To Dredge or not to Dredge

[Sportsman]

That's the question. Of course, I am not talking about pumping out a channel.....I'm talking about mullet/ballyhoo/squid dredges. I have fished for whites & sails with 'em and without 'em and have seen good results in each instance....of course I have been on a few really long boat rides with and without as well. Seems to me that even with the dredges down, the fish close to the boat that we have had shots at are on (or coming off of) the squid chains above the dredges. Did they first notice the dredge and come in for a closer look and then get sucked in to the chains? Who knows. Speaking with some of the best from OI, they use 'em but they swear that they can do without 'em. Had one of Arch's proteges tell me that in a place such as Isla, they can be very productive but without such a high concentration of fish balling bait, they are a waste of time and effort....pre-fishing and fishing. Thoughts?

[frankypettolina]

theres a time and a place, in my opinion. Some very well respected captains and mates will disagree with this, but here is my stance (meaning these guys do not EVER fish without dredges in the water when targetting whites and sails).

When bait is thick and/or balled up you need to have your own bait balls to get them to you- time for dredges.

when things are scattered, little or no bait, lots of grass, early season in OC, these are just a few of the times that dredges are not worth it.

[Captain Jay Kavanagh]

After about mid June, when we are in the deep, we almost always dredge, at least one if not two, the only time we don't is when the grass is too bad, and alot of the time we pull em when we are fighting the grass. It figure it never hurts.