Drag & Spreader Bars

[carom]

Ok, so I'm still playing in my head with the idea of running spreader bars. Actually I'm almost certain that I do. However, these questions came up to my mind a couple of days a go...here they are......

i use two penn GLD 30 with 30 line and 11# drag in the flats and two penn 50W with 50 line with 15# drag in the riggers

1) lets say I run them in the flats......what kind of a drag will i need in order to avoid line pulling from the reel? or can I use rubber bands?

2) lets say i want them in the riggers, do i have to pass the line through the release clips or can i still use the rubber bands?

thanks for all and any info!

[shoefish]

You'll be able to pull just about any speader bar with 30s and 50s no problem. When it comes to the riggers, it can sometimes be a bit harder to run the larger spreader bars or bird bars cause they trip the release clip a bunch. We typically run the larger/heavier spreder bars on the flats, and daisy chains off the rigger because it can be such a pain to clear a big spreader bar when it trips the clip.

[Persistence]

It depends a lot of what style/weight of bars you choose and what baits you decide to pull on them.

Example - I have 48" titanium bars with 12-15" squids...these I run from the rod tip and can pull no problem on a 50. I'm sure a 30 would hold them as well...the titanium bars are nice...I bought them from Fisherman's outfitter and rigged them myself.

I also have 32" bars from Canyon Runner and Reel Draggin. Both are nice...and are very, very light. They are 3 "string" bars. I use 8-9" squids on them or mini-mambas and they pull easily from my riggers. I'm on a small boat...24 Alby with 18ft lee riggers (not spreader riggers). Some of these I bought pre-rigged (canyon runner) the others I rigged myself (blank bars from Reel Draggin)

If you pull something like Squidnation squids, I don't think the riggers will hold them as they are heavier but very effective. I think those would be rod tip/flat line baits but I'm sure Bill can give you the scoop on how he runs them.

Basically, I run the large bar in the middle short off the rod tip, then two of the lighter bars off my short riggers. Baits are stacked around them inside and out. I ran green/chartruese sea witches with med. ballys as the stinger bait on my rainbow bars (off the riggers) and this was very effective.

In this pic, you can see the center bar (which is run off that 10/0) and the rainbow bar which is off the one short rigger. We had not yet put the other rainbow back out as it was hit before we boated the fish in the picture. They are run right where the bar will remain out of the water most of the time...and in the cleanest water I can get them in. Sorry, I looked at the pic again and it needs to be zoomed in on...I can't do that though...



Good luck out there.

[Pargon]

You might want to try some of the lighter style bars, I use those of Capt. Archer. They are very easy to use, present very little drag, don't tangle easily and offer very little inconvenience in the boating of fish. I prefer to use the 2 axis and 3 axis bars, without a weight from the riggers, with a weight from the corners.

[Squidnation]

I prefer to troll my bars on 50's but have used 30's on occasion. Flat line off the tip or short rigger either through the clip or if the clip won't hold , with a rubber band. I keep my short riggers very short short there is not much stress on the reel. I try to keep the drag a tiny bit above what it takes to keep the line from slipping. For some reason bar strikes always seem more ferocious then single bait bites. Especially when they miss the first time. when the fish does connect it is usually hooked before the pin pops or the rubberband breaks.

But this is what works on my boat with my bars. Yours maybe totally differnt. Fool around with it and see where it works. Eventually you will start to see a pattern to develop and you will stick to it.

We caught this Big Eye on the Espadon in the pitch dark on a rasta bar while trying to set it in the short rigger. The clips were a little lose so I had just brought down the rigger to tighten it a bit. I had just set it and the fish ripped it out of my hands. I hadn't even begun to drop it back. It was probably 10 feet behind the boat when he nailed it.

[Captain Fred Archer]

Carom,

Our 2008 SuperBar e-catalog just became available today. It has well over four hundred bars and chasebaits in it. The bar catalog is 68 pages (we also have a lure/book catalog). Our bars are very light compared to metal bars. An example is our new DaisyBar, a spreaderbar/daisy chain crossbreed, that runs hollow squids from 3-12" and weighs .15 (that's "point" 15 ounce), with several models less than that. Very light, sweet to troll and handle in any position at any speed on anything from very light, to very heavy tackle. As for strength, we guarantee for life that the bar will not break under normal fishing conditions or we will replace it free of charge. We have never had to replace a bar out of thousands sold.

I encourage you to get our catalog and take a hard look at it before you make any final decisions. You can get the catalog by emailing RNRBOB@COX.NET or calling him at 949 493 6440.

Here is just one of our products, a Super Squid Ballyhoo Daisybar and our Ballyhoo Spider Dredge - just tiny tastes of our products.

My security program is running a check right now and won't let me post pictures. Be back later with them.

[Captain Fred Archer]

Here are those pictures of just a couple of our very different bars. By-the-way, while most folks consider bars are tuna lures, which they surely are, my years in Cabo trolling six or eight of them on a near-daily basis taught me that marlin-style bars (sleeker, lighter, faster) are simply the best billfish lures, period, and their hookup and even more important, landing ratios are near 100% and leave regular marlin lures in the dust. There's a new book on the way that backs this up and that discusses all aspects of bars and billfish.

The ballyhoo models that follow are good examples of proven killer billfish bars.

First pict is a Ballyhoo DaisyBar

Below it is a Ballyhoo DaisyBar TowBar. You can run a different color squid or meat behind it.

At the bottom is a Ballyhoo Spider. Great trolled behind an 8 oz trolling weight on either corner, under the surface junk.

Then there are a few chasebait picts and a drawing mixed in.

I believe in monochromatic (same color, same size lures) spreads. You can troll just two Spiders and four DaisyBars and have 52 great 'hoo imitations in the pattern...In ballyhoo county, that is pure dynamite!

[reel fool]

A note about the choice of release clips.
I use ONLY the Rupp Nok-Outs for my spreader bars. You can use standard bar clips--goldfingers, blacks, etc...---but the nok outs will reduce/eliminate the damage to your main line and hold in place with less drag on the clip.
You can still easily adjust the bars position with the Nok Out clip
DO NOT USE A TAG LOOP--IF IT STICKS, IT WILL PULL THE ENTIRE OUTRIGGER FROM THE BOAT.
An anonymous friend learned that the hard way--and no, it was not me.

[carom]

A note about the choice of release clips.
I use ONLY the Rupp Nok-Outs for my spreader bars. You can use standard bar clips--goldfingers, blacks, etc...---but the nok outs will reduce/eliminate the damage to your main line and hold in place with less drag on the clip.
You can still easily adjust the bars position with the Nok Out clip
DO NOT USE A TAG LOOP--IF IT STICKS, IT WILL PULL THE ENTIRE OUTRIGGER FROM THE BOAT.
An anonymous friend learned that the hard way--and no, it was not me.

good advice all over guys, i'll check during the week what kind of clips i'm runing and come back to you . don't have it on top of my head after a few afternoon mojitos!

[cayman al]

Hey Capt Fred

I guess i've now come round to realising that a couple of bars in my spread would probably help in the overall display, i fish a 22ft cc so am limited in my spread by space.

I've got your catalogue infront of me here but am a little bewilderd by the choice to say the least. Down here in Cayman we primarily troll for Mahi and Wahoo, wahoo being the most common at this time of year, we tend to only catch the yellow fin on the chunk. The is plenty of flying fish and i'd assume that this would be the primary fodder for these critters. The water is crystal clear and pretty warm, not sure that's important but i though i would put it in anyway. The primary lure used by most would be the b/w ilander with medium bally.

Would you have a recommendation as to the best bar to fit this sort of scenario? I use pretty light TLD 25's so nothing to heavy i guess?

Any advice would be much appreciated as always.