Decided on my new boat .... an aluminium 6.3m Kingfisher from Tauranga.

It�s half built and now I have to make a few decisions. First are the angles for the Rod Holder

I was thinking about the rear (stern) rod holders facing straight back along the lines of the gunnels, so a line at slack water will drop just beside the boat, and the front rod holders as far angled out as possible, but, the bottom of the rod holders aren't protruding into the cockpit where you might hit them with your leg if leaning against the gunnel?

Can anyone give me any good advise on the correct angles?

 PS: how do I put a photo on this page?

I've got three per side on mine and recommend it. There's always somewhere to stick the rod and I find I need the flexibility of putting rods in different places depending on the type of fishing I'm doing.

The rear ones face straight aft. The forward ones face as far out as possible without the bottoms of the rod holders intruding into the cockit. They're probably angled out about 60 or 70 degrees. The middle set - half way between the two.

They seem to work just fine.

Whatever you do, use Perko stainless holders - don't piss about with plastic ones or you'll regret it the first time you get a decent fish (and every time after until you throw them away and get Perkos.

BTW - nice choice of boat. There are instructions on how to post photos on the main forums page. Look forward to seeing some piccies of the machine.

Thanks Bender... I was hoping you would reply.

I will try and post some pictures of the boat as it goes through construction. As I said, it's the 630 model which use to be called the 615. Its the first Hardtop they have done on this size hull. What I liked about the Kingfisher boats is that everything is fully welded so the rod holders are aluminium and are welded on - no srews to be popped or plastic to be broken. I was only going to put 2 per side - do you suggest I should put three?

Your angles are exactly what I was going to do except for the rear (stern) rod holder, I was going to have this off to the side slightly so a line at slack water will drop just beside the boat. Your thoughts please.

Also with your experience of setting up small alum. boats with outriggers ... are the angles and positioning of the rod holders important?

Bender ...... photo of the boat as it is today .... 5 weeks until it hits the water..... the rod holders are in but I'm getting them changed as I didn't like the angles.

Nice lines Docdoc, I'd recommend three per side and make sure they're welded really well.  Make sure the angle of the front rod allows a line to run over the roller not over the edge of the tip as I'm sure this is where line can break.  It might be worth having a chat to Obald regarding rigger setup as he has by far the nicest setup of any small boat I've fished off.

   Good luck with the rest ofthe set up.

      Cheers

           DA

mine are across the stern 2 outside ones at 45* the 4 inside them are all 30* this was to stop the lines touching etc when game fishing works a dam treat. also a helpful hint....

make the bases extra big as it give a nice surface area to distribute the load etc mine are 100mm square from memory and also what i did was instead of having the gimble pin was to but a plate in there instead, this is fantastic as i use 80's and them being heavy it is impossible to punch the plate out where as with the pins on the very expensive rod holders i was able to break a few, 4 to be exact just from the pounding they take from the heavy gears.

Docdoc - I'll post a photo of mine when I can - photobucket seems to be down at the moment and that's what I use.

The thing about outriggers is height and spread - the more the merrioer. If I was setting that boat up I'd mount them into the outside rocker launcher tubes - you can get bent tubes to fit most rocket launchers.

Dead Ant is right about Obalds - its certainly an impressive setup but not everyone wants outriggers so wide you can't get into the Manukau heads with them spread (just kidding).

I compromised on tel o riggers because they are telescopic and it certainly makes life a whole heap easier on a small boat, having riggers that come down to a little over a metre in length.

Aha... I see PB is back up. Now I apologise in advance for the self-serving and egotistical photo but its the only one I have that shows the rod holder positions.

BTW - if you have the aft rod holders angled out, you will find that when trolling the nylon will come off the side of the rod tip guide, as DA says.

The front ones on my boat are not 90 degrees, as you can see, but when trolling the nylon comes off the rod tip roller perfectly. And as you can see from the photo, it all works OK.

It would definitely be worth taking some rods down to the boat and mocking it up, you'll get a feel for it real quick. As I said, I was lucky - Mr Stewart is a guru, took the boat away and brought it back a few days later and I have never had cause to fault anything he did. Most of the people who have fished with me will vouch for the fact that its a very well set up boat.

Thats a bloody nice Kingfisher mate, you can be damn proud of that when it goes splash.

Doc Doc, I really admire your patience in waiting for your boat. I wouldn't be sleeping and would be jumping up and down like a jig under a school of kawahai looking for a big snapper

Good idea picking the brains on here as there is no such thing as a perfect setup but at least you can follow what's worked for others.

Good luck with the boat.

Thanks Bender and Co, some great advice.

I will change my mind and go back to having 3 rod holders down each side, I was only going to have 2. I'll also take DA's advise and ensure that they are really well welded.

This boat will have the rear ones facing straight aft. The forward ones face as far out as possible without the bottoms of the rod holders intruding into the cockit while the the middle set - half way between the two.

Unless anyone disagrees that will be the order going to the boatbuilder.

One thing ticked off the list now please help with the next one when I post it. Thanks guys.

Docdoc ... thehulltruth is, I find, a reall interesting forum. Lookat this thread on suzi vs yammie.

http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=93135&start=1">http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=93135&start=1

I've got a mate with a McLay just under 6m. His front rod holders, believe it or not, actually face forward so your rod tip is beside the driver's ear (on that side). Luckily he doesn't do any game fishing.

But for snapper fishing over the years I've found it to be surprisingly good, far less tangles.

For what it's worth (prolly not much).

Good site Bender. I was a bit worried that it was going to say that the Suzuki was crap compared with the yamaha. It makes me feel a little better with my purchase. I've gone with the 140 4 stroke to drive this boat as it was about $ 3- 4 grand cheaper than the Yamahas and Honda's. I would have liked a Suzuki 150 HP but that would have cost me an additional $3 grand and they have a waiting list on them and they wouldn't be able to get me one until June / July.

Very nice ride there docdoc,

If you don't mind me asking how much is the whole rig costing? PM me if you don't want it spread around on the internet (or your misses seeing!).

Thinking of moving to a hardtop myself in the 6metre range and starting to do some research

Cheers

Ab.

Ab,

The boats a Kingfisher from Kingfisher Boats Limited, Tauranga.

Below is the Internet site. You won't see my boat on the website as its there first HT in the 6 meter size, though the hull is the same as the 630 Striking Cuddy.

http://www.kingfisherboats.co.nz/">http://www.kingfisherboats.co.nz/

I will PM you with the basic hull price as my boat is having a number of changes made i.e. live bait tank, wash down, hydralic steering, etc.. basically its made how you want it !

If you want any other info PM me.

My date on boat ... new paint job ...  anyone know how know you reduce the size of these pictures?

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i242/docdoc25/Kingfisher/630Viking-painted-Dowden2.jpg">