Seatbox platforms can transform your fishing. There are dozens of platform and barrow/trolley systems on the market but which one do you go for?
If you regularly fish natural venues like rivers or big reservoirs then youll know all about fishing on spots where you don’t get the luxury of a gravel path to help you get to your peg or a wooden platform to put your box on. You may also be faced with the issue of having to cast across yards of shallow fishless water just to get your tackle out to the area where the fish are found.
Normally in this instance you will either avoid the venue or if you're on a river you are forced to fish the feeder or a large waggler when everyone else is bagging up on the stick.
A platform is what is needed in these instances and one of the strongest and reliable on the market are the ever popular, Rigger barrow platforms. The British firm have no less than three different platform systems in their range used by some of the sport’s biggest names including the likes of Angling Times columnist and river maestro Dave Harrell.
Their newest and largest of the range is the Rigger Plus. Measuring 950mm long by 750mm wide this platform is more than capable of supporting the largest of modern seatboxes and with two 900mm long legs, two 670mm legs in the middle and two 470mm at the end, its capable of positioning yourself further out in the water than many other systems on the market, making for a comfortable days fishing.
The platform which RRP’s at £279.99 on its own or £284.99 with the wheel kit, also has a staggering 17 location sockets for attaching things like keepnets and bait trays while youre out in the water.
To test out its capabilities Angling Times took it out for a live test on the River Trent.
We took the platform to the banks of the Midlands waterway on Worksop DAA's stretch at Holme Marsh.
This is the ideal location to test the platform with yards of shallow water on the nearside and the deep channel to cast to on the far bank.
Arriving at the venue we were unable to park right at the back of the peg so the barrow system which you can buy with the platform for a small fee was put to good use. Two handles and a super tough wheel make it easy to convert to a barrow for when your carrying your gear to and from the car. The solid hand wheels made it easy for cold hands to tighten the legs
The Rigger Plus Platform system comes with a barrow facility for carrying your gear.
We tried the platform with the large Preston Absolute seatboxes around 20 yards out in the water to fish the feeder into the far channel. It held everything nice and level including the angler and was super sturdy throughtout the test.
If you fish rivers a lot and want a product you can rely on. The Rigger systems really are worth a look at. Take a look on their website for more details.