Running 4 downriggers ?????????????

[cpmaple]

Hello All,
Not new to the trolling fun but been a 4-5yrs since ive been out after them. Have a question i made the mess up before and dont want to repeat. When running 4 riggers it is better to have the two outside riggers lower than the two in the center? Second do the set back on the center want to be longer or shorter then the outside setbacks? I've looked for info on this an cant seem to come up with anything. But if i cant get a little help guess i will find out friday if they tangle either way. thanks for your time of reading this post and hope to get some advance. cpmaple

[Crayfish]

I believe the outside riggers should be deeper than the insides. I'm not sure about the setbacks, though. I think I'd run the outsides deeper and further back. We run 3 on Lake Ontario all the time and the center rigger is always shallower than the 2 corners. And if we reset an outside one, we pull up the center to double-check that it didn't grab the outside one on it's way down. This is when running paddles / Spin Dr's / etc, so may not be as much of an issue with just spoons. Good luck!

[C-Hawk]

I only run 3, and usually the middle one is deeper. I only ever get trouble in wind and waves, when resetting. One thing I've learned, is to drop the one I'm resetting 20 feet or so, then wait until the cable angle is the same as the other two, then dropping down the rest of the way.

[cpmaple]

thanks crayfish and C-Hawk for the input use to troll alot but then got out of the game for awhile due to selling boat. But back at it an i cant wait itching to get after them. Heading out friday for silver only day off this week. May do some evening trolls next week since i start days saturday till the following friday. then long weekend and alot of trolling. fish on and tight lines

[Reelax]

thanks crayfish and C-Hawk for the input use to troll alot but then got out of the game for awhile due to selling boat. But back at it an i cant wait itching to get after them. Heading out friday for silver only day off this week. May do some evening trolls next week since i start days saturday till the following friday. then long weekend and alot of trolling. fish on and tight lines

glad to hear your back on the water... (Chad?... right?) Years ago Im remember your reports. Very happy to see you have another troller now....

I’ve seen captains do both and would love to hear more discussion on this topic.

Thanks for the thread...

[cpmaple]

Thanks Reelax, Glad to be back had some issues with the boat that was given to me major one being owner cant find reg but holding onto it so when an if he does i can use it. Picked up a 21ft regency F/F with outboard 200hp mariner with a 7.5hp kicker. An yes its chad from crown point ny. Been awhile and cant remember for the life of me how i use to run them im leaning toward inside riggers shallower than outside riggers. Time will tell if you yall hear me scream because i have a big tangled up mess. lol Shoting for tomorrow morning to head out on the pond it will be the south end i still have all my locations locked into my handheld gps I will post up my results when i get in tomorrow thanks again cpmaple (chad)

[Thorny]

Think about how your lines affect each other. Starboard side rigger down 60 with blades, short setback 5-10ft, fixed cheater 5 ft up. Blades should attract fish. Most probably won’t bite. But you got them in the spread. So set your rear rigger at 50, run a 20-50 setback, cheater can be free or fixed depending on conditions. This way you set your self up to catch the fish you attract with your blades on the longer line you run right above them. You also have better potential to catch doubles.I am always thinking about how my lines affect each other from a fish’s point I’ve view and to prevent tangles. Hope this helps.

[Reelax]

Think about how your lines affect each other. Starboard side rigger down 60 with blades, short setback 5-10ft, fixed cheater 5 ft up. Blades should attract fish. Most probably won’t bite. But you got them in the spread. So set your rear rigger at 50, run a 20-50 setback, cheater can be free or fixed depending on conditions. This way you set your self up to catch the fish you attract with your blades on the longer line you run right above them. You also have better potential to catch doubles.I am always thinking about how my lines affect each other from a fish’s point I’ve view and to prevent tangles. Hope this helps.

So to keep tangles down the outter riggers should be deeper with short sets. It that the summary Rob?

My inner riggers are manual so they are always shallower

[digitroll (ron)]

We run 8 lb pancakes and bend the tail so the side riggers stay out of the way by tracking slightly away from the boat of the back riggers. We can run any combination of shallow or deep with them and have no issue with tangles. Back riggers have cannonballs coated by Cannon. Riggers are inline on the side of the boat in tracks. I run the X4-D Fishhawk on the rear port rigger closest to the transducer for the fish hawk and sonar so I am tracking that rigger plus the true depth it's running.

When fishing Ontario we had better success just running two riggers and two dipsies for Kings even though we can run 3 rods a person. Less stuff to move out of the way when bringing fish in. More enjoyable! Less is more!

[Thorny]

The only way to totally prevent tangles is to not put lines in the water.

[cpmaple]

Thorny thanks for the info first time out this yr for me and i ran outter riggers 10ft +/- deeper than inner seem to work fine. Only had one tangle due to weeds.