If your catch rate increased on downriggers would you have the need/desire to run more rods? 

Try a longer length of line between lure and cannonball. I use 40-50 feet. Also have caught fish with a 25 foot lure to ball length. Try fishing the riggers deeper. I usually fish them around 40-80 feet deep. Dipseys are higher. 

I have a 17' boat and run 6 rods. About half my fish are caught on riggers and the other half on dipseys. I catch a fish here and there on high lines on the boards.


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## o_mykiss (May 21, 2013)

The solution to your dipsy issue is to get some regular size dipsys. Magnums set on 1, regulars set on 2.5 or 3. You shouldn't have problems as long as you let them out slowly

And can run 6 boards on the trees no problems, 4 dipsys, and 2 riggers for a total of 12 rods if you wanna cram 4 guys into the boat


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## SWMbruiser (Jan 25, 2012)

kroppe said:


> Why aren't your riggers producing? I would work on the answer to that question. Lots of guys, myself included, catch lots of fish on them. If your catch rate increased on downriggers would you have the need/desire to run more rods?
> 
> Try a longer length of line between lure and cannonball. I use 40-50 feet. Also have caught fish with a 25 foot lure to ball length. Try fishing the riggers deeper. I usually fish them around 40-80 feet deep. Dipseys are higher.
> 
> I have a 17' boat and run 6 rods. About half my fish are caught on riggers and the other half on dipseys. I catch a fish here and there on high lines on the boards.


I usually do 20' leader off the ball. So I guess I will have to try more. Always thought they wouldn't get that much action that far back. But I have seen a few guys mention they are running the lengths you are. I will definitely give that a try.

I also kind of thought it had something to do with me not being able to determine exactly how deep they are running. I have 9lb balls and at 2.5 I feel like I get a lot of blowback. So determining depths is pretty difficult for me


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## SWMbruiser (Jan 25, 2012)

o_mykiss said:


> The solution to your dipsy issue is to get some regular size dipsys. Magnums set on 1, regulars set on 2.5 or 3. You shouldn't have problems as long as you let them out slowly
> 
> And can run 6 boards on the trees no problems, 4 dipsys, and 2 riggers for a total of 12 rods if you wanna cram 4 guys into the boat


I will try that. Kind of what I was thinking I would try just wasn't sure if they would clear each other and my riggers. Only one way to find out I suppose. Thanks


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## SWMbruiser (Jan 25, 2012)

o_mykiss said:


> The solution to your dipsy issue is to get some regular size dipsys. Magnums set on 1, regulars set on 2.5 or 3. You shouldn't have problems as long as you let them out slowly
> 
> And can run 6 boards on the trees no problems, 4 dipsys, and 2 riggers for a total of 12 rods if you wanna cram 4 guys into the boat


I will try that. Kind of what I was thinking I would try just wasn't sure if they would clear each other and my riggers. Only one way to find out I suppose. Thanks


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## SWMbruiser (Jan 25, 2012)

o_mykiss said:


> The solution to your dipsy issue is to get some regular size dipsys. Magnums set on 1, regulars set on 2.5 or 3. You shouldn't have problems as long as you let them out slowly
> 
> And can run 6 boards on the trees no problems, 4 dipsys, and 2 riggers for a total of 12 rods if you wanna cram 4 guys into the boat


What is your difference in vertical height you try to maintain between the dipseys? Or all lines in general? I feel like the water is pretty damn clear. Should I be trying for lines every 20ft?


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## Corey K (Dec 11, 2009)

SWMbruiser said:


> What is your difference in vertical height you try to maintain between the dipseys? Or all lines in general? I feel like the water is pretty damn clear. Should I be trying for lines every 20ft?


Your high diver should always be set back further than the low diver. So high diver back 100, low diver back 60 for an example. Don't set high divers out on sharp turns with other rods out, I have some tangle master people that I have fished with that just don't seem to understand how current or turns work


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## Musselhead (Aug 6, 2016)

Try not to think about which rods are producing and which ones aren't, but more about the spread dynamics as a whole. 

Do you have a temp/speed probe for your riggers? Our entire approach is based off of finding the zone. While many fish can be caught out of temp, you'll find most fish will hold their comfort zone. 

Once we find the zone, we soak it with a big V, letting rods feed off each other - i.e. for riggers - sometimes we'll set one rigger with an attractor rig at the high end of the zone 20-25' back and a trailer off the other rigger (typically a spoon or plug) set to run near the bottom end of the temp zone anywhere from 50-120' back. 

As far as longlines are concerned, we don't bother with leadcore vs copper, but more about depth achieved and how it relates to other rods in our spread. Our success on either relates more to depth the fish are holding than anything else. Don't start thinking that your full cores don't/won't work. It could just be they're either running too deep/shallow. We're currently working on expanding our copper, but when all is said and done, our longlines will be as follows - leadcore rods: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 color setups (we fish shallow A LOT); copper rods: 225, 275, 325, 375, 425. This allows us to hit pretty much any depth we want with our longlines. 

You started by saying you want a way to add rods, then made it seem it's because some aren't producing. I'd start by trying to figure out why those aren't producing. We can (and have) run as many as 18 lines off an 8'3" beam 24' boat, run 8-9 rods pretty regularly, but have had our best days with only 5-6 lines in. It's not about number of rods as much as its making those rods produce for the spread dynamics and doing it in a productive zone.


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## thill (Aug 23, 2006)

SWMbruiser said:


> I usually do 20' leader off the ball. So I guess I will have to try more. Always thought they wouldn't get that much action that far back. But I have seen a few guys mention they are running the lengths you are. I will definitely give that a try.
> 
> I also kind of thought it had something to do with me not being able to determine exactly how deep they are running. I have 9lb balls and at 2.5 I feel like I get a lot of blowback. So determining depths is pretty difficult for me


Try tilting your transducer up slightly to make up for the blowback.


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## Corey K (Dec 11, 2009)

SWMbruiser said:


> I also kind of thought it had something to do with me not being able to determine exactly how deep they are running. I have 9lb balls and at 2.5 I feel like I get a lot of blowback. So determining depths is pretty difficult for me


Another option besides what Thill said, can you switch your graph from 200khz to 83khz or 50khz? I run mine mostly on 50khz for a wider cone once I'm deeper than 50' fow.


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## kroppe (May 7, 2000)

Thill and Corey make good pints about sonar. I run my sonar at 83kHz and can see 8lb cannonballs no problem. When you see the cannonballs on the graph there is no question where they are running. 

Also you probably have a line counter on the downrigger spool. I rely on this and the sonar. 

Another thing is to keep changing. If nothing has been hit in 30-60 minutes, change depth and or lure color/type. For example change from green to blue to orange or change from spoon to fly to plug. Also change depth of the downrigger or the amount of line out on the dipseys. These are all relatively easy things to change. 

Trolling speed on my boat is the hardest for me to change, so I don't use it often as a variable in getting fish to bite. I like to get the boat tuned to a constant speed without me having to fiddle with the throttle, then change everything else every half hour. Steering an s-curve back and forth is a way of changing speed, because the inner lure slows down and the outer lure speeds up. Careful not to turn too sharply which can cause tangles, and be cautious of other boats fishing with you.


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## danthebuilder (Nov 22, 2011)

We upgraded to 12lb balls this year. We use hand cranks. You don't have the blow back issues you have with 8lb balls. You can look at the buoy before you leave home and figure out what depth to start them in. If the thermocline is at 70 fow. You can lower your ball down 70.

We have caught more fish since the upgrade because it removes the guess work and allows you to fish deeper when you need to. If you want to fish bottom in 100fow. You can easily do that.

The downriggers are the best rods in the boat. There isn't a million feet of cover out. There isn't a dipsy in the way. Its just you and the fish. Its worth the extra money to upgrade the ball to make them more effective.


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## OneidaEagle (Sep 25, 2008)

Off topic, 

But on riggers is there a weight limit to the balls that are ran?

Example: small hand crank rigger would only hold 8lbs ball, not 12, type scenario?


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## kroppe (May 7, 2000)

Cannon Lake Troll downriggers have an 8lb capacity according to the Cannon website. I have an older model that is nearest to the Lake Troll. I run 8lb round balls with a fin and am pleased with the results.


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## thill (Aug 23, 2006)

OneidaEagle said:


> Off topic,
> 
> But on riggers is there a weight limit to the balls that are ran?
> 
> Example: small hand crank rigger would only hold 8lbs ball, not 12, type scenario?


I have small hand crank cannon lake troll riggers with 8lb capacity. I've been running 12lb balls for years without a problem. It definitely helps with blow back issues.


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