Puting a center rigger on my 2002 330 Express. 45 degree fixed angle with a 14 ft pole? Advice. We go for tuna off South Jersey and like to fish way way backs. Angle and pole length ok?
Center rigger 330 Express
- Thread starter TMackell
- Start date
I friend a few slips away gave me an 18-foot outrigger that was bent about six feet from the base. I cut it down to 12-feet, bought the 45-degree Lee base, and set up a center rigger. Has worked fine for the last two seasons.
Yours should work fine as well...
Yours should work fine as well...
Yes, 45 degree is the way to go for sure, longer and higher is best. I know charter boats that fish center riggers almost straight up. The higher the better especially for WWB lines. I am adding a 45 degree mount with a 15ft rigger off my old boat, to my 265 Express. If they made a stock mount with a steeper angle I would use that even. Only reason to go to less angle is if your up high mounting it off a tuna tower on a convertible or big express. You want to keep as much line out of the water and if your pulling a bar off the center rigger you NEED the bar to splash not stay in the water so high is the only way to go. Your are making the right choice!! Good luck and enjoy!!
Careful on the steeper angle. You want the center rigger tip to extend past the rod tip. If you get the rigger tip overtop the rodtip....it can get reel ugly. More than one rod has been lost overboard when it came straight up out of the holder on the center rigger.
Very good point, but if your clips are set correctly and you have a safety strap to the rod which you always should on any rods where the line extends off an outrigger or center rigger it will not go over. You can safely go above the rod tip height, you just do not want to go a huge amount over it on too steep of an angle where the rod can pull out. If he is using the top holders it should not be an issue, if it pulls out of them then the rod wasn't put in the holder correctly, or the line was passed through the rigger clip wrong. When rods are pulled from holders from center riggers it is typically on a setup where the center rigger is set about a rod length above the rod tip, if your angle will put the tip of the rigger around 6ft above the rod tip from the holder, then I would maybe reconsider the rigger angle, otherwise it is correct.