Angles of rod holders?

[mswanson]

I have a question regarding the positioning of rod holders. What should the elevation angle be and what should be the angle of the rod holder to the side of the boat?

It seems to me that when running boards you want your the rod holders for the outside lines elevated more.

When long-lining I've seen people that have their rod holders nearly horizontal with no elevation angle.

As to the angle of the rod holder to the side of the boat, is there any reason to not go parallel?

Is there any kind of guidelines to positioning them?

[grub]

In relation to vertical, from front to back, I run mine at high, medium and low. In relation to angle from the side of the boat, I run them pretty much perpendicular. The back rod might be angled back a little to create more clearance.

For me, the angle is all about line clearance at the boards. If it's choppy, or if the outside boards are pulling back due to lure drag, the relationship gets more attention in order to keep the boards from jumping each other. If it's calm, not as big of a deal.

Grub

[Hombre Robusto]

I run mine at about 10-11 o'clock toward the outside of the boat (all of them). It makes it easier to see if all rod tips are 'dancing' the same. If one is hanging back a little bit, even a half of an inch, it means that there is a hanger on. Sometimes it's a small fish, sometimes it's a slob swimming with the boat.

With Dipsys, the forward most rod is at about 10 o'clock, with the others gradually going down till the most rearward rod being horizontal.

[Suzuki]

I can tell you for certain not to position a rod pointed toward stern salmon fishing without locking the rod in the holder........:banghead:

[Raybob]

Boat Control pullers ~ high as possible to eliminate line drag on the water to get the lures way out from the boat before the rip & alt side shift - a lil' lower on F-lines than PBs cuz F-lines are tip spread dependant.

Straight-line pullers - I guess whatever floats your boat ;)

[guy]

Boards - you want the rods up high enough to keep the line out of the water. After that for me it's whatever keeps the rod butts out of the way best & gives me the most separation from other board lines.

One flatline out each side - Generally, I have the rod straight out horizontal because that gives the biggest spread, keeps the lines away from the motors in pretty sharp turns if the holders are close to the stern, and takes advantage of all of the available flex in the rod (as opposed to angled towards the stern) which can enhance detection of weeds or small fish. Two flatlines per side - one either goes 45 degrees toward the back or straight back. Sometimes tilted up and back in this situation can be helpful. If your as hardcore/extreme as Raybob, you keep them elevated to go over the motor. hehe (tell the guy where your rod holders are mounted Ray LOL.)

I'll sometimes run flatline rods tips below the waterline if there are floating weeds and rely on the drag clicker to tell me if a fish is on. Bouncer line rods get tilted up a bit to enhance the action (in waves) and to maximize the rod flex for the steeper bait angle (for the better self-hooking).

I always want to take maximize the rod flex on flatines to hopefully help keep the fish on the 2nd rod while I'm reeling in the fish on the 1st rod. "grin"

The Precision Trolling Dive Curves are based on the line lead length starting at the waterline. Curves were developed using in-line boards.

You can stick the rods straight up to get a little longer lead in shallow water situations.

Good Luck

[mswanson]

Wow, this really great! Thanks for all the info.