Spider rigging in rough water?

[RogerA]

Adding extra weight to the front of your boat will set the boat deeper in the water and you will not bounce as much and be more stable.

[CrappiePappy]

Having a slightly more flimsy/soft tip action rod can help, too. My 14' PST and 14' Capps/Coleman rods will bend exactly the same with equal weight ... as long as the rods are stationary. But, the Capps/Coleman rods will flex more easily in waves, so they don't "bounce" as bad as the PST.

I mostly push jigs with them, and have 2-3' leaders from weight to jig, so the bouncing doesn't move the jig all that much (like it does the weight & rod tips).

... cp

[Rees Guide]

Boat has a lot to do with it too, as mentioned earlier ballast "weight" added to the front end of your rig will reduce some of the bouncing, back to the wind and poles in tite helps a lot too. Stiffer poles hurt you in the wind for sure and mostly fish no more weight than 1 oz with my back to the wind, fish out of a glass boat as well that sits pretty low in the water due to the weight throughout the rig from 4 cart batts and a big charger, full fuel in the back to 200 pounds of lead under the deck extention and 3 folks on the front deck a lot of the time. It all plays a part and you will figure out what works best in your rig.
Keep asking questions, its what this site is all about!!

[jaxsprat]

Keep the thread going please getting more & more interesting-what weight do u all use normally 1oz all the time or less weight if no wind?

[CrappiePappy]

Keep the thread going please getting more & more interesting-what weight do u all use normally 1oz all the time or less weight if no wind?

I started with 1/2oz for general spider rigging in calm conditions. I've upped the weight to 3/4oz recently and have noticed less bounce in a slight chop, but on my boat in heavy waves or boat wash waves .... I'm not sure 1lb of weight would be of much use.

I'm only pushing 3 rods : a BnM PST 14' and two BnM Capps/Coleman 14' rods. They all flex about the same when rigged with the same weight & in calm waters ... but the Capps/Coleman rods are not as stiff tipped as the PST, so they will "bounce" slower.
I'm generally pushing jigs with these rods, and have a 2-3ft leader between the weight & jig. Therefore, the "bounce" (rise/fall of rod tip & therefore the weight to a lesser degree) is less pronounced at the jig, since the jig is trailing behind & below the weight. My speed is generally between 0.5mph & 1mph, which is a factor ... as the jig is trailing the weight & not hanging below the weight like it would be at a slower speed.
In my case, the bouncing rod tips are merely masking any noticeable bite (at that time) ... but, not really moving the jig up/down to any great degree to where it would stop a fish from biting the lure.

My rigging is as follows : (placed in order on the main line) my weight - plastic bead (round or cylinder shaped) - duo lock snap - 2-3ft leader line - jig.

... cp

[Predator861]

Thanks! Have a Predator861 if you couldn't guess. I knew added weight would help, but not sure where or how to add it. Storage compartment up front doesn't have a lot of room and I need the space. I'll keep tinkering and trying to figure out what works best. I ha e the duck bill extension and was thinking that I may be able to attach weight under that, but will have to check with someone who knows better about the strength of welds and all that. Anyway, thanks again

[Boa3]

While definitely not being any kind of expert I have used corks and let out enough enough line to let the cork float without the boat lifting it off the water.