Question about trolling spread

[wauwinet]

I'm a little confused about which holder to use for the two rigger lines on each side of the boat.

Say you're running a flat a short and a long on each side and have 3 gunnel mounted holders on each side.

I've fished a few charters that keep the flatline rods in the aft holders and the long rigger rods in the middle holders and the short rigger rods in the forward holders. There is also a graphic in SWS this month that shows the same setup.

My question is: "Shouldn't the short rigger line be in the middle rod holder on the gunnel and the long rigger be in the forward holder?"

It seems to me that if a monster hits the short rigger, you have to stay behind the Long rigger rod in the middle holder until it's taken out of the holder and moved. If a big fish hits the right short and suddenly runs left, there's nothing you can do until the rod in front of you is cleared and you will probably foul the rest of the spread or break off if the fish is near the boat.

I always run the short rigger in the middle holder and the long rigger in the forward holder. This system is self clearing and seems obvious.

Can someone tell me why I keep seeing the short rigger in the forward holder? I feel like I'm missing something important.

Many thanks

[whitey]

If the long rigger is in the forward rod holder it will cut off the line on the short rigger when a fish hits it and the line comes down from the clip

[sling]

I run mine with the short rigger in teh middle holder as you do. I always have that rigger line over top of the long rigger line so either line can be brought in without crossing the other. I've seen guys with teh long rigger rod in the middle and in that case you would want it over the short rigger line, again to allow either line to be brought in without having to go under the other one

[wauwinet]

I always run the Short rigger line in the middle holder below the Long Rigger line in the forward holder. If the Short Rigger Line is over the Lonf Rigger Line, then you still have the same problem of being stuck behind the rod in the middle holder when the Long Rigger foes off.

The only downside to this is that you have to bring in both riggers if you want to reset the longs.

[clt_capt]

I have 2 rod holders on each side, 3 across the transom and a 5 rod rocket launcher.

We run the short riggers in the forward rod holder on the side gunnel, the longs in the outside positions on the rocket launcher and 2 or 3 flat lines across the transom, Shotgun off the flybridge holders

[wauwinet]

If you only ran two rigger lines on each side and only had gunnel holders, how would you arrange them?

Your Launcher makes it possible to walk to the transom with the rod by simply going under the long Rigger bait.

[Bert Rodgers]

If the long rigger is in the forward rod holder it will cut off the line on the short rigger when a fish hits it and the line comes down from the clip

Whitey are you talking about the other forward or the one closest to the bow ?

Bert

[clt_capt]

If you only ran two rigger lines on each side and only had gunnel holders, how would you arrange them?

Your Launcher makes it possible to walk to the transom with the rod by simply going under the long Rigger bait.

Run the longs in the sternmost rod holders and the short in the forward holders.
You need to make sure that the line for the short riggers is underneath the line from the longs.

If you get hit on the short riggers, the line can still hit the long rods, so you may need to turn into the strike - but I'd rather have the line hit the rod than crossing another line.

[wauwinet]

The problem is that you need to keep the rod forward of the Short rigger rod until someone can move the rod to another holder. If the fish hits the Port side rigger and immediately moves toward the starboard side of the boat, there's nothing the angler can do except hold on.

We hooked a decent fish on a recent charter. The captain was in the tower and the mate was on the bow when it went off. I had to keep the rod in front of and outboard of the lojng rigger line in the aft hokder until they could move the short around me and I could get to the transom.

If the Short Rigger line is in the aft holder and under the long and the long is in the forward holder the only thing you have to do to clear them is lift Long rigger rod out of the hokder and it will clear the Short.

[Persistence]

I agree with Whitey as this has happended to me. Flats are run from the stern holders...

If you put the short in the next holder moving toward the bow and then the long on the next holder forward, it can come down on top of the short rigger line and saw through it.

If you are putting those three lines on the gunwales, I would put the them in this order from stern to bow...flat line, long rigger and short.

Yes, you have to weave the short around the long in the holder with a fish on but it's as easy as picking up the long rigger rod while the angler with the fish on moves to the back of the boat.

hope that makes sense...

Glenn