islands50
2012-12-26 23:31:19
this is simple really, is there some rule of thumb or formula as to the lenth of the trolling poles ???
islands50
2012-12-27 01:13:19
Rookie,
Thank you I had an idea that was what it was, now I can further my estmates on a vessel I am looking at
JYDPDX
2012-12-27 02:36:30
For what it's worth:
I think I have 38' poles on my 44' boat and they are adequate. They are shorter than some other boats my length but I rarely have any problems with the spread. I moved my heavies out to the tips as an experiment once and it did increase the spread dramatically (there were a couple of reasons I changed them back immediately) so maybe the longer the better. It would be nice to lengthen them a little but only as a luxury, I'll probably never do it. I think the drawback of longer poles is that they are heavier to haul up and also the boat may pitch harder when transiting with poles up but I dont know, as I said mine are relatively short. I remember talking with a guy who had shortened his poles a few feet, possibly after an incident crossing a bar down south but they may have been quite a bit longer than his boat's length. Mine are super easy to haul with the stabys on board which I almost always do first now because it's faster that way even with the grapple hook.
Abundance
2012-12-27 02:45:39
I would say that it would be reasonably close to boat length up to forty feet, and anything more than that would be overkill for most trollers, at least in my experience. I have 38' poles on my 50' boat. You don't need to stress about getting it that exact. It's not that critical to get the perfect length poles. That's from getting my poles secondhand though. Building my own, I would probably go a bit longer, because why not.
islands50 - Most of my partners over the years had poles that were within a foot or two of the length of the troller. I had 56' poles on my 54' boat - great spread and I could run heavies out at the tips with no problem.
spike christopher
2012-12-27 16:53:14
I purchase my troller from an 82 year old gentleman who said the length of the poles are with in a few feet of the length of the boat. He also said that bow poles should be 10 feet shorter that the mains. I then ask him why and he gave me a long answer about the weight and the height of the poles slowing down the roll of the boat. He said the shorter the poles the faster the roll. But you can not have to long of poles or to much weight up high as it effects the timing of the roll. He said he had been fishing for 47 years and that is the way it had always been. He believed in having a heavy mast and swore it made the boat sea kindly, he also said it was like balancing a broom on your finger, it was easy to balance the broom with the sweeping portion up but hard to balance it with the sweeping end in your hand, since he had been fishing for half a century I felt he probably knew what he was talking about.
islands50
2012-12-27 17:08:58
Thank all of you for your input, I just can't get a stright anwser in my area, ( South Texas) it seems when I ask a question of the local fisherman, they shut up, even when I explain I am not intrested in their damned Shrimp, I have found a market for Tuna, and of course also need to rig the vessel, call it virgin waters, hell even the Alantic and Gulf goverment people have no clue, about western gear, they are used to long line and rod and reel, and then mostly sports fishermen. I have had to send them diagrams of the gear, and how it is depoloyed, for then to say yes it is legal.
Abundance
2012-12-27 18:56:12
One thing that comes to mind is that tuna trolling might require different things out of your poles than salmon trolling. Maybe somebody with experience tuna fishing could help you out a bit more.
akfisher1978
2012-12-27 21:33:28
Islands 50 I have no experience commercial fishing tuna but have caught thousands of Yellowfin trolling in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. We always had to get our speed up and stay just ahead of the schools to do good. Usually around 10knts! I dont know how well troll poles would work honestly. Usually Seined or Longlined for quantity! I could be wrong but thats my opinion!
Carol W
2012-12-28 00:47:19
My poles are 38 feet and my boat 42 I catch just fine and also have my mains out on the tips.
lassie
2012-12-29 22:48:48
I've a salmon/tuna troller in Oregon. The boat's 40' overall, and the poles (just purchased the boat last year and haven't measured them) are as long as poles on longer boats in the same port. They work well for salmon and tuna. I think the length isn't really that critical, and the advice to have them about the same length as the boat is good. Mine are wood, as is the mast, which makes the boat a bit of a roller - which is actually more sea kindly. It has a pretty predictable slow roll with the weight aloft, and isn't as affected by surface waves. I suppose the same thing could be accomplished by adding weight down low, removing it aloft by the change to aluminum, and one would have the best of both worlds? Aluminum poles have some real benefits - lighter for raising, less weight aloft for better initial stability, and greater options for mounting hardware - both to the boat and from the poles. One detractor to aluminum (I'm told) is that they're not as flexible, which can equate to broken poles when cannonballs hit the bottom - something you won't have to worry about. I'm relatively new - so take it for what it's worth, but these are my initial impressions at least.