Rod holder options for diving disks

[WhoFlungPoo]

Hello all,

I'm pretty new to fishing Lake Michigan, I've got about 6 trips out this year and am still playing with my boat's setup. I have a small boat so i'm finding pole holder placement can really complicate things.

I currently have a pair of downriggers mounted to a homemade glulam board, and to make a long story short, it would be best for me to run all my rods off this board (6 total).

Because of the small boat, i'm not too keen on having 6 single rod holders and two riggers on this board so I'm looking at some rod trees to maximize real estate. My big question is, are the rod trees strong enough to run up to 3 diver rods at once?

The glulam is strong enough, I can stand in the center and it doesn't deflect one bit

[Just Hook'n]

3 diver rods per side????? You must be crazy.

I've never seen anyone run 3 divers a side - not even the pros.

Whether it will hold is a matter of torque.

The rod holders themselves will be ok, but the base must be solid solid solid if you are even going to try this.

I personally recommend getting into some coppers and cores rather than trying to run this many divers.

I just think you are asking for wrap ups.

[sherman51]

i run 3 divers all the time on lake erie for walleye and have even run 4. we do get a tangle once in a while but not very often. but you really have to know alittle about what your doing. and i dont know how they would work for salmon. but we do get a few steelhead and manage to get them in.

when i used dipsy,s this is how i run them. my front outside diver i set on 3 and let it out whatever length i wanted. lets say 200 ft. i used a 9 ft rod. then my middle diver i set on 2 and run it out 170 ft with an 8 ft rod. then my back diver i set on 1 and put it out to 140 ft on a 7 ft rod. this keeps the lines apart and lets you get your lines back out. if you pull the outside front rod, to get it back out you start on the other side of the boat, just far enough that you dont tangle the lines on that side of the boat. you use your clicker on your reel to slow it down while letting it out. you let it out 15 ft past your middle rod then take it up and over your other 2 rods and put it in the holder. then check to make sure your out where you want to be and kick the reel in gear. the diver will go up and over the back 2 lines. you do the same thing to let your middle rod out. let it out 15 ft past your back diver then take it up and over the back rod and place it in the holder and kick it in gear. check to make sure its out where you want it. sure hope this helps and doesnt just confuse you.

say im out 220 ft and 190 ft and 160 ft. im letting out my front rod, i let it out to 205 then take it up and over the 2 back rods and put it in the holder and lock it down. its going to be real close to 220 at this point. just fine tune it to 220. on the middle rod you would let it out to 175 and take it up and over your back rod and put it in the holder and lock it down. it should be real close to 190, now just set it to 190. the back rod isnt that big of a deal, but it just makes it easier to get in the holder if you do the same thing. let it out to 145 then bring it over and put it in the holder and lock it down. then set it on 160. good luck and have fun.

one other thing i suggest with divers is to use braid and not mono. use atleast 30# but 50# is much better. then use a floro leader.

sherman

[WhoFlungPoo]

Crazy? Wouldn't have been the first time I've been accused of that.

In my limited experience, the key is to not just vary the side plane setting, but to run differing sizes. I have downriggers, so normally I would just run 2 divers per side - but i'd like the option to run 3 per side because downriggers can be a PITA at times.

I plan to use a backing plate for mounting the trees, how strong a tree is would be my main question.

The trees make sense because I have a small boat, and they'd be fine for other methods if and when I decide it is time to learn something new. I just don't want to turn around and find a 150 dollar tree folded like origami with 300 in combos at the bottom of the lake.

[Just Hook'n]

I had big jon trees. They were the kind that you could move into different positions.

I loved them for boards, but I don't know that I would recommend them for dipseys.

Perhaps the kind that are solid welded pipes.

I would use a backer plate that is about twice as big as the mounting top plate to spread out the weight. Sherman has some great advice.

We've done other "crazy" stuff before too so you can shoot that comment right back to me when the time is right.

[WhoFlungPoo]

I keep eyeballing the great lakes planers vertical stack triple, it is semi adjustable but appears very robust. I agree welded should hold up at the joints if the GLP triple can't.

Maybe I could have something welded up if I can't buy anything, ask for giant mounting and backing plates and thick wall pipe for the tree mast.

[sherman51]

i think most of the trees out there would be strong enough as long as you get the base solid. i use the track system on my boat and run cannon reacheting rod holders. i have 2 24" tracks on both sides of my boat and run 3 holders in each track. when i use 4 divers which isnt often but i have done it without to much trouble. i use the 3 back holders in the first track. then use the 1st holder in the second track. then i use the other 2 holder to run a 16 ft outrigger in one and the rod in the other one. they just come with 2 little finger knobs to tighten them down, and we havent had any come loose while fishing. and im sure the trees are as solid as my holders are.

sherman

[WhoFlungPoo]

I sent an email to Great Lakes Planners asking about their trees, he (Anthony) guarantees the holders will handle 3 diver rods running magnums! They're priced reasonably too, I'll work on getting a pair with the lights on top.

[Nailer]

Welcome to the site Keith.