TACO GS-500 Grand Slam Outrigger Mounts CF-HD Pole Compatible

The TACO Marine GS-500 Grand Slam outrigger mounts are the Pro Series outrigger base in TACO's outrigger mount lineup - the top-tier outrigger mount engineered for serious offshore sport fishing where outrigger reliability and deck-controlled operation matter meaningfully. For sportfish boat captains running professional dredge spreads or hardcore tournament fishing where outrigger deployment / retraction happens dozens of times per day in rough conditions, the GS-500 is the right call versus cheaper outrigger mounts that require reaching out over the gunwale or fumbling with pins.

What outrigger mounts actually do. Outriggers are long composite or aluminum poles that extend off both sides of a sportfish boat at roughly horizontal angle, with fishing lines running through clips at the pole tips. The poles spread the trolling lines apart from the boat's wake, letting you fish multiple lines simultaneously without tangles. The mount is the base that holds the outrigger pole - it secures the pole to the boat's gunwale or hardtop, allows the pole to be deployed (rotated outward and lifted into fishing position) and stowed (rotated inward and lowered), and absorbs the considerable forces created by the pole acting as a long lever arm in the wind, water spray, and trolling drag.

Patent-pending Twist & Lock pole connection. The GS-500's Twist & Lock connection is the meaningful feature versus older outrigger mounts that used pins, bolts, or set screws to secure the pole. Twist & Lock works like a quick-disconnect: insert the CF-HD pole's base into the mount, twist the pole approximately 90 degrees, and the locking mechanism engages to hold the pole securely. To remove: reverse the twist and lift the pole out. No pins to drop overboard, no bolts to over-tighten, no set screws to corrode and seize. The connection is meaningfully faster and more secure than older mount designs - meaningful when you're stowing outriggers in rough weather or quickly removing them for trailering.

CF-HD pole compatibility - exclusively. The GS-500 is engineered specifically for TACO's Carbon Fiber Heavy-Duty (CF-HD) Tele-Outrigger pole line. The Twist & Lock connection is profiled for CF-HD pole bases - other outrigger pole brands or older non-CF-HD TACO poles don't fit the connection and won't engage the locking mechanism. For owners running CF-HD poles, this exclusivity is a feature (the connection is engineered for the specific load profile of the CF-HD poles). For owners running non-CF-HD poles, choose a different TACO mount or upgrade to CF-HD poles. The GS-500 doesn't have any backward-compatibility provisions.

Up to 24-foot pole compatibility. The GS-500 is rated for CF-HD Tele-Outrigger poles up to 24 feet long when fully extended. 24-foot poles are the typical professional sportfish standard - long enough to spread trolling lines well outside the boat's wake disturbance, short enough to stow within the typical sportfish boat's overall dimensions. For shorter poles (the typical recreational 15-18 foot CF-HD variants), the GS-500 also works - the pole length flexibility is built into the mount design.

Deck-controlled lift and rotation. The GS-500's signature feature: outrigger pole adjustment from the safety of the deck rather than reaching out over the gunwale. Two control mechanisms. The outward rotation handle: an ergonomically shaped handle that rotates the outrigger pole 180 degrees from stowed (pole pointing forward / inboard, parallel to the boat) to fully deployed (pole pointing outboard at 90 degrees to the boat). Smooth controlled rotation with safety detents at intermediate positions to prevent uncontrolled rotation if the operator releases the handle mid-rotation. The lifting crank handle: a dual-detented crank that lifts the deployed pole from horizontal stowed-down position to upper fishing position. The crank handle locks flush into the base when not in use, eliminating the protrusion that older crank designs left.

Dredge load tested. Professional sportfish boats often run dredges - large weighted multi-bait teasers that pull off the outrigger poles to attract pelagic species. Dredge loads are meaningfully higher than typical trolling loads (a fully-loaded dredge spread can apply hundreds of pounds of force to the outrigger pole tip during heavy water motion). The GS-500 is engineered and tested specifically for full professional dredge spreads - the mount's structure handles the maximum loads without flex or deformation, and the locking mechanisms hold the pole position under load.

Cast stainless-steel and machined aluminum construction. The GS-500's main structural components are cast 316-grade stainless steel (the marine-grade alloy for saltwater service - better corrosion resistance than 304 stainless and the typical premium marine sportfish hardware standard) and CNC-machined aluminum (anodized for corrosion resistance, lighter than additional stainless mass would be while maintaining strength). The combination gives the meaningful balance of strength and weight - the GS-500 is meaningfully lighter than full-stainless competing mounts while being equally strong, which matters because every pound of outrigger mount weight is hardware mounted high on the gunwale (where weight aloft affects boat handling).

180-degree controlled rotation with safety detents. The outrigger pole rotates a controlled 180 degrees from fully stowed to fully deployed. Safety detents at intermediate positions prevent uncontrolled rotation - if the operator releases the rotation handle at any point during the rotation, the detent catches the pole at that angle rather than letting it swing freely under wind / water loading. The detents are precise enough to lock the pole in any position the angler wants for the specific fishing setup.

Locking head eliminates downward creep. Older outrigger mount designs let deployed poles slowly creep downward under load over time - the pole's weight plus any wind / water loading on the rigged lines applies downward force on the pole, which loosens older locking mechanisms incrementally until the pole sags noticeably. The GS-500's locking head is engineered to hold the pole in its set position indefinitely without creep - the angler sets the pole angle once and it stays there for the duration of the fishing day.

For boats 32 to 50+ feet. The GS-500 is sized for sportfish boats in the 32 to 50+ foot length-overall range. The mount's load capacity, the CF-HD pole length compatibility, and the install footprint all match this boat-size range. For smaller boats (under 32 feet), the smaller GS-260 or GS-360 outrigger mounts are the right choice. For larger boats (over 50 feet), the GS-500 still works but professional captains may opt for even larger custom outrigger mounts.

No port / starboard designation. Each GS-500 mount is symmetrically engineered to install on either port or starboard side. The included pair contains two identical mounts - install one per side. This is meaningful for inventory management (no need to specify or stock left / right variants) and for installs where the symmetric design simplifies install planning.

Includes oval backing plates and all mounting hardware. The 6 x 8 inch x 1/2 inch thick oval backing plates distribute the outrigger mount's loads over a large gunwale area - meaningful for fiberglass gunwales where concentrated point loads would eventually crack the gel coat or work the gunwale loose over years of outrigger use. The backing plates and all the through-bolt mounting hardware are included with the GS-500 pair.

Pairs with 6-degree wedge plates (WP-500-6, sold separately). For boats with sloped gunwales (where the gunwale surface isn't horizontal), the WP-500-6 wedge plates correct the GS-500's mounting angle to keep the outrigger poles in the correct deployed orientation. Sold separately - check your gunwale angle before deciding whether you need wedge plates.

Backward compatibility for upgrades. The GS-500's base hole pattern matches all TACO Marine Grand Slam outrigger mount models - so boats that already have older Grand Slam mounts installed (with the existing through-bolt holes drilled in the gunwale) can upgrade to the GS-500 without re-drilling the gunwale. Saves significant install effort on upgrade projects.

Three-year limited warranty. Standard TACO Marine warranty terms apply - meaningfully longer than the typical 1-year warranty on cheaper outrigger mounts.