Lee Jr. Bases on a B25

[Joseph Fikentscher]

Will the Lee Jr. outrigger bases fit on the B25 Flybridge? If so is there a recommended placement?

Thanks Guys.

Joe

[Bob H.]

Joe, Find a spot that gives you the best place to raise and lower the riggers when it gets snotty, big backing pads and position the riggers so the tips of the poles just meet the transom..I had JP help with the layout of my riggers, get a few helpers, hold the poles and bases where u think they should be.. go a few docks over and give it a look..when it looks "just right"..mark it and bolt em in.. I went on the cabin side, one hand for the rigger one keeps me from goin over the side..if you can reach em from the bridge put em there..BH

[Joseph Fikentscher]

Thanks Bob,

I am going to pick up the bases today. I think I found a good price. Not sure about of the lengths of the poles. 19' seems a little long for the 25' boat. I'm thinking 16's would be better.

I'm assuming I would mount the wishbone on the Pilaster and the base just under the window close to the gunwale. I hope they fit.

[Preston Burrows]

Joe:

You may have an issue with your placement pilaster/gunnel - the Lee's Jr bases are a 3 point mount and the pilaster would need space for 2 mounting points about 12" apart.
You'd have to install the bases on the pilasters at a pretty acute angle due to the pilasters narrow width, meaning the rigger poles would be at an acute angle too.
Remember the longer the pole combined with their mounting angle the wider and higher/lower the usable line spread when deployed, especially if you want to use 2 lines per pole.
If I recall the rule of thumb is 30o mounting angle with the pole tips just at the transom.

Mounting on the sides of the flybridge would be better space wise, but then you'd have difficulties deploying the riggers access/height wise as well as deploying your rod lines on the rigger clips

Might be better for simple gunnel mounted outriggers, the 2 part type:one part being the 'angled base' the other part being the rigger pole.
Upright when not in use and either 2 or 3 deployment angles all set by hand as and when needed.
You could mount these on the gunnel just aft of the pilasters for easy access/deployment/use.
And dismantle/stow when not needed.

Here's a visual of my Lee Jr's as installed on my B28, you may have to click on the photo to bring it in to full view:

[Harry Woods]

Joe,
Lee Jr's could have the forward mount on the gunnel and the two wishbones on the pilaster. However, access to the bow becomes difficult. You would be climbing over or under to move forward. I have seen several bridge mounted Jr's configurations. I put a free set on Swap & Sell. I had them Awlgripped black to match the poles and window frames.
Harry

[nestorpr]

18' poles should be OK, 16' would look too small unless you're installing the bases on the flybridge. And remember, one of the purposes of the outriggers is to spread the trolled baits as far apart as posible to prevent tangles when turning so you want as much separation as posible. In addition, with longer poles you may be able to install 2 lines so you can fish 4 baits from the poles giving them better presentation on the water. We had 4' Lee Sr. bases with 22' double spreader poles in our B25 and they were fantastic, we fished 4 baits on the riggers and 2 teasers on the flats. We raised so many billfish many of our friends preferred to fish out of our 25' than off other larger boats! Going forward wasn't an issue unless the poles were deployed but then we never had a need to do so then, when they were raised they actually provided an additional, strong hanhold to step on the gunwale and go forward to tie the boat, anchor, etc. Although our setup was at (or a bit beyond) the limit for this size boat, IMO your Lee Jr. bases with 18' poles would work out better than with 16' poles. Here are a few potos of our boat's setup:

[Joseph Fikentscher]

Thanks for all the replies.

Lee tackle recommended the larger MX series with a 6' tube, but that is way out of my price range.

Going to try to make the Jr's fit. I'll post some pics if I can make it work.

Regards,

Joe