Grady White 208 downrigger question

[perchjerker]

I am looking for a little advice on my rig.

Right now I have 2 Walker electrics with short booms

I fish them at right angles to the gunnels, they work fine this way.

A few years ago I bought 2 more with 4 ft booms.

I never did put them on for fear of it just being too much for this boat, even though I know lots of guys run 4 riggers on boats a lot smaller than mine.

I was going to mount them about 1/2 way between the back rigger and the Tite Lok holders.

Maybe then I would angle the corner riggers at a 45* instead. Just for separation, but that may not be needed? I don't know

I do have a 9.9 Yam kicker back there and with the platform on the other side makes for a busy transom. That rigger set at 90* doesn't come close to the kicker, not sure if I ran it at 45*

I usually also run 1 or 2 dipsys on each side, and once in a while leadcore down the chute.

Do you think this is too much? Should I just stick with the 2 riggers?

that's what my gut tells me, why I never installed the 4 footers.

thanks

[ekbelt]

I would stick with 2 riggers.... 4 riggers that close sounds like a tangle waiting to happen.

Instead of adding the 2 other riggers, just run 2 dipsys per side. We catch more fish on dipsys than riggers anyways.

[gmfishon]

Like u said saw 4 riggers on boats much smaller. Put on and experiment. You may find times when super currents or something make it hard or turning them like you said works. As far as tangles stagger the depths and lure types and make sure boat is going straight when sending one deeper than the others. That should help keep the lines untangled. Watch the turns. If you need to make a sharp turn for any reason it could be helpful to bring one on that side up way away from the other. Bottom line for me is.. 1. Before all the other stuff everyone ran 4 riggers all the time. 2. Untangling 2 riggers that crossed or a couple rigger rods is much easier in my opinion than untangling a diver,copper etc. Mess. 3. Even with the clear water and everyone swearing off riggers I still catch a lot of fish on them and have days when they are hotter than the other rods. Good luck whatever you decide.

[SeaCatMich]

My previous boat was a 22' Cruisers SeaDevil WAC and like your Grady had a bracket mount outboard. Had 4 Big Jon Captain Packs with two off the stern (one on each transom corner) and two that went out the sides mounted about 2' forward on the gunnel. It is important to not mount the side riggers too far forward. The further forward the more likely it is for the front rigger weight/wire to get into the rear ones -- especially on turns. This should not be an issue with low profile riggers like the Walkers and Big Jons as they don't intrude into the boat -- bigger body ones like Riviera, Invader, and Cannon can be an issue though.

In the 10 years I had the boat we almost never had tangle issues. Ran mostly 10 and 12# weights. Another key was to always keep 10' of vertical separation between adjacent riggers and to have the rear ones deeper than the sides.

After initially setting the boat up with fixed locations for the downriggers, I changed to a track system once they came on the market. I wish I had started that way as it made fine adjustments much easier until I got the setup exactly as I wanted it.

[perchjerker]

thanks everyone!

gives me something to think about