Outrigger use on freshwater?

[Pfu]

I purchased a 2000 Grady White Gulfstream 232 last July. Boat previously was located in Maryland (now on Lake Champlain – Vermont side) and included outrigger poles. Never thought about how I might use them for freshwater trolling and after not see much on YouTube other than saltwater videos thought why not ask the experts. Note I do have Canon downriggers mounted for when the fish go deep.

I have never had planer boards for early season trolling and had thought of making or purchasing some but after seeing the outrigger poles (like new condition) in my garage all winter I figure they should have some value. Has anyone used outrigger poles for topwater trolling on freshwater? Any best practices or advice I should consider?

if I remember the outriggers extend out 15’ per side which would increase my fishing zone by 3X.

 

[Fishtales]

This will be an interesting thread. I always wanted to try downriggers in saltwater but never have tried.

 

[Ky Grady]

I have both outriggers and planer boards on my 228. I fish for Walleye on Lake Erie and have thought about using my outriggers for that but haven't tried yet. Used my outriggers last spring down in the Keys for Mahi fishing and they worked great. They're not as high tech as the hardtop mount one's, but they did fine. Not sure how well they would work for Walleye as they are light biters. The flag on the planer boards indicate a fish on, most of the time. If you set your outrigger clips light for release I can see them constantly releasing while trolling for Walleye.

 

[Fishtales]

Nice set up...

 

[glacierbaze]

Southpaws fish the port side?

 

[SkunkBoat]

Have not used outriggers in freshwater but have tried using them while slow trolling (2-4 mph) for striped bass... Put out a light jig and a small lipped floating plug...only caught bluefish on them.

Main use of riggers is at 6 to 8 mph for mahi/tuna, up high in top 2 feet of water. Its tough to use them slow. You have to experiment with release tension to match what you are pulling at slow speed. You don't want to flirt with the bottom. They will drop in a turn.

I would imagine you could pull spoons behind a drail weight slow for steelhead/browns while pulling downriggers for lakers. Maybe pull floating plugs for pike/musky along a ledge or over a point.

Post your fish pix when it happens!

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Funny how many boats come out of Maryland. I live in Seattle and have bought 3 boats over the last 5 years and each one came out of Maryland surprisingly. The first two were 21' Arima's and the most recent that I just bought last October was my current boat, which is a 2004 Grady White 228 Seafarer. I bought it from a dealer called Tri State Marine in Deale, MD, then rented a U-Haul truck and trailered her back 3,009 miles to just north of Seattle where I live. My boat came with the mounts for outriggers on the gunwales but not the outriggers themselves, of which I didn't necessarily care because I've never seen outriggers used out here in the Puget Sound when trolling for salmon. And I'm not even sure that you could since you're limited to only using one pole per person. It would've been nice to get them along with the boat and then sell them off for a profit, but oh well.

I bought two Scotty 2106b downriggers for my boat to use for trolling for salmon, which you can use at over 200' of water depth or even just below the surface as well. I've had great luck over the last several seasons fishing for silvers at 39' on the downrigger, which with the angle of the downrigger ball will likely put your flasher and spoon at probably 25-30'? I've seen tons of videos on YouTube of guys fishing freshwater and/or in some of the great lakes for salmon and use downriggers with a great deal of success. While I've never used outriggers before, I'm of the opinion that while it would be nice to extend your fishing surface area out as wide as possible, I think that if the fish aren't there to begin with then it's kind of a waste. It seems to me that if the fish are in the general area that you're going through, and especially if you use scent, smelly jelly and or any sort of visual attractant, then the fish if they're hungry will bite.

 

[Uncle Joe]

Why not if it suits your application? Although I have had great success trolling 5 lines from my Offshore using 2 outrodders ....one line down the middle and 2 lines on the corners with flatline clips.

 

[Fishtales]

I agree with the outrodders. Easy to use especially with kids or fishing novices.

 

[Ridge Runner]

I use mine for traditional purposes, but I also use them when bottom fishing to spread out the lines... Set the clips for medium tension, and that will set the hook them pop off. Rocking of the boat works the jigging motion for you!