Top of the Line Telescoping Outriggers

Whether you fish from a 25-foot Contender or 53-foot HCB, outriggers are equally attractive in their ability to manage a proper spread. They facilitate the positioning of baits, lures and teasers in clean water outside the boat’s prop wash and increase the odds of teasing billfish and other predators close to the boat. Furthering their value, outriggers create a more enticing surface presentation by pulling from an elevated angle, assisting in a smooth drop-back when anglers can’t get to the rod before a fish pops the release clip.

Consumers have many choices when it comes to outriggers. Some outriggers are available in fixed length or sectional models that cannot be collapsed. Telescoping outriggers are a more affordable option and the most common design on the market, facilitating easy transit and long-term storage. The truth of the matter is, almost every offshore captain would prefer to fish with fixed-length outriggers given the opportunity, citing increased stiffness and the ability to rig halyard lines internally. However, telescoping outriggers are the only choice for trailering and those who store vessels at dry stack facility.

Although the design is decidedly outdated, many telescoping fishing outriggers still utilize snap buttons on the tube sections as a locking mechanism to keep poles from collapsing when fully extended. A common issue with this antiquated style of telescoping outrigger develops between the second and third pole sections. Here, an internal plastic sleeve often cracks and twists out of position, preventing the snap button from popping through and locking the pole in place. Not only can it be a struggle to line up the holes when raising and lowering this type of telescoping outrigger, but the inherent design requires a hole on the exterior of each pole section so there is no defense against contaminants from entering the outrigger.

For aluminum telescoping outriggers this can be detrimental and quickly create problems with the snap buttons becoming stuck. Unfortunately, outriggers are often overlooked when the boat is being washed and that can be problematic for aluminum telescoping outriggers. Because the tube-into-tube overlaps naturally trap moisture, with continued saltwater exposure corrosion will reveal itself and eventually require the outriggers to be dismantled and the snap buttons replaced entirely.

Seeing a need for a better design, we developed a pole different than any other telescoping outriggers for sale. At GEMLUX, our flagship Bluewater telescoping outriggers are manufactured from 3K woven carbon fiber and available in 18- and 22- foot lengths. The 22-foot poles comprise four sections that neatly retract to 93.5-inches. The 18-footers feature three pole assemblies that retract to 96.5-inches. Facilitating an even larger spread, 27-foot telescoping outriggers can be custom ordered in five pole sections, which also collapse to 96.5-inches. Bluewater outriggers are incredibly lightweight and strong enough to pull a dredge teaser or high-speed wahoo spread. Our 18-foot Deluxe telescoping fishing outriggers are a more affordable option designed with a carbon fiber blend and collapsing to 96.5-inches. Helping tame shotgun lines, a 12-foot, two-piece center rigger collapses to just 70-inches.

Unique to GEMLUX, all of our telescoping outriggers feature sleek aluminum collars incorporating a twist action clamping system. To extend our telescoping fishing outriggers simply twist the knurled aluminum collar to loosen, extend the pole until you feel resistance, then turn the collar back to clamp tight. Because each pole segment is free to rotate and the locking mechanism functions in any orientation, there’s no more struggle to line up poles. Once you’ve tightened the collar, grip both poles simultaneously and rotate in opposing directions to further lock everything into place. When extended to the fishing position, GEMLUX telescoping outriggers with integrated collars do not look like any other collapsible outrigger on the market and appear to be a fixed-length poles.

Telescoping fishing outriggers have traditionally been outfitted with basic eyelets to manage multiple halyard lines, but to meet the demands of discriminating anglers employing modern techniques requiring the smooth halyard operation we’ve integrated rollers to our carbon fiber telescoping outriggers. The unique assembly rotates 360° around the outrigger pole to maintain the perfect angle, preventing chafe and ensuring the least amount of resistance on your halyard lines. This provides the smoothest performance when tending multiple lines on each pole. Since this low-friction halyard system moves so effortlessly, it’s a good idea to invest in a pair of Gemlox to eliminate halyard creep¾the slipping of outrigger clips towards their base.

While we recommend GEMLUX base mounts to achieve the full performance benefits from our industry leading carbon fiber telescoping fishing outriggers, we offer adapters to fit Tigress, Taco, Tigress and Lee’s base mounts. Gemlux.com