Let's talk about fishing rigs
I'd like to learn more about what works and doesn't work for fishing from an ~40' boat with cockpit and/or the ubiquitous 10' +/- RIB dinghy.
I don't mean baits, locations, etc. but rather how you use downriggers, trolling setups, bottom fishing setups, and so on.
For reference my current setup is a 10'6" fiberglass hull rib, with a euro helm and downrigger mount on the rail of the helm seat. The big boat has rod holder mounts, but nothing else on the transom. This all came with the boat and I haven't used it other than to install and test the equipment.
For other reasons we will be buying a new dinghy so much of my curiosity is what works best from the dinghy. I'm thinking a helm takes up a lot of room with two people trying to fish so I may be better off with a tiller steer. Is this correct? In the past I've spent countless days fishing from small tiller steer aluminum jon boats.
I've seen downrigger mounts for RIB gunwales, but wonder how well they work? Or should I skip the downrigger and use jet divers? I guess the big boat is pretty straightforward assuming you can troll slow enough.
What is everyone's experience? What works and what doesn't work? What is your ideal setup? What would you do differently?
My fishing area of interest is PNW, mostly Alaska and BC.
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