14ft rods puts baits about 10.5ft in front of my TM ...
Rickie
I'm using 12ft rods on my Ranger Z20.....
Rod holder to TM is measured 4ft...can't move it much more forward.
That puts rod tips just 8ft in front of TM....
Concerned I might be spooking fish....deeper water maybe not, but....
What setup works for you?
Rod length and distance between rod rack and TM?
How far are your rod tips in front of your TM??
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14ft rods puts baits about 10.5ft in front of my TM ...
Rickie
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Thanks Rickie!!
Any concerns??
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My fishing buddy and I have almost exclusively spider rigged for a LONG time now. We push jigs at about 1mph. No minnows.
We have gone to long Japanese Tenkara style rods. 6.3 and 7.2 meters long (about 20.5 and 23.6 feet). And yes, getting the jigs out away from the boat has really helped.
These are inexpensive carbon rods, extremely light weight, and rated for "carp" fishing and are plenty strong enough for crappie.
Here is an eBay link to the ones we are using at present. You have to be careful as some of these style rods (not the ones in the link) are as flexible as wet noodles and need to be avoided. We wrap guides on the rods and use Shakespeare (me) and Okuma (Don) line counter reels.
Goture Telescopic Fishing Rod 2/8 Super Hard Carbon Fiber Stream Carp Hand Pole | eBay
Tom
I haven't measured, but I'm pretty sure my rod holders are no more than 2ft from the TM .... so my 14' rods should stick out beyond the TM by ~12'
I don't "Spider Rig" ... but I do Push jigs & cranks ... so none of my rods are ever pointed directly ahead over the TM, but are angled out to either side. As like Rickie says, if you're going much faster than 0.3mph (depending on how much weight you're using), then you are taking a chance of having a line get caught up in the TM prop. (been there/done that )
I've used 10' rods & even a 6'6" rod ... but, again, they were always angled towards each side of the bow.
You could probably still use your 12' rods on the outside of your spread, but I suggest maybe some 16' rods for the center of the spread. At Spider Rigging speeds (0.1-0.3mph) and 3/4oz weights, you shouldn't have any TM prop wrap-ups. My buddy, Chucky, used 16' Capps/Coleman rods & 3/4oz weights and he Spider Rigged almost exclusively. Most of the time he used a 6rod spread, unless he was tournament fishing and then he'd use the full 8rod spread.
On my stick steer rod holders are at least 3 ft behind trolling motor. I’m now fishing mostly 14 ft rods and on occasion 16’s but for years I fished 12 ft rods. Which means they were at most about 9 ft in front of motor and the way my holders are off set the other rods are even closer. I fish a lot in 6-8 ft water and can’t tell you that the longer rods are that much better when spider rigging at .2 to .6. Caught just as many fish with them as longer poles. But with all that said I prefere the 14’s everyday fish now. If fishing real shallow and real clear water I do think longer rods could make a difference.
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Charlie Weaver USN/ENC 1965-1979
Thank you all for the replies!
Very much appreciated!!
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Im fishing from a Stroker bass boat and from my holders to the trolling motor is about 3.5. I use 16 rods off the front and have had no issues getting caught up in the trolling motor yet. My front rods are by far the most successful so I dont think Im spooking them too bad. My other rods have been 12 so I just ordered some more 16ers to replace those.
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I got a 21 ft triton. holders are mounted as far forward as they can go. 18 ft rods leave me bout 15 ft in front of TM.
I never have any issues getting into the TM.