Mounting location for downriggers.

[Moose-Hunter]

I may be picking up my new boat tomorrow and will begin the task of rigging her to the hilt. Which will include two, Cannon Uni-Troll downriggers. These have the low profile swivel bases and telescopic booms. These are 2' collapsed, close to 5' fully extended. I plan to run these mostly with single lines, sometimes (rarely) with a stacker. The gunwales of my boat are wide enough for just about any style of mount or riser.

All that said... How far back on the gunwales should these be mounted? I could mount these all the way back to the transom. Or as far up as 3' from the transom.

Your thoughts?

Also... What are your feelings in regards to those rack systems for mounting D/R's, rod holders, net holders, can holders, grills...

[Surface Tension]

Rigging a new boat is fun. I've spent many hours with boats sitting in the driveway planning on locations of equipment and how each one will work together.

Nice thing about the track systems is you can add equipment and have some flexibility to their locations and fast removal.

If the riggers are something you'll use occasionally then I'd go with the track. I'd also get one long enough to add the goodies to it.

I'd mount the rigger where it can be tended with ease. You won't like kneeling on a splash well or having seats in the way and having the track will allow to a quick change rather then a perm mount in a bad place.

If you extend the booms to 5' you'll either need to swivel the rigger in or use a ball retriever to tend it.

I have 4 downriggers, two off the back and two off the sides and since its on the lake Superior boat they are mounted permanently. I also don't see a need for the longer booms or should I say I don't want to swivel or use a ball retriever. If I'm targeting all four riggers at the same depths or if I want to create distance then I'll use a wingers on the sides to spread things out. Then you have to decide if you'll run them out the back or out the sides. If you mount them towards the stern then you can do either. You really won't need the booms extended and tending them without using a ball retriever or swivel that much more seamless. A couple other things to take into account is being able to see the rods from where you'll be sitting. Next would be how is that placement of riggers and rod holders going to work when you had another dimension(s) to your spreed like dipsy's, planner boards, and so on.

[Northlander]

For sure go with as long a track as you can. What type boat again? E-mail me and I will send you some pics of how I rigged mine on a track. I have a 2004 Lund Explorer 17'er.