downrigger rods

[zeke]

im sure its been asked but cant find it what length downrigger rodswould youuse for a 18 foot boat 7foot 6 inch are do you like longer rods

[sherman51]

i think your going to find that its a personal thing. i like using 6' rods myself, because i use 3 divers on each side, and it just makes it alot easier to get my diver rods out over the dr rods when putting out divers, and bringing them in to the back of the boat when bringing them back in. your probably not going to find many guys that like using short rods, but it works good for me.

sherman

[Priority1]

On a 18 foot boat the 7 foot rods are tough to beat. I recently went from 8ft-6inch rods down to 7 footers on the riggers. I have a 22 Islander. It's a lot easier to move rods over top of a loaded 7 than a 8+. Longer rods on smaller boats tend to be a bit more cumbersome. In the end it all boils down to personal preference and what works the best for you.

Rich, A very warm welcome to the GLF Site. Just holler if you need any help.

[KJ pluggin]

It is really a personal preference but we started swapping out some of our 8'6 rigger rods for 7's and working with the smaller rods is much nicer IMO.

[jimcr]

I have a 17.5 ' boat and most of my rods are 8' 6" the exception is the braided dipsy rods I use are 10'6". this is to get around the 8'6" wire rods. It is personal preference but you may also need to get around other rods in your spread.

[Eyefull]

Like everyone has said, it is a very personal thing. It has much to do with your spread and how you fish. One thing that shorter rods will also do for you is give you more power and control over the fish at the back of the boat. Typically your rigger fish are on the shortest leashes and come to the boat sometimes too fast and green. A little power advantage is always good for rigger rods in that scenerio.

[BlueCollarOutdoors]

Well now you got me interested. I run a small boat the shorter rods would certainly be nicer to deal with. I used 8 foot 6 for the rigger rods, really just because thats what I was finding to work with. I will turn those into extra planer board rods when the time comes and give the 6 footers a shot.

For me on a small boat, what I find important is the angle or depth from the back of the boat to where the rigger line gets underwater. If i can get the rigger line down at 10 feet instead of 30 feeet then I have a shorter "chute" to pull fish and net. Also if the fish gets a little wild at the back of the boat it will usually go over the top of the other rods instead of into it.

[zeke]

thank you guys for the help i have been looking at the 7 foot ugly sticks they seem to be the best bang for the buck

[ekbelt]

I fish on a 18' lund and have 8' taloras, they work very nice. I'm not sure I would want to go any shorter but that is just my preference.

[Pioneer]

I love the smaller 7' rods for the riggers (M TDR), got about 10. 8' and 10' for the divers and Okumas 8'6" copper rods are standard on my ride. My favorite rods for wire are my 7' roller talora's, they handle my torpedo's/divers/# lbs down the shoot perfectly.

[miltcop]

I run 7' short sticks for my rigger rods. I have a 17 1/2' boat with a 7' beam.