Jeffrm20's Dual Hatch Tarpon 160 *Updated 3/10/2010*

a rudder should help with the one sided drag.  the weight imbalance i would imagine would be more of a concern. 

the drag could also be helped by trolling a topline on the other side with a plug of some sort like a rapala.  that would help slightly with the weight too.

at the speed that jeff is trolling the drag should not be too bad.  i think jeff has the rigger primarily for koke and trout fishing which is normally <1.5mph speeds.  however with the places i think he wants to fish (mcclure, don pedro and melones) it could be dangerous with an unbalanced, tippy yak due to the amounts of lake lice.

one way to stabilize could be some pontoons, but that would add drag.

a rudder should help with the one sided drag.

Th rudder does help but you'd have to ramp up the surface area for it to be effective. Those skinny yak rudders don't cut it.

at the speed that jeff is trolling the drag should not be too bad.  i think jeff has the rigger primarily for koke and trout fishing which is normally <1.5mph speeds. 

True. But when you add a little wind or current you'll feel every ounce of drag. So minimizing it will let you fish longer in the end.

Z

Good luck reaching the DR cable as it looks to stick out pretty far.  That coupled with what others are calling a tippy yak (I don't have any experience with the Tarpons) and it could result in a mess.

I made do with the Lake Troller.  Doesn't have a line counter but one full revolution is approximately a foot.  Good enough for me.  That and I have it mounted up front and I track the weight on my FF.

Out of curiosity, any reason why you went with the big boy and not the Lake Troller?

In lieu of a second downrigger, one could just stack two lines on one rigger.  It would create more drag to one side and you've still got the imbalance issue but an additional DR is just an additional hazard, IMHO.  Should one go over, they'd have a heck of a time righting their ship.

Michael

I'm also curious to know what advantage is gained by a downrigger with a longer arm.  When deciding how to mount my downrigger, it seemed to me that it was desirable to have the line descend from a point as close to the side of the kayak as possible so as to minimize the torque on the kayak as mentioned previously.  I could see a possible advantage of a longer arm if you used the extra length to extend the drop point to the opposite side from where the downrigger is mounted.  Then the leverage provided by the arm might actually reduce the torque on the kayak rather than amplify it because the force would be resisted by the buoyancy of the kayak.

What Doug said.  That long lever on a narrow yak is gonna f-you up.

Took the yak out today to try the new downrigger out. 2lb of weight at 40 feet cant even tell its there. Doesnt feel any more tippy at all. Trolled in rough water and with boats flying past me. I want to raise the downrigger up about 4 inches. If I get into rough water the pulley occasionally dipped in the water. Also the cable is in perfect reach and the crank is very easy to operate. Pics to follow tomorrow morning. Jeff

I'm also curious to know what advantage is gained by a downrigger with a longer arm.  When deciding how to mount my downrigger, it seemed to me that it was desirable to have the line descend from a point as close to the side of the kayak as possible so as to minimize the torque on the kayak as mentioned previously.  I could see a possible advantage of a longer arm if you used the extra length to extend the drop point to the opposite side from where the downrigger is mounted.  Then the leverage provided by the arm might actually reduce the torque on the kayak rather than amplify it because the force would be resisted by the buoyancy of the kayak.

Being these are designed for boats they clear the gunwales better. For kayaks, nothing. I agree, getting the pulley as close to the edge of the yak is really important to get a nice and stable ride. Flipping the yak w/ the DR is my nightmare scenario. It would be a serious biotch to right.

BTW Jeff. You might want to replace the DR wire w/ a braided line. 60# or so. It's a lot thinner and will minimize blowback to get the DR line more vertical. That in turn will give a more accurate depth reading.

Z

I am planning on changing out the wire to braid. The hum of the line got annoying.

Also I ran out and tried flipping the downrigger the other way to see if the boom would clear the side of the yak. It's close, I would have to get it out on the water, but it may work but it also might rub. We'll see.

Jeff

Here are two shots in action.

Also I ran out and tried flipping the downrigger the other way to see if the boom would clear the side of the yak. It's close

From your other pictures I thought the arm would easily clear the opposite side of the kayak.  But from judging from your earlier photo in the pool, it looks like the arm probably will be too short.

Another consideration is to get rid of the boom completely.  You really only need a way to reel the line up and down, and to just barely clear the side of the kayak.  I thought about just mounting a pulley forward and on the side, in a position that cleared your paddle stroke.  If you can position it right, it should allow the downrigger line to hug the surface of the kayak and not really get in the way of anything.  Then the weight would be situated in front of you and you can easily reach forward and grab the clip to reset your line.

I took the boom apart and could be easily modified, I can shorten it by a lot. I am going to try a few things before I shorten it, but it looks like the wire will barely rub the outside of the kayak. Here are some pictures with it flipped around. It's hard to tell because the yak is on its side on my rack. When I get home to the pool I will try it with the weight to see what I need to do.

Jeff

I thought about just mounting a pulley forward and on the side, in a position that cleared your paddle stroke.  If you can position it right, it should allow the downrigger line to hug the surface of the kayak and not really get in the way of anything.  Then the weight would be situated in front of you and you can easily reach forward and grab the clip to reset your line.

This is something I thought of as well when I was trying to figure it all out. The problem is you're moving the part w/ all the drag (the line) further towards the bow of the yak. When you do that you're giving the line more leverage to pull the kayak sideways. Decreasing that drag to a minimum (so you don't have to correct your course) is going to pay off in the long run.

but it looks like the wire will barely rub the outside of the kayak.

As long as you replace the wire w/ braid I wouldn't worry about the line rubbing on the side of the yak. I doubt it would even scratch the yak.

Lastly, I'd suggest putting your rod in either the flush mount or a rod holder mounted to the yak. Keeping your gear on the centerline of the yak will make it the most stable.

Z

Lastly, I'd suggest putting your rod in either the flush mount or a rod holder mounted to the yak. Keeping your gear on the centerline of the yak will make it the most stable.

Z

This is something I prefer. I hate having to look back and watch the rod, I plan on using the downrigger with one of my forward rod holders.

Jeff

That works great and how I normally run my DR and rod. The DR is behind me but the rod is right up front. Also positioning the rod across your yak can help the rod tip get even closer to the yak minimizing side pull more.

Z

Old pics removed