Outriggers for a hard top 228?

[luckydude]

Talked to another dude, he has me convinced I want to go for tuna next summer. So far as I know, outrigger mounts are not included on a 228. Does anyone have a pointer to getting outriggers on a 228?

For those of you fishing for albacore, how many lines do you run? The Taco outriggers seem like they can run 3 lines on either side. Do you run a 7th in a center rocket launcher?

 

[eppem]

Granted I am in CT but I have a set of Lee Jr "wishbone" mounts and riggers for sale, if you are interested,.

 

[Fishtales]

I run taco top guns with 15' poles usually 2 lines. Prob can do 3 but it will get tricky if you hook into a fish that wanders around. You'll need the hands on board to reel in the others fast.

 

[Ky Grady]

Here's a couple of pics I had a guy send me of some Taco Grand Slam 280's mounted on a 228 hardtop. I would have tried to add the backing plate under the hardtop for more support. I had him send these incase I decided to go this route. I currently have the Taco Striker gunnel mounts on my 228.

 

[GWPW]

Talked to another dude, he has me convinced I want to go for tuna next summer. So far as I know, outrigger mounts are not included on a 228. Does anyone have a pointer to getting outriggers on a 228?

For those of you fishing for albacore, how many lines do you run? The Taco outriggers seem like they can run 3 lines on either side. Do you run a 7th in a center rocket launcher?

Luckydude,

If you looking for something a bit less money then you can check out our Mini-Riggers. They use your exiting rod holders and can be stored away easily when not in use.

 

[GWPW]

Here's a couple of pics I had a guy send me of some Taco Grand Slam 280's mounted on a 228 hardtop. I would have tried to add the backing plate under the hardtop for more support. I had him send these incase I decided to go this route. I currently have the Taco Striker gunnel mounts on my 228.

View attachment 18057View attachment 18058

Can't believe no backing plates and just small washers will hold up very well while being used.

 

[Ky Grady]

Can't believe no backing plates and just small washers will hold up very well while being used.

My thoughts also. Definitely needs the plates.

 

[GEII]

I had the TACO grand slam installed on my 228 rooftop by the Grady dealer. I also installed a couple of zero degree swivel rod holders on the gunwales. The set up work pretty good for trolling for tuna in the Northeast. We enjoyed using them. Some people troll for tuna without the outriggers. Some NE guys in smaller boats try run and gun for tuna with heavy duty spinning rods and others bait fish a lot for Tuna. Both of those would not need outriggers. I would ask around about the most popular tuna fishing techniques for small boats in your area Tuna fishing/Tuna wishing can be a lot of fun. You should be able to run five to seven lines ( one off the TOP in the rodholder for wayway back) with a good mate. More lines, more chaos when the fish are on....

 

[luckydude]

I had the TACO grand slam installed on my 228 rooftop by the Grady dealer. I also installed a couple of zero degree swivel rod holders on the gunwales. The set up work pretty good for trolling for tuna in the Northeast. We enjoyed using them. Some people troll for tuna without the outriggers. Some NE guys in smaller boats try run and gun for tuna with heavy duty spinning rods and others bait fish a lot for Tuna. Both of those would not need outriggers. I would ask around about the most popular tuna fishing techniques for small boats in your area Tuna fishing/Tuna wishing can be a lot of fun. You should be able to run five to seven lines ( one off the TOP in the rodholder for wayway back) with a good mate. More lines, more chaos when the fish are on....

After talking to another 228 owner, I'm less excited about outriggers. I can get some outrigger rod holders that will do more or less the same thing, use those in the forward holders and a straight back in the aft rod holder, and put 5 rocket launchers on the hardtop and do a long line in the center. That's 5 lines and that's enough for Mr Newbie here.

I've learned that outriggers can be sort of a problem when fishing albacore. What I was told was that you want to get all the lines out in the least amount of time possible so that if you get a hit, you have a chance at multiple fish. The outriggers add delay. They seem like they would make more sense if you were running 7 lines but I'm too green to do that first year tuna fishing.

 

[Seafarer_Bob]

I have a 228 with an after market top and went with the Taco 280 roof mounts and 20' Lee carbon telescoping poles. After much consternation and advice from this forum I had a welder to install the Taco base plates and additional support tubing, it is rock solid and highly advised. I can keep everything up while running and I was amazed how solid it was. I only trolled offshore a couple times this summer and no problem running 6 lines, 2 each from the long and short outriggers and two flat lines from the transom holders I added, one flat WWB long and one flat with a swimming plug short. I'm sure I could run two more from the rocket launchers but I was solo and that would be too much work and a possible disaster in a multiple hookup or a marlin were to go crazy through the spread.

Check out Sterling tackle wide tracker spreader bars, they are the rage on the east coast for small boat tuna. The center of the bar has a bird with a diagonal fin on the bottom that pulls one bar to port and one matching bar to starboard. You can fish those from the gunnel and get the same spread as a big sportfishing boat but for best results you run them from the long rigger which gives you a huge spread.

I rigged my poles with double halyards which is convenient for fishing but a royal pain for storage. This winter I'm converting from two separate halyards to a single halyard with two release clips on each line. This will allow me to easily remove all the rigging and coil it up when not in use.

 

[Fishtales]

I like the wedge plates on the top (accounts for the rolloff) and the backing plates on the bottom. Taco also recommends tube spacers (basically plastic tubes that install in the drilled hole) to ensure the hardtop does not collapse at all when tightening the bolts down. Drill the mounting holes to the larger plastic tube diameter and the inner diameter of the tool is the same as your bolt.

 

[Seafarer_Bob]

If anyone needs a set of brand new Taco backing plates and wedges let me know and I'll make you a deal. The welded base supports I used negate the need for the backing plates and decided not to use the wedges because the screws I had were too short and didn't see the need.