Dredge Rod Question(s)

[Nimrod]

Capt John - Thanks so much for sharing and taking the time to get the photos. Looks like a similar setup to what I envisioned. In your opinion, if I was not to run the dredge off the rigger but rather straight off the rod tip, should I run the rod from a more forward or aft rod holder?

GAFF – I personally have not run dredges from a downrigger on our boats but I can tell you that we raised over 80 sailfish using two Penn Fathomasters for dredges in Mexico that one day. I don’t think they spook the Mexican Saildogs at least.

[cbaker77]

That Daiwa looks like a toy but it pulls like hell. They are a level wind which would seem to me to the place they would break.
Has anyone used one of these?

Bite me,
I have fished the Daiwas several times and they are awesome for bottom fishing. They have a hell of a lot of pulling power and will snatch an oversized grouper up no problem. I have no experience with dredges, but I assume it would work. We did break 100 pound power pro and a 50 pound spring scale and the motor was still chuggin. Pretty impressive in my opinion.

About the level wind you do need to be careful. On the instructional video they say to make sure that the line and the levelwind never get out of sync or else it could rip the level wind off with a lot of pressure on it. Thats easily avoidable but just somehting to think about.

[TROPHY SPORTFISHING]

BEST BET WOULD BE SWIVEL 15 DEG ROD HOLDERS ATLEAST OVER 1/2 WAY UP THE SIDE COVERING BOARDS WE TRIED THIS FIRST AND IT WORKED REAL WELL THE SWIVELS LET YOU POSITION THE ROD ANGLE HOW YOU WANT AND LET YOU TURN THEM UP TO CLEAR THEM. I ENDED UP CHANGING 3 OUT OF 4 ROD HOLDERS IN EACH COVERING BOARD OUT TO THE SWIVELS FOR MY BENT BUTTS ANY HOW. BUT YES FROM THE ROD TIP WILL WORK WHEN IT IS ROUGH THAT IS WHERE I PULL THEM TO KEEP THE LINE ANGLE DOWN AND KEEP EM IN THE WATER. ONLY THE NICER DAYS DO WE USE THE RIGGER PULLEYS. IF YOU BUILD RODS FUJI SILICON CARBIDE GUIDES WILL WORK FOR THE FIRST AND TIP OR PUT A SWIVEL TIP ON THERE. IWOULD STAY AWAY FROM A ROLLER GUIDE AT THE BOTTOM THOUGH. WHEN I TALKED TO SEVERAL PEOPLE INCLUDING THE GUYS AT KRISTAL FISHING THE 651 WAS THE BEST CHOICE OVERKILL MAYBE BUT THE 621 IS PROBABLY NOT ENOUGH IF YOU PULL ANYTHING SERIOUS. ALSO WITH THEM POSITIONED UP FORWARD YOU WON'T HAVE MOVE THEM OUT OF THE WAY EVERY TIME YOU HOOK UP JUST TURN EM UP.

[offshore86]

Do you guys run the line from the Dredge rod through the first outrigger pulley, Or do you run the dredge direct from the dredge rod tip? I would think that if your runnin dredges from the outriggers there is no need for a dredge rod if you have teaser reels that will handle dredges mounted insie your hardtop.

[#1Gaffman]

Do you guys run the line from the Dredge rod through the first outrigger pulley, Or do you run the dredge direct from the dredge rod tip? I would think that if your runnin dredges from the outriggers there is no need for a dredge rod if you have teaser reels that will handle dredges mounted insie your hardtop.

Dam they better be some BAD AZZ teaser reels!

[offshore86]

Dam they better be some BAD AZZ teaser reels!

Not necessarily, You could rig up your hardtop teaser reels with the block and tackle pulley system on the outrigger base - totally eliminating dredge rods?

Could I be right here??

[TROPHY SPORTFISHING]

YEAH YOU COULD BUT THEN YOU CAN'T PULL ANY CHAINS.

[footballnfish]

the 651 kristal has 150 pounds of drag and over 400 pounds of deadlift. it has a speed of 330ft per min. if you want more info go to www.kristalusa.com

Sean