SPREADER BAR QUESTION

[sportfishingusa]

The bars are supposed to ride out of the water!! thats why they run good off of the riggers!!!

keep them out of the water as much as possible!! only squids and baits should be in the water!

[offshore]

I like my spreaders on top creating as much camotion as possible. The squid on the bars I make all have small floats inside the shell squid. It works for us buit there are many ways to rig them...Mark

[Captain Fred Archer]

30’ PURSUIT...PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO LOOK BACK AT THE POST ON THE BIG GAME BOARD ON “UMBRELLA RIGS” AND MY POST ON IT WITH THE VIDEO OF SUPERBARS, SPIDERS AND RUCKUSRAISERS RUNNING. I AM FROM THE SCHOOL THAT BELIEVES THAT SPREADERBAR BARS BELONG UP AND OUT OF THE WATER FOR THE MOST NATURAL PRESENTATIONS POSSIBLE AND OURS ARE DESIGNED TO DO JUST THAT. THAT INCLUDES THE “PROBAR” THAT THE VIDEO OPENS WITH. IT IS CLIPPED WAY DOWN ON A FLATLINE CLIP (CHECK THE LOW LINE ANGLE) AT SEVEN KNOTS, BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, THE BAR STILL RUNS ABOVE THE WATER. SAME FOR THE MEATBALL BARS THAT YOU SEE RUNNING AT TWELVE KNOTS. IN THE SHOT OF THE TWO MEATBALLS AND THE ONE SPIDER RUNNING, THE RIGHT BAR IS ON A RIGGER AND THE INSIDE ONE IS RUNNING FLAT, OUT OF AN UPRIGHT ROD HOLDER. OUR BARS MAINTAIN THEIR “BAR UP AND OUT OF THE WATER” RUNNING CHARACTERISTICS AT AN EXTREMELY WIDE RANGE OF SPEEDS AND DO NOT REQUIRE OUTRIGGERS TO DO SO, EXCEPT FOR THE VERY LONGEST POSITIONS.

CHECK OUT THOSE RUCKUSRAISERS IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A FULLY NATURAL LOOKING COMMOTION UP TOP. THEY ARE ALL BARS AND SQUID TEASERS, WITH NO BIRDS OR ANYTHING ELSE MIXED IN TO BREAK UP THE NATURAL LOOK OF A REAL SCHOOL OF BAIT. THE RUCKUSRAISER FEET AND TEASERS ALONE CREATE THE MAJOR RUCKUS THAT YOU SEE. IT IS THOSE FEET AND THE SQUIDS THEMSELVES THAT ARE RAISING SO MUCH CAINE BACK THERE. THIS BAR WILL RUN FAR, FAR BACK AND STILL STAY UP TOP, RAISING THAT RUCKUS.

THE SPIDER DREDGE BETWEEN THE MEATBALL BARS IS RIGGED WITH JUST AN EIGHT OUNCE TROLLING SINKER. SEE HOW DEEP IT GETS DOWN WITH THAT LITTLE WEIGHT? THE WEIGHT OF THE SPIDER IN THAT SHOT IS VERY LITTLE.

OUR STANDARDS ON THE DISTANCE CHASEBAITS ARE RUN BEHIND THE LAST TEASER ON THE MORE THAN FOUR HUNDRED BARS AND SPIDERS THAT WE OFFER IN OUR CATALOG ACTUALLY VARIES ACCORDING TO THE SIZE OF THE TEASERS AND LIKELY TARGET SPECIES. FOR EXAMPLE, ON BARS WITH PODS OF SMALL SQUIDS, MEANT MOSTLY FOR TUNA (BUT THAT ALSO CATCH MAHI AND EVEN WAHOO AND BILLFISH, BUT TUNA ARE THE PREDOMINANT CATCHES), WE ACTUALLY RUN THE CHASEBAITS CLOSER THAN USUAL BECAUSE OF BIGGER TUNAS’ AND MARLINS’ TENDENCIES TO COME FROM BEHIND AND ENGULF THE CHASEBAIT AND ONE OR MORE OF THE TEASER SQUIDS ON THE MAIN LEADER. PLUS WE DON’T WANT A LITTLE CHASEBAIT ON A SMALL BAR TO BE TOO FAR BACK BECAUSE AS SOMEONE ALREADY POINTED OUT HERE, THAT COULD RESULT IN ATTACKS ON THE TEASERS, INSTEAD OF THE CHASEBAIT.

HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES (YOU WILL FIND THEM POSTED BELOW) OF HOW WE ADJUST CHASEBAIT LENGTH ACCORDING TO THE SIZE OF THE SQUIDS ON THE BAR AND THE MAIN SPECIES THAT WE ARE AFTER FROM MY NEW MARLIN BOOK (THAT IS A VIRTUAL SPREADERBAR BIBLE) AND WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO IT.

SEE PICTURE BELOW

The right way to position the chasebait on a small bar for marlin or big tuna when they are on little baits and chugging down the chasebait and the teasers too. This type rigging nails those fish.
When either tuna or marlin are feeding on very small baits, which they do a lot more often than most fishermen think, they both do it a “mouthful at a time”, just like we do when we’re eating popcorn, peanuts, or little shrimp. Here, instead of “grab, squish and gulp” of an individual bait, it’s more like “slurp, squish and gulp”. By that, I mean that bigger fish tend to grab mouthfuls of small baits, rather than run them down, one by one. As it is with whales, this is easy for big fish to do and is why huge marlin often feed on quite small baits, instead of burning up energy, chasing bigger, fast dolphin, tuna and skipjack around.
In order to compensate for this sort of attack on a bar and to take advantage of how these fish take it, I suggest that you rig your small bars with little chasebaits with the chasebait a lot closer to the teasers than usual. This way, when a fish “chugs” the little school of bait, he gets the chasebait too and the hook gets the fish as the boat pulls the teasers out of his mouth and the hook nails him on the way out. Circle hooks almost eliminate the gut and gill hooking that can happen when big marlin and tuna hit lures and bars with J hooks, hookup percentages are very high, and very few fish are lost.
The same situation applies for tuna feeding on very small baits, so you marlin fishermen who regard them as a “good by-catch” don’t have to worry about changing anything on a chasebait-shortened marlin bar for tuna. When it comes to either tuna or marlin on very small baits, it is usually a good idea to back off on the strike drag to reduce the pressure if they have smallish J hooks in them. Go ahead and run stiff strike drags if you are using a big hook, like you should in big tuna and marlin country.

MARLIN BAR RIGGING FOR BIG MARLIN & BIG TUNA (SEE WAHOOBAR RIGGING)

SEE PICTURE BELOW

MarlinBars designed for big marlin are rigged as seen above. Here, the chasebait is run further behind the pod to prevent billfish bills from tangling in the teasers when they strike. This has no negative effect on other species, such as big tunas and mahi’s that hit these bars.

See the WahooBar section for rigging specs on that type of bar.

THAT’S IT FOR NOW, EXCEPT TO SAY THAT THIS IS HOW WE DO THINGS WITH OUR BARS. OTHER KINDS OF BARS CAN BE RIGGED MOST OF THE SAME WAYS, BUT WE DO NOT SPEAK FOR THEIR PERFORMANCE OR LACK THEREOF.