Outriggers on a 228?

[luckydude]

I want some outriggers, leaning towards 16 foot Taco carbon fiber. Who has done this and what did you do and are you happy?

 

[Hookup1]

Start with the outrigger mounts, reinforcement and backing. The rigger poles are the easy. part

 

[Ky Grady]

Yup, did mine back in the spring. Did the Taco Grand Slam 280's and regular poles. I don't run with them extended and they did great in the Keys this past June. Way better setup than the gunnel mounts I had previously.

 

[Hookup1]

If not done right you will bust the hardtop up, You could install a plate on top of aluminum frame.Or reinforce and weld in a backing plate. Or both! Ky Grady has a
no-weld solution.


GemLux Deluxe rigger bases and Rupp 15' telescoping riggers.

 

[luckydude]

Yup, did mine back in the spring. Did the Taco Grand Slam 280's and regular poles. I don't run with them extended and they did great in the Keys this past June. Way better setup than the gunnel mounts I had previously.

Where did you get that wedge on top. Can you go into more detail on the mounting?

I'm getting the same setup.

Edit: I found the taco made backing plates and the wedges. Ky, do you remember how big of a plate you could fit under the hard top?

 

[Shannon C.]

Got the carbon fiber Tacos on the Marlin, they are awesome!!

 

[SeanC]

I used clamps to go around the hardtop tubing. You could use u-bolts. If you are mounting straight through the hardtop I think overtime you will get stress fractures from flexing.

 

[wrxhoon]

I went for wishbone, you may want to consider these. I custom made the plates 12mm (1/2") aluminum .

 

[luckydude]

I went for wishbone, you may want to consider these. I custom made the plates 12mm (1/2") aluminum .

Those look very sturdy but I think overkill for my needs. There isn't a lot of call for outriggers where I fish. I'm adding them for when albacore come to Fort Bragg, I'll go up there once/year to chase them. So 99% of the time, no outriggers, then maybe 2-3 days/year, outriggers.

I could be wrong but I think the Grand Slam 280 w/ aluminum poles will work fine. If I get nervous about the hard top, I'll put a guy wire between them to relieve some of the stress.

 

[everwhom]

For what it's worth, I find I use my riggers less and less because I've switched to running wide tracker bars (I love the Sterling 18 inch bars) and they run really nicely outside the wake without riggers. I can easily run a 7 rod spread (2 wide and 1 flatline on each side + 1 down the middle).

 

[GEII]

I don't have my 228 anymore but I had the same set up as KY Grady. It was nice to not have them fully extended on long runs or just having them out of the way on certain days. I also put in zero degree swivel rod holders in between the two existing rod holders on the gunnel. This was a great set up on a small boat for tuna fishing in the Northeast. The problem for me was stepping all over the spreader bars while trying to reel in a fish. I used this as an excuse to upsize to a Marlin which was an awesome boat. I now have a 25 foot 257 center console. I did not choose to put on outriggers. I fish for Tuna less often and I will use the Sterling wide trackers spreader bars to somewhat get the effect of spreadbars when I do use it for Tuna Fishing. Good Luck