Stupid Question

[xxmacplherexx]

Guys I know that you are really good what you do!!!But could you could give a novice like me how you put your spread out??When I go trolling I am with a friend or wife or both of above and I dont know what to do.I try do put in 3 lines in the water,2 in the boat sleeves 1 in the rocket launcher.What do I put out first,Rocket or boat?We mainly fish for stripers or blues but I wanna go tuna when marty c omes out with the book for the northeast guys!!!!But really what and how do you do it!!!And if I get outriggers now what???Please answer STEVE!!!!

[WAHOONBOX]

HELP IS ON THE WAY DUDE......I WANT GUYS LIKE FORMULA AND OTHER NORTHERN AREAS TO CHIME IN HERE!!!

OKAY STRIPER GUYS....HERE IS A GREAT AND HONEST QUESTION AND I EXPECT US TO WRITE A BOOK HERE ....SO LETS RIG HIM UP HERE

THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR GENEROUS DONATION TO VENICE MR XX!!!!!!

[MakoMike]

It'sa really pretty simple, the lines that will be fished furthest from the boat go out first. then the ones a little closer and then ones that will be fished right up tight to the boat. Same rule with or without riggers.

[Bert Rodgers]

Step one, head up sea, and instruct driver to keep straight.
Like MM said long line go out 1st, if you are using different wieghts
the longest will be the lightest. Visualise in your mind what happens when
you turn. The shorter line with heavier wieghts need to pass under the longer
ones if they cross.

If the lines have all similar wieghts the distances should be staggered
for the same reason. Experiment with only 4 rods at 1st, then as you get better add more.

Bert

[Chilli]

Steve,

Not a stupid question at all. Given the fact that by the sounds of it both you and your crew are inexperienced, we are going to start by operating on one principle and one principle only… KISS…. Keep it simple stupid. You do not have to go to great lengths with all sorts of fancy high tech bling bling to catch fish. You don’t! Simple simple simple.

Next assumption is that you don’t have too awful much in the line of tackle and that the boat is not set up for offshore fishing, no riggers, few rod holders, etc. Again we’ll keep it simple. Six rods is more than enough to get the job done. But when tuna fishing with a few rods we are going to want to beef the spread up a bit to add some volume to it. We will do this with squid chains. They’re relatively cheap, they are effective and they are easy to handle, store and fish. Simple.

Three squid chains chased by a ballyhoo sea witch combo and three plain sea witchs will constitute a very simple and effective spread.

Here’s a sketch of what I am talking about.



Now my drawing skills aren’t where they should be. This gives you an idea of what you are looking for. The first sea witch on the left side of the drawing should be set out first. Place it back to where the white wash in your wake starts to disapate or break up. Next set out the first squid chain or the bait second from the left. The trailing bait is a sea witch ballyhoo combo. Set this back not quite as far as the lone witch ballyhoo. You want the single bait riding just behind the chain and bait. Get them as close as you can with out tangling. In a hard turn the squid chain should be able to swing under the main line and leader of the single bait.

Now move over to the right side of the page and deploy that single bait and then the chain. Send them back just a bit further (20 feet) than you did on the left side. Adjust the two so they ride nicely and swing freely.

Once more you repeat the process in the center with those two baits. You will want the first squid in the center chain to be riding roughly 10 feet behind the single sea witch/bally on the right side. These distances I am stating are not set in stone. They change from boat to boat. The two key things to pay attention to when setting your distances are:
1) Get the baits into clean water where they are easily seen.
2) When in a hard turn the baits should all be able to mesh and slide under the next closest baits leader and main line, kind of like putting your hands together finger between finger….

Tuna are aggressive critters. Do not be afraid to fish baits within spitting distance of the transome. Some days they like it real tight. Other days not. Slide the spread in and out and find that sweet spot on your boat. Outboard powered boats generally fish a little longer than inboard powered boats. There’s a lot more turbulence and white water with outboard power. If you do run outboards try this. Tab fully down. Trim your engine quite a ways up. This will shorten the exhaust stream emitted from your engine and allow you to fish baits in cleaner water closer to your transome.

If your looking for tackle, you can find some simply awesome squid chains at either
www.adrenalinelures.com or www.squidnation.com.
If you need witch’s give me a call. I’ll crank you out a starter kit… No charge. Others where good enough to do it for me, I’ll pass on that tradition and do it for you… You’ll have the chance to pass it on someday.

Good luck out there and remember…. Ignore the fu-fu and KISS. You’ll have plenty of time to complicate your fishing in the future!

[Capt. Jon Tennant]

Steve, the "KISS" forumla is by far the most productive way to fish. For a simple 4 line spread without outriggers this is what we do. First line out is the long line/"shotgun". When the bait is put in the water we freespool it out as we count. the shotgun gets between a 70 to 80 count then put in the center of the rocket lancher. The next line gets about a 50 count and gets put in the gunnel rod holder. the third about 35 to 40 count and is placed in the opposite side gunnel. The last line is the short. It gets put back right where the prop wash starts to clear up & is placed in the transom rod holder. If you have a downrigger you can also add a fifth line down deep. The count is not in seconds just count natural and at the same pace for each line. We use this spread king fishing off our big boats to keep from dropping the outriggers but it is a very easy spread to run off a small boat with no outriggers. Hope this helps a little.

[xxmacplherexx]

Thanks guys!!I will try all of the methods that you have explained.Chilli do you live near me???I will take both you and the Capt. out all expense's paid and see if we can make a little preview film to be shown at intermission of the BOX'S full blown out premier film!!!Just kidding but thankyou very much for the advice!!!I will try it..STEVE