Downrigger Location on Hobie Outback

Hi guys,
I am brand new to downrigger fishing and would like your input on the placement of my downrigger. 

I made a plywood temporary platform to test a few positions before doing any actual boat cutting and mounting.  The plywood worked very well as a platform as I fished with it all day today in the channel by the area 8-2 shipwreck.  The wind and current made this a good test day.  The position I liked best is what is shown.  In this position, it was easy to operate the downrigger, take in and out the weights etc.  I will replace the SS cable with braid as in the how to article Zee wrote.  I tried weights from 2 to 7 pounds.

I was surprised on the stability of the Outback and downrigger.  It was really good. 

Thanks.

Dean

How do you flip the rudder???   

The rudder controls are easy to get to.  They aren't covered up at all.

This article should give you some insight. http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/page,32.html

Z

I'm waiting for Zee to mount a Scotty Electric!!!   

Zee, thanks, I read your article awhile back and found it very helpful.  I had a difficult time turning around and cranking the downrigger.  Practice might be easier? 

Kalli, I think the electric would be easier too!

Yeah it gets easier with time. There's 2 main reasons why you need the DR behind you. 1 to keep the side pull to an absolute minimum. 2 to keep things open on the right and left sides so you can land the fish you hooked.

Z

I like your set up with the ply! Is it ratchet strapped through the scuppers? I have two downriggers that I have been toying around with to find a good way to mount em up. I never thought of using ply this way to keep it removable.

If you want it removable you should check out the crate setups that Ravdakot and I are using.

Here's the mount I made, it fits in the scupper holes, just need to stretch the back bungies over to secure.  Works like a charm....

This is the crate design Lee and I came up with. Has worked out pretty fantastically for both of s so far.

Nice...I am working on moving this weekend. As soon as I get settled I will try to set up a rig on the crate! That is sweet.

Is your crate attached to the yak? If so how? Thanks!

Mine is attached by four brass clip swivels that look like this brass clip swivel  I run a continuous strap through my crate and through the eyes of the clips.  The strap was an extra from my wheeleez cart that I don't use.  Rav has a couple of straps that run straight through the crate with plastic clips.  They are probably easier to use than mine, but it gets the job done. 

Guys,
Thanks for the posts.  These are great ideas!  I like the idea of not drilling into the boat if possible.  I'll definitely change the position of my original as I wasn't thinking of netting a fish, only using the downrigger.

Dean

These are like the straps I use

http://www.codpaddlesports.com/prod_straps.asp#

I just run them through the crate width wise and clip the dog leash clips to eyelets on my rails. I had to install 2 more eyelets to make it work on my X-13, but not on the F'n'D. (She had plenty to spare) You could always strap through the scuppers too.

Here's the original post where we were refining our crates for the DRs.

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,4967.0.html