Trolling Setup from Scratch

Koakine88

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Aloha,
A few weeks away from receiving my 208 Adventure and I am beginning to order my fishing gear. I have to start from scratch as I sold my last boat with all my fishing gear. I am running into a few hurdles as to what direction to go and figured a few extra brains on the topic would help me out.

I am a huge fan of Avet reels and am planning on getting two EXW 50's and two EXW 80's running on TSX Pro Pinnacle Rods made for 50 and 80 class. I target Mahi Mahi and Ahi, but you never know in Hawaii if a Marlin or BIG Ahi comes in for a snack. Because of this you sort of have to be prepared with your gear so you don't end up loosing an entire spool of line. My idea for running two different class rods and reels was to have some flexibility and run larger lures on the 80's and smaller ones on the 50's. I do not plan on installing outriggers on my boat and want to keep my setup as easy as possible with at most 5 lines in the water. I will frequently be fishing with others that are not experienced and don't want a bunch of lines out with any added complexities. To achieve this and still get a good spread for trolling and minimize chances of tangles, I want to run either Hawaii style Shotgun mounts, or simple heavy duty rod holder outrigger mounts that turn your straight butts into outriggers.

Here is my plan, pick it apart and help guide me!

Replace the stern rod holders with 30 degree heavy duty non-swivel holders with backing plates (and obviously clipped in). I like the fancy Gemlux no bolt designs. I could run either the 50's or 80's from here with a clip at the cleat to keep the line nice and low.

I'd then replace the forward rod holders with shotgun style rod holders. These are essentially heavy duty rod holders with a built in swivel and a bent stainless steel pole that comes out to run a straight but like a bent butt (picture below). What makes this unique is that I can turn the straight butts inside of these 90 degrees to run as outriggers with a pin inserted into the shotgun mount to keep it from swiveling. When I get a bite, I can pull that pin, turn the rod 90 degrees in the holder and have a beefy spot with swivel to fight a fish from the gunnel. If I get a big fish on one of the stern rods, I can just clear one of the shotgun mounts and move to that mount to fight the fish if needed.

Originally, I was planning on having one set of rods be straight butt for the "outrigger" and the other bent butt off the stern. The problem I was facing was I wouldn't be able to use the bent butts in the fancy swivel set-up I had. Despite the popularity of bent butts here, I like the idea of having all straights if I stick to this plan and have the ease of rod storage as well.

Thanks for the input.
-Tyler
 

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Koakine88

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Must have been a real exciting topic. :D

I spent a lot of time thinking about all my options and I think I was finding too many compromises for each plan I had where I'd be using the forward rods as some sort of outrigger.

Going to do it right the first time. I like Gemlux's Deluxe Outrigger bases with their hybrid extending poles. I was set on getting their screwless rod holders, and am now just going to go with an all Gemlux setup. 0 degree HD swivel holders to replace all 4, with backing plates. Run the rears with a flat-line and the fronts off the outriggers. Bent-butts to fight from gunnels. Will run my avet 80w's with bigger lures and my 50w's with smaller ones.

My wallet will cry, but I think it's the right call for me. I'll post pics of the install next month.
 

OMER

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I did a similar thing, for bluefin tuna or shark, I use that.
it serves as a fighting post.IMG_20200919_173129.jpegIMG_20201019_175136.jpeg
 

Seafarer_Bob

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Koaki,
I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to accomplish or how you fish so it really depends. I fished out of Kona on a friend's 21' Whaler a couple times, he fished his bent 80's (penns) off the corners and we fought (and lost) a big marlin at the boat fighting it from the gunnel. I could elaborate but the take away for me is we would have had a better chance at the end game if we had heavy duty swivel rod holders. It was a cluster in the back with one guy on the rod, one on the leader, and one on the gaff so we moved the rod to the forward holder but then the rod was in the way of the leader and gaff man getting to the fish, if we could have swiveled the rod out of the way the gaff man may have had a better shot.

I'm not familiar with that shotgun mount but it doesn't look strong enough. Watch wicked tuna and note the rod holders they use. If you need outriggers get them.
 

Ryhlick

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I went with Burnewiin rod holders on my 228 and could not be happier. They are plenty strong to fight tuna out of and have adjustable angles. www.burnewiin.com
 

SkunkBoat

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Thumbs up on the Gemlux HD swivels and bent butts.

If you are trying to go without outriggers, give these a try. SidetrackersThey are spreader bars that plane out to the side(you need a left and a right).
These have become really popular here in the northeast for bluefin and yellowfin (Ahi). I have used them and they always got bit first. My only problem is they got trashed by big bluefins...
So I haven't used them since early in the season. Went back to good old double-rigged outriggers.
 

Holokai

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Bent butts and zero degree swivel holders. Increase the tension of the forward holders and run longer rods at 90 degrees out. Stagger your lure spread with the forward/outrigger rods further back. Run the larger/heavier lures close in off the corners for ono. Marlin also like to come in close and it’s fun/scary to have a decent sized one nail a corner and melt off about 300 yards of line in a minute. You won’t get tangles once you figure out your distances.

Avets are good reels but servicing might be hard to come by here. Any International or Tiagra will work fine. Run 80 lb mono on the 50s and 130 on the 80s. Strike drags set around 1/4 of line weight. More for ahi/marlin. Braid backing optional. Keep the top shot of mono at least 100-150 yards.

Consider heavy duty ring guides instead of rollers. Less maintenance and they handle big fish. See what the Kauai guys are doing.

Don’t waste money on an outrigger setup if you’re not going all out for ahi/marlin and especially not on aluminum outriggers (they will bend/kink). If you decide to go with outriggers Is go with 18’x1-1/2” minimum fiberglass or carbon with tie backs to the bow cleats.

Run a center rigger and send a stinger way back off a bird/teaser. Universal makes the bases and you can use any outrigger or even a windsurfing mast. Cheaper/easier installation and faster setup when fishing.
 
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Holokai

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Also, if you get the swivel bases from universal or island offshore you can swap out the inserts to run either bent or straight butt rods. The angled/shotgun inserts do put the reels a bit higher so it’s harder to get leverage when cranking on a big fish in low gear. With the shotgun/angled inserts you’ll need a tag line to the lugs on the reel or the reel seat clamp to keep the rod in the base. There have been more than a few lost rods from shotgun holders in rough water when the boat rolls and the rod flies straight out of the holder.
 

Koakine88

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All excellent advice. I was bouncing around different options including the universal shotgun mounts or HD swivel mounts I could lock down with some cheaper rod riggers. The tradeoff I kept finding was that I'd basically have to move my stern rods forward if they got bites as my fighting mounts would be where my shotguns were. I also would have to have fixed 30 degree for the straight butt setup at the stern, which isn't a spot I'd want to fight out of.

Instead of playing around, I think I'd rather just run outriggers. I can have every rod holder be a spot where I could fight a fish and I'm getting all the spread I want. I can also run the stern bent butts on flat lines, or have both front and rear rods going to the dual outrigger depending on conditions. I found a lot of negative reviews for most outrigger bases below the $2k range (Taco 280 for example), but I think Gemlux's new deluxe models tick a lot of boxes that are normally found on much more expensive setups. Gemlux also has reasonably priced hybrid telescoping poles that are carbon fiber/ fiberglass.

As for the Avets, to get them serviced is definitely a trade off. I had smaller avet reels in the past and LOVED them... I just have my own brand loyalty to them. My EXW 50's have 100lb hollow braided with 80lb top shot. My EXW-80's are just 100lb mono all the way, they both should have about 850 yards to them.
 

Holokai

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You’ll be good to go with the hybrid outriggers. Roller trollers should be fine since the dropback won’t be too bad. Start off running one rod to each rigger and run the two corners with the rods angled out to keep the lures out of the prop wash; it’s also faster to clear lines this way. You can pin one of the corners down to a flat line clip/rubber band/roller troller off the rear cleat.

For holders you can go with CE Smith, Lee’s, etc. You probably won’t need the biggest size as I’m guessing the largest bent butt you‘ll be running is a #4 for the 80s. Make sure the bent butts you get are long/standard length as the short curved ones sometimes don’t seat in deeper rod holders. Also spend the money for backing plates as cheap insurance; you’ll also feel better when a big ahi slams your lure. If they don’t have a tie down point you can use the utility trailer tie down eyes stacked on the backing plate.
 

Seafarer_Bob

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For outriggers it depends on a bunch of factors like how your boat is configured, how often you troll, if you trailer etc.

My boat is a 228 with an aftermarket hardtop, I troll infrequently, and trailer so I installed Taco 280's with 20' Lee telescoping poles.

The Lee poles are half the price of Taco and they advertise a model that's fitted for Taco but they don't fit. I called Lee and they said they intentionally make them too large because of "inconsistencies in the diameter of the Taco bases" so I must sand them down to fit which took over 2 hours per pole by hand. (Sorry for the rant)

The Taco 280's are nice but it's a bit difficult to raise the long poles manually so now I'm wishing I bought the 380's.

I had the factory base plates and additional supports welded in my top and glad I did. The long poles create a lot of leverage but they handled spreader bars and running in the up / back position no problem.

Learn to service your own reels, it's not too difficult and larger reels are actually easier than smaller reels.
 

Bobroc

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Bent butts and zero degree swivel holders. Increase the tension of the forward holders and run longer rods at 90 degrees out. Stagger your lure spread with the forward/outrigger rods further back. Run the larger/heavier lures close in off the corners for ono. Marlin also like to come in close and it’s fun/scary to have a decent sized one nail a corner and melt off about 300 yards of line in a minute. You won’t get tangles once you figure out your distances.

Avets are good reels but servicing might be hard to come by here. Any International or Tiagra will work fine. Run 80 lb mono on the 50s and 130 on the 80s. Strike drags set around 1/4 of line weight. More for ahi/marlin. Braid backing optional. Keep the top shot of mono at least 100-150 yards.

Consider heavy duty ring guides instead of rollers. Less maintenance and they handle big fish. See what the Kauai guys are doing.

Don’t waste money on an outrigger setup if you’re not going all out for ahi/marlin and especially not on aluminum outriggers (they will bend/kink). If you decide to go with outriggers Is go with 18’x1-1/2” minimum fiberglass or carbon with tie backs to the bow cleats.

Run a center rigger and send a stinger way back off a bird/teaser. Universal makes the bases and you can use any outrigger or even a windsurfing mast. Cheaper/easier installation and faster setup when fishing.
Where do you mount the base for your center rigger?
 

Bobroc

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Bent butts and zero degree swivel holders. Increase the tension of the forward holders and run longer rods at 90 degrees out. Stagger your lure spread with the forward/outrigger rods further back. Run the larger/heavier lures close in off the corners for ono. Marlin also like to come in close and it’s fun/scary to have a decent sized one nail a corner and melt off about 300 yards of line in a minute. You won’t get tangles once you figure out your distances.

Avets are good reels but servicing might be hard to come by here. Any International or Tiagra will work fine. Run 80 lb mono on the 50s and 130 on the 80s. Strike drags set around 1/4 of line weight. More for ahi/marlin. Braid backing optional. Keep the top shot of mono at least 100-150 yards.

Consider heavy duty ring guides instead of rollers. Less maintenance and they handle big fish. See what the Kauai guys are doing.

Don’t waste money on an outrigger setup if you’re not going all out for ahi/marlin and especially not on aluminum outriggers (they will bend/kink). If you decide to go with outriggers Is go with 18’x1-1/2” minimum fiberglass or carbon with tie backs to the bow cleats.

Run a center rigger and send a stinger way back off a bird/teaser. Universal makes the bases and you can use any outrigger or even a windsurfing mast. Cheaper/easier installation and faster setup when fishing.
I have a used Seafarer 228 that is now being loaded on a Matson ship. I like your setup. I am on Oahu. Would it be possible to take a look at your boat sometime?
 

Holokai

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I have a used Seafarer 228 that is now being loaded on a Matson ship. I like your setup. I am on Oahu. Would it be possible to take a look at your boat sometime?

Hey Bob,

This is Jason. Stop by the house anytime to take a look at the setup.

As for the center rigger mount, I checked with Mike (228 in Kaneohe) and he verified the hardtop rod holders are strong enough.