better attachment of downrigger to gunwale

[The Quadfather]

I have a 14' Lund aluminium boat and a newer Scotty downrigger. I am just getting around to hooking this thing up, I've had it probably a year. I did buy the accessory mount that is needed in order to mount it to the gunwale of the boat. But never-the less it really would fit better if I fabricated some kind of shim or something between the gunwale and mount. It's the same kind of thing as when you crimp down you rod holders on a aluminum gunwale... you just need something in there to get so that the DR doesn't sort of slop over the side of the boat.

I hope I am making myself clear on this, I know those who have similar boats will understand.... I am hoping Sam Kafelafish can jump in.

What have any of you used to alleviate this problem of the DR hanging over the side? So far I just added a wood shim, but it's just not ideal. I am about to go out on a maiden voyage with the DR, and once I throw a ball on the end of it.... I don't want to see it go overboard.

Thanks,
Chris

[Marc Martyn]

Attach a picture of your current configuration.

[A9]

I got the same setup...

What I did was cut about a 6 inch long piece of a 2x4 and stuck it under the mount on the outside of the boat....

Tough to explain, but lemme dig out my camera and I'll show you what it looks like...

[zen leecher aka Bill W]

Don't make the mistake I did years ago and run the boat with the downrigger ball outside. It will break the wire when bouncing up and down. You need to put the ball inside the boat when running from one spot to another.

Also, when you let it out, don't drop it on a slack wire. That will break also. If the wire is tight and you let it go that's ok... but make sure you don't have so much wire out that it will yo-yo back and whack the side of your boat.

Wires are strong...but they don't have much stretch.

[The Quadfather]

Don't make the mistake I did years ago and run the boat with the downrigger ball outside. It will break the wire when bouncing up and down. You need to put the ball inside the boat when running from one spot to another.

Also, when you let it out, don't drop it on a slack wire. That will break also. If the wire is tight and you let it go that's ok... but make sure you don't have so much wire out that it will yo-yo back and whack the side of your boat.

Wires are strong...but they don't have much stretch.

No no no,, nothing like that. It's just a matter of building a shim of sorts to thicken the gunwale area where the mount grabs hold.
I will keep in mind how hard I drop the ball though.

[Easy Limits]

In my 14' boat I used brackets made by Offshore to hold my downriggers. They worked great. Very solid mount to the gunwale. I got mine at Sportco.

[hewesfisher]

Hey Quad, are your DR bases wider/bigger than your gunwale? At least that's what I'm getting from your post about the DR hanging over the edge. If that's what you're asking, then Sam has a good solution.

I put a pair of Scotty 1101s on my Sportsman, and used 1/4" aluminum plate on the under side of the gunwale for additional strength, but the DR bases are smaller than the gunwale area I mounted them to. You might want to consider doing something similar, especially if the gunwale on your Lund isn't wide enough for the entire DR base.

I don't have any pics at the moment, but if you need any I'd be happy to snap a few. ;-)

[A9]

Here's what I sent him via a PM for anyone else wondering....I think he was talking about a clamp mount and this is what I did with my clamp mount, just had to put a little chunk of wood under the edge of that top rail to thicken up the gunwhale where I needed to set the clamp...

[The Quadfather]

[quote="hewesfisher"]Hey Quad, are your DR bases wider/bigger than your gunwale? At least that's what I'm getting from your post about the DR hanging over the edge. If that's what you're asking, then Sam has a good solution.

I put a pair of Scotty 1101s on my Sportsman, and used 1/4" aluminum plate on the under side of the gunwale for additional strength, but the DR bases are smaller than the gunwale area I mounted them to. You might want to consider doing something similar, especially if the gunwale on your Lund isn't wide enough for the entire DR base.

I don't have any pics at the moment, but if you need any I'd be happy to snap a few. ]



Phil,

I am good to go at the moment... The picture that Kafelafish posted is exactly what I did. We have basicly the same boat and downrigger.
Thanks for your efforts, but it's on rock solid now.

Chris