Mounting Downrigger Board

After I posted this, I did a search and couldn't find any usefull info or pics.

Backer board; In a fiberglass boat, I'd use 3/4" plywood. Basically, you're just trying to fit as large of a piece of wood underneath the fiberglass that is practical for the item that you're mounting. That's not to say you should have a 30" piece of wood underneath something that is only 6". We're trying to sandwich the fiberglass, so that you're pressure is distributed over a larger area. If you just bolted right through the fiberglass alone, you stand a chance of pulling the bolts through, or weakening the surrounding fiberglass as time goes by. If the base of your mounting plate is 4" x 6", you'd probably want a backer of about 6" x 8", however, you're obviously limited by the amount of room you have down there.

Fender washers are just large diameter, thick washers. You can get them at home depot or a TSC. You'll want to use stainless steel hardware. If you look at where your cleats are mounted, you should see where the manufacturer used a backerboard.

If you go to http://www.walleyecentral.com in the forums section search in the "boat and trailers" area, as well as "general fishing", you can find lotsa conversations and hopefully pictures.

Backing is a must, I used aluminum plates as backing. I have 3 brackets attached to the swim platform and used a Cedar plank for the board, It holds 4 Walker electrics and you can have a picnic with a few good friends on it! It's that strong! Treating the plank with a sealer is important.

I posted a pic of my setup a while back, but can't find it now. The scanned pic is also in electronic neverland. I'll try to take some digital pics in the next few days and post them here.

Went out to the garage and snapped a couple pics, heres the center piller and one end.



Heres a closeup of one end.(can't figure out why this won't post, but go to my gallery to see it)



I hope these give you some ideas, when I decided to rig the boat, I made the decision to do it only once. This is my 4th season, and it is holding up great.

The plates that are permanently attached to the boat with aluminum backing plates are polished and anodized aluminum, with stainless Heli-coil inserts (the new thread lockers). If you have access to a good aluminum welder and a machine shop, I highly recommend this setup. All the hardware is stainless, the only way to go.

Knockoffs is the handywork that I was referring to in my original post. He has done a most excellent job. Seeing how older pics are hard to find here, I'll post my handiwork also.







This winter I'll be moving the side downriggers back, making room for another set of rodholders forward of the downriggers. Obviously, my setup is not fastened as rigidly as knockoff's. I do have a crack developing at the inside corner of the starboard side of the board. This is due to 3 things. The "twisting" that occurs at the corner caused by the torque of the riggers. The lap joint in that corner wasn't perfect. Also, the hole for the stern light further weakens the area.

I haven't determined the solution for this yet. I'll either construct a new board with better lap joints, possibly re-inforcing them. Or, I'll just add a couple of stanchions along the rear.

On an aluminum boat, there is already thick plywood beneath the aluminum, along the gunwales and stern. All I needed to do was put an additional backerboard as previously described. While there is no doubt whatsoever that knockoffs design is extremely strong, many boats are rigged with hardware that merely use wood and fender washers as described. While my downrigger board is evolving, the permanent holes and hardware that I've installed will remain unchanged.

Fun, isn't it? Even if my board was perfect, I think that I'd still be out in the barn in the winter doing something to it or the boat, just to pass the time waiting for the ice to clear.

Our net handle is probably 6-8'. The netter is usually where the jump seat goes, while the angler is in front of the motor box. Is it a tight fit? Yes. Is it too tight to enjoy fishing? No way! When you're landing fish, you need to know where to bring the fish in, then clear the lines from there so you have room to do it. If your right rear rigger pops, then that's where you'll try to bring the fish. If it's a dipsy that pops, we try to bring it right up the middle. If it's a big fish, or a crazy steelhead, we'll pop one of the riggers and pull the fish into a larger opening to net it.

My first boat had a 2 x 8 that went straight across the back. The very outside riggers had 4' arms stretched out to the side, while the rear riggers had 2' arms dropping out of the back. In the middle of the board, we had two rodholders mounted. We typically ran 5 poles. (4 riggers and 1 long line).

There's no way you'll see me fishing without a dipsy with a dodger or fishcatcher behind it. You'll need a strong rodholder for a dipsy setup. (No plastic cabelas stuff that walleye anglers can get away with.) I don't know where knockoff has mounted his, but you'll definately want them. (One on each side.) I get the same warm, fuzzy feeling with a dipsy/fishcatcher/squid rig that I do when Maltby is on the penalty kill. Many people run 4 or even six dipsies. That's 2 - 3 rodholders on each side of the boat.
Anyway, it's just a couple more holes to put in your boat, if you haven't planned on it already.

TimT, that is a nice set up, yours looks much nicer than mine and appears to be just as functional. You covered my philosiphy on netting pretty well too! I have a net made by Ranger Products that telescopes to 10'.

Heres the rod holder setup....



Those are Bert's Custom Tackle, in my opinion, the best on the market. Very pricey, about $65 each, but again, I only wanted to do it once.

Mounting the "C" channel was a challenge, as I have no straight lines on the boat. I made a fiberglas backing plate, formed to the contour of the hull with saran wrap to insulate it as I formed it. Now it is sandwiched between the hull and plate. It places the plate in a vertical position. It can be removed and the holes filled if I sell the boat.

Scott, you'll have many hours of fun rigging your boat(if your into it). Think out all the possible drawbacks to your plan BEFORE you drill the holes, and decide if you can live with them. No system is perfect, but it's fun trying.

P.S. all the rigger are in line across the board. The outside have 5' booms and auto ball retrievers, you need 5' between the end of the booms to prevent tangles.