Rango (and others)

I'm planning on re-rigging my boat for this fall/winter and wanted your advice. I currently have 12 rod holders down one side of my boat and fish all my lines that way. From the back seat it's uncomfortable fishing out the side of the seat so I'm planning on moving the t-bars and adding another. (Most of the time there is only me and my son, or me by myself, so all the rod holders aint being used.) I plan on placing a t-bar on the front/left and front right, and the back/left and the back/right of the boat. That'll give me 16 rods to fish where as of now 2 people are fishing maybe 8-10 rods. My question is how do you set up the inside boat lighting so you can see all your lines out the front and back without getting covered up with bugs? Also, do you leave a wide gap where the anchor lines run off from the boat to minimize the tangles from fish wrapping around the ropes? My boat aint that wide so fishing the rods this way shouldnt be much of a problem...I hope! Later on after winter is over I'll go back and add a couple more t-bars in the middle of the boat for the wife and daughter to fish from. Thanks.

how and where you put your holders is something that each boat captain has to decide on since his boat is unique to his situation. theres so many tbar configurations out there it will make you scratch your head. before you drill any holes make sure you puttin em where you want em. you dont want to mount em only to discover youd rather have em a few inches in one direction or another to make em easier to use. the rest of the guys on my boat are younger fellers who have quick reflexes and have no problems gettin to any rod that needs attention. im slow so i want to sit almost on top of my rods to make em easier to tend to without having to get out of my seat. :D 4 sometimes 6 rods is all i wanna watch on a nightstalk. on fiberglass boats i wouldnt use sheet metal screws on the bases. use bolts instead. all the tbars on my boat are made out of 3/4 in water pipe, mounted to pipe flanges bolted to the boat. if you go that route MAKE SURE YOU PUT AT LEAST A 1/8TH IN ALUMINUM PLATE UNDER THE FLANGES TO KEEP THE PIPE FROM DIGGIN INTO THE BOAT when you tighten em up. if you ever take em off you will have a ugly mark where the pipe dug into your boat. I carry a pipe wrench to make any adjustments i need to make. also mounting the flanges at key locations i can move the rod racks as driftfishing for catfish or downlining for striper, the rods need to be in a different configuration than when im nightstalking.
on my boat gabowman i have a pole at the very front we hang one lantern off of. at the console we hang two lanterns off the top of the console, one tilted toward the back and one toward the front. im guessin they are about 7 or 8 ft high. the lantern at the very front is about 7 ft. ive used clamp ons,(which i prefer due to the ease of setting em up, propanes with big tanks and went back to the lanterns. we dont do all that much fishing through the hot summer months so bugs on most nights arent a problem. sometimes they can be a pain though and when they are present we live with the aggravation. the only times we have a problem with anchor ropes is when catfishing for big fish. occasionally a fish will find one and present some problems. when i used to fish off the back i had lines within a few inches either side of that rope and occasionally one would wrap, but not often. off the front we have no rods near the anchor rope so its not a problem up there. good luck. you got about a month and half to get it all sorted out and get ready :D

Thanks for the reply Rango. From a pic I saw somewhere it looked like a lantern in Front of Davey but I wasnt sure. I am planning on sticking with the clamp on lights since a late nite stalking for me is 1AM I think my batts will last that long. Good point about catfishing instead of crappie fishing too. I will probably go ahead with the t-bar configs but might have to add a couple more just for catfishing and drifting sideways. See ya on the water come October. ;)

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Originally Posted by gabowman

Thanks for the reply Rango. From a pic I saw somewhere it looked like a lantern in Front of Davey but I wasnt sure. I am planning on sticking with the clamp on lights since a late nite stalking for me is 1AM I think my batts will last that long. Good point about catfishing instead of crappie fishing too. I will probably go ahead with the t-bar configs but might have to add a couple more just for catfishing and drifting sideways. See ya on the water come October. ;)

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clamp ons would be my choice to. my problem is i just carry 4 deep cycles and usually we put out six qbeams. im thinking about puttin two clamp ons at the console and keep the lantern at the front. i have plug ins at the console, but nothing near the pole on the front so a lantern would work best there. i would love to have a led light that puts out as much light as a clamp on. we seldom stay out past one pm. most nights we come in before then, especially after it gets dark enough to start fishing early. by 11 or 12 just about everyone has had enough of it. back in the 70's and 80's it was hard for me to find someone who would go with me cause everyone knew i stayed out till daylight and most folks dint like to fish that long. now days i cant make like i used to do.

Rigging your boat is like pleasing your woman; don't ask anyone else to help you out with it because you wont like what you see!!!!!