Hooks on dreges!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[austin ensor]

why doesnt anyone put hooks on dreges??? or pull one with a rod like we do with stripers (we call em unbrellas) .?

thanks-austin

[Wild Life Management]

There are more qualified people here that could answer that, but I would say one reason is because if you had a multiple hookup, let's say tuna for example, unless they are small, you probably won't ever see that dredge again.

[Tuna Taxi]

why doesnt anyone put hooks on dreges??? or pull one with a rod like we do with stripers (we call em unbrellas) .?

thanks-austin

There are probably many technical reasons you will get from others, but the main reason for me is that if what you are pulling for stripers is an umbrella, then the dredges I pull are circus tents. A big fish running hooked to a dredge will straighten the hook, if the hook stays at all. It's just the wrong tool for the job.

You don't want all that hardware, dredge weight, strips/baits/etc. in the water on a fish and try to reel it in. It would be next to impossible.

[Capt-D]

... has been bill fish torneys. Much like a spreader bar hooking a dredge would not be IGFA Legal.

Does not mean that you cant go against the grain and rig a umbrella (smaller) type rig and land tuna for fun much like stripers. Not sure how effective they would be for bill fish though (especially hooking whites) Get out an experiment!

-D

[Fritz]

... has been bill fish torneys. Much like a spreader bar hooking a dredge would not be IGFA Legal.

Does not mean that you cant go against the grain and rig a umbrella (smaller) type rig and land tuna for fun much like stripers. Not sure how effective they would be for bill fish though (especially hooking whites) Get out an experiment!

-D

Not that I ever pull them and I know they are not IGFA legal, but you have gone a done it now. The spreader bars guys are going to be pis#$%. LOLs.

[reel fishy]

My opinion is... If you only knew how long it takes to rig all the natural baits on a dredge and how bad they would tangle and rip off if you hooked a jumping billfish. On my natural mullet dredge we have around $120 worth of bait just to get it in the water plus another 10-15 mullet rigged in backup. It would absolutely destroy the dredge plus the heavy dredge weight flying around would not be so good on you or your tackle. The dredge creates a massive amount of drag in the water and your reel's drag would be pretty maxed. I'm sure the fish would bite it but it's not supposed to be a lure. Now maybe a release clip rigged to the rear would be a good alternative.

[Anthony of the ARK]

if you hooked a marlin on a dredge you would mostlikly kill it.

[Captain Fred Archer]

Not all dredges are the same. Some have evolved greatly and can be fished on light OR heavy tackle, they are so light and easy pulling that you CAN arm them and catch fish on them and have a fair fight and enjoy catching the fish, no straightened or pulled hooks due to water pressure on a heavy, water resistant bunch of baits or lures, they can be trolled at 4 to at least 14 knots and it is easy to fish them IGFA legal - the biggest tuna tournaments on the west coast have been won and the top places swept by the guys who used them "the" way, including two out of three tuna tournaments in the Northwest this past year. On top of that, they let you fish a dredge on both corners, no sweat, no handlines, no electric teaser reels, none of that stuff.

Maybe it's time to take a good, hard look at these?

Oh, and they are a helluva lot less expensive. And our Show Prices are houserockers AND will be posted on three sites around the country so that those who don't or can't attend a show can receive that very special Show Pricing. Stay tuned!

Here's a drawing of the basics of the system and just a tiny taste of the kind of Show Specials that are coming. Those of you going to the Miami Boat Show can see it all at Roddy Hays' Legend Lures booth, #2008 in The Big Game Room.

[reel fishy]

Capt Fred,

That looks like a spreader bar rather than a dredge. At 14kts how is something with that much surface area going to stay submerged and in clean water with that small amount of weight on it? What we consider a dredge as a single or double umbrella style rig that includes at least 24 rigged natural baits or a combo of natural and artificial baits that would run sub-surface. We use at least 48oz of trolling lead or a Mann's lure to bring the dredge to the correct depth. I'm not questioning your years of experience just trying to figure out if we are talking the same game.

[Captain Fred Archer]

Adam,

I spent a bunch of time replying to your post, but lost it somehow right at the end. I'm too wiped out right now to try to repeat it and will have to come back and try again later. I thanked you for your good eye and classy way of bringing up what it saw, then went to pretty great lengths to explain what was really going on there, which was basically that the drawing was part of a discussion in the Marlin book and without that, it left a lot to be desired. Be back later with the full skinny.