Pole Placement

[lcookie]

Got a question for you guys. I spider rig with multiple length poles out the front of my boat. From all of my readings I see where you run the longest poles out the front to reach the fish before you boat spooks them. My gut says to hang the longest poles off of the side and cover a larger area as I poke along. My thinking is if I spook the fish in front they would move to either side of the boat. If I have more coverage on the side I still may get them. All of this is out the door if you tell me they go deep when spooked. Can anyone shed some light on my theory?

[MEATGETTER]

i use all same lenght (14ft) i spread them 3ft apart and about 12in above the water this works good for me!!!!!

[Splitshot82]

i use all same lenght (14ft) i spread them 3ft apart and about 12in above the water this works good for me!!!!!

X2.

I have used different lengths in the past and I put the shorter poles on the outside at that time. I think it's more preference rather than right/wrong, but I look at my TM as the most likely "spook source". My TM is center mounted at the bow. Therefore it seems to make sense to use longer poles in the center to maintain an even distance to the TM with all poles.

[talltimber]

I usually run the shorter poles to the outside too. I started with a center TM, but now have it mounted on the left hand bow, but still run the poles the same way. I cant really tell a whole lot of difference.

[rnvinc]

Got a question for you guys. I spider rig with multiple length poles out the front of my boat. From all of my readings I see where you run the longest poles out the front to reach the fish before you boat spooks them. My gut says to hang the longest poles off of the side and cover a larger area as I poke along. My thinking is if I spook the fish in front they would move to either side of the boat. If I have more coverage on the side I still may get them. All of this is out the door if you tell me they go deep when spooked. Can anyone shed some light on my theory?

There are a couple of reasons to use the longest poles in front:
1. Entice the fish before the boat spooks them (like you mentioned)...
2. Keep the lines farther away from the TM....

It is also advantageous to have longer poles out to the sides to cover a bigger swath of water...

The only disadvantages to longer poles (>12ft) that I have found is when spider riggin....is in shallow water with very little line out....long poles make it difficult to swing the fish to me without sticking the butt of the rod WAY behind me....I don't like letting line out to grab the fish..so i stick the rod butt in the floor behind me to be able to reach the fish...

Now for your question about how the fish react when spooked...

I feel the depth of water will play a part in which way the fish will move when spooked from the boat...

Shallow water only would allow horizontal escape movement for the fish...
Deeper water would allow several directions of escape for the fish....

I think it would also be determined by the proximity to cover that the fish was in....

If the fish were away from cover..the fish would tend to move away....
If the fish were holding close to cover...the fish could easily duck into the cover....

I generally spider rig from brushpile to brushpile...pausing around each brushpile for 1-2 minutes (or until no bites)...

But I may come back to each brushpile (every pass thru the territory I am fishing) to pick fish that I may have missed or spooked 30 minutes ago.....

Rickie

[Blackhawk19]

I have the longer out front but I only use 2 12' & 2 11' on my 14' Pondtoon boat and I drift with the wind a lot.

[lcookie]

Thanks for the replies. Very valuable.

[kingkrappie]

I use 8 14's, if your trolling motor's in the middle there's no reason to have different lengths, at least while slow vertical trolling

[talltimber]

I use 8 14's, if your trolling motor's in the middle there's no reason to have different lengths, at least while slow vertical trolling

Unless you're in the middle of a pole length switch from 11' to 12', but are trying to wait out on a good deal on some good 12'ers. Say, if a guy was doing that, then he might have four 11'ers and two 12'ers for now. Just sayin Rofl Rofl

[BigRiverMarine]

I use 5 or 10 ( depending on wether I'm alone or with someone) 16' poles with small spinning reels. You get farther from the TM, AND a wider coverage. I prefer having all of the tips in the same field of view so I can detect minor line position changes on soft biters especially in cool weather (which I wish we had some of now). It Is more difficult to use longer poles in extreme shallow water. You just have to learn not to lift the fish. You have to pull the fish sideways while letting out line with the spinning reel and/or shoving the pole back into the boat. Do it a few times and it really is easy to do. Just GET THE NET!!! ;-)