pole placement?

[dwaw]

running 6, 12' poles out the front. thinking about replacing 2 of the 12's w/ 2 16's. which position would you change out? the out the front position? the diagonal position? or the out the side position?

[Rees Guide]

Out the front, only reason to go to longer poles would be that you are spooking fish (I dont buy this but we dont have the CLEAR water that some have) so would say front would be best. Shorter poles are easier to handle in all situations.

[CrappiePappy]

If "I" were doing it .... I'd replace the front middle two. Reason being, even though you would spread your path of delivery by putting them out to the side ... you might not be able to see all the tips at the same time. It's a trade-off, in any case. Even placing them in the diagonal position, you might have the #2 & #5 poles running over the same ground in front of the #1 & #6 poles, depending on how you spread them.
Personally, I'm not sure I'd go the replacement route. With all poles being the same length (& I assume the same brand/model), you can spread them within your sight range & see them all at once ... which is also a help in detecting hits, since the one getting the hit will stand out in the crowd by "looking/acting" just slightly different from the others. A staggered set of pole lengths might make it more difficult to detect subtle bites and/or simultaneously keep your undivided attention on all pole tips.

... cp

[dwaw]

thanks for helping me think about this. i bought the 16's for the backseat, to see if they'd help narrow the catch rate. they helped. was fishing by myself yesterday and was thinking about them and wondering. i'm happy with the 12's. think i'll leave 'em in the box for the backseat. thanks!

[crappiefarmer]

I run 2 16s out the sides to open my spread. I do not run them at a complete 90 degrees so I can see them better. The rest are 12s. I catch more fish on the outside rods on consistent bases and I believe it is because I am fishing further from the Trolling motor. I am getting ready to replace My 2 front rods with 14s just to get out away from the trolling motor in the front. The 14s are easier to handle than the 16s. especially when You are catching them 4 feet deep.CF

[lhumphre]

Just my opinion, but i have found to be the most consistent and to cover a wide span, use all 14' BNM BGJP's. Just a bullet proof setup for trolling and you never have to question whether your rods are far enough in front of boat or if you are covering enough water. I hardly ever fish deeper than 10 fow so 14' rods are a must for me.

[arkcrappie]

i run 2 16s out the sides to open my spread. I do not run them at a complete 90 degrees so i can see them better. The rest are 12s. I catch more fish on the outside rods on consistent bases and i believe it is because i am fishing further from the trolling motor. I am getting ready to replace my 2 front rods with 14s just to get out away from the trolling motor in the front. The 14s are easier to handle than the 16s. Especially when you are catching them 4 feet deep.cf

x 2

[crappiefarmer]

Just to add, if You have a creek or river that is only a couple hundred feet wide with sloping banks, or flats on each side, using the 2 16s out the sides will allow you to pretty much cover a creek channel in an up and down pass. It widens my spread to almost 40 feet. Longer out the front is good in shallower water to not spook the fish but aggravating fishing short line on a long pole.CF

[genec]

when fishing 5 feet or so 16 in front is then better to get them before they are spook, if deeper lighter are better on you with less bouncing on choppie days,they are tools in must be adjusted for each different situation. I once fish side of a troller in shallower water ,he had 16 footers and I had 12 footers and he tore me up ,theh he told me he use to have that problem in shallow water till he got 16 footers,now I see many that fish Kerr or Buggs and 16 are the normal