Yellowfin spreads...

[tiggere]

Guys how about a quick description of your favorite YFT spread, colors you like to run and some of the lures that you would turn your boat around and head to the hill if you didn't have them with you...

Also how well does the octo skirt on an Ilander replace an Ilander with a ballyhoo...I was reading the post about short strikes and the octo looked to be the easiest fix but if the bally produces more...well you know...



placement of lures would also be of help...example being where would you put jetheads in the spread and should they be run behind a daisy chain...greenies run WWWB...spreaders on the corners...ect...for now we will probably have a five rod spread...(2) poor mans outriggers, (2) corners, (1) down the center...might run seven rods if we decide to run the planers...

[Persistence]

The "small boat fishing" spread would probably be the best for you to look at right now...it contains a lot of good stuff and you can sift through it and see what you agree with and give it a try!

Good luck in the coming season!

[Boonebird]

38 rampage. Here goes. We runn 2 clips on each out rigger line. top rigger ballyhoo islander inner top clip either a large jb spreader bar or canyon runner bar pink. Top short rigger canyon runners mini mamba or green machine bar, short rigger loopey lure large or the eye. We have 2 center riggers. Ill run an bird and Black bart lure a .25 miles behind the boat. The other one has a large j@b tackle bar green in color.ran down the center just inside or farthest bars. Flat lines We run a couple green WT aka Winthrop tools 3rd wake back. And one mold craft chuger front and center. We run both sides of the boat with the same lures. I think we run 13 rods. Our bars are set back as far as mother nature will let us. We make sure that the bars are out of the water. This is how we run our rig for yellows up north block canyon.

Chunking Yes wahoo keep you ears and eyes closed I know everyone can catch fish chunking. With segar floro leaders tied before we leave the dock. chunking we run 1 swordie rod set top rigger get it the hell away from the boat.That gets set first.I set that just below the thermocline. We use butters sardines ballyhoo and what ever else we might beable to threw at them out there. One rod on 80 floro leader 125 feet down sardiene. Next rod 100 feet down 80 floro half a butter. 65 pound floro 75 feet down prefured live squide if not a bally or butter. Then ill have 2 billy lyman specials 30w's rigged with 40 lbs leader. 12 to 14 feet of it. Yo Yo style.I free drift squide butters what ever back there. We caught 15/16th of our fish last year on the billy lyman ss special ed rig. Im the master of that. Depending on what there hiting will change to what they want 40 lbs leaders on 30's. Some days they dont care they will hit a budwieser can. You never know. Like at work change for changin conditions. This is the rig that works for up.

[WAHOONBOX]

Guys how about a quick description of your favorite YFT spread, colors you like to run and some of the lures that you would turn your boat around and head to the hill if you didn't have them with you...

Also how well does the octo skirt on an Ilander replace an Ilander with a ballyhoo...I was reading the post about short strikes and the octo looked to be the easiest fix but if the bally produces more...well you know...



placement of lures would also be of help...example being where would you put jetheads in the spread and should they be run behind a daisy chain...greenies run WWWB...spreaders on the corners...ect...for now we will probably have a five rod spread...(2) poor mans outriggers, (2) corners, (1) down the center...might run seven rods if we decide to run the planers...

MY SPREAD IS A BIT DIFFERENT THAN YOURS ABOVE AND THAT IS BT EACH MANS CHOICE....

FOR YFT....I ONLY USE ONE "LURE" MAYBE TWO FOR A PREFACE IN FRONT OF A BALLYHOO


CUSTOM TIED SEA WITCH : BLUE CRYSTAL WITH GREEN OR BLUE HEAD WITH A SPRIG OF FLASH STRIP...MED BALLYHOO

AND MAYBE ON MY SHOTGUN ONLY THERE WILL BE A BULLET HEAD ILANDER OR ILANDER JR............


MY YFT SPREAD IS VERY PLAIN & SIMPLE....STEALTH AND SWIMMING.....COMPACT AND TIGHT.......WITH PERFECT TEASERS THAT DO THEIR JOB....AND SADLY ...MY CAROLINA SPREAD IS NOT VERY APPEALING TO MOST READERS...I MEAN FISHERMEN.


AND PERSISTENCE NAILED IT ....THAT THREAD HE REFERRED TO IS SLAM FULL OF COOL ADVICE!

AND YES...I WOULD TURN AROUND AND HEAD FOR DA HILL IF I LEFT MY WITCHES AND BALLYHOO AT THE DOCK............

[MAKO19]

Has anyone noticed yellowfin responding differently to a spread in different areas? For example comparing Northern Canyon yellowfin to the Southern canyon fish (i.e. Say NY/NJ areas to Virginia/Carolina areas? Seems as though the further south you go the better the fish seem to respond to the troll. Up here if you want good numbers of yellowfin you better plan on overnighting and chunking. However, maybe a full spread of meat tight together and tight to the boat like Box is talking about would improve catch numbers. I dunno .

[TheBigI]

This year was not very good for Yellowfin on the troll, but we did do good when others weren't. Out of the 4 day troll trips we did we got skunked on one, caught 7 on one, 5 on one, and hooked up with 6 at once but lost three on another. I fished all ballyhoo lure combos islanders and sea witches, 2 spreader bars. I also used all stealth light long leaders BOX STYLE.

[merry marlin]

My gosh, 40 - 50 lbs leaders for yellowfin... I'm learning every day! As for the bluefin we've been fishing too heavy leaders.... In west africa we never targeted this fish and would catch them only pulling moldcraft lures for marlin on 300 or 400 lbs leaders..... We'd usually hook 4 at a time and never saw one under 60 lbs.
Here we've done well with 2 purple yozuri's close behind the boat and 3 daisy chains with cedar plugs early in the day on 100lbs leaders. We then switch to naked balyhoo with seawitches mid morning if the limit isn't in the boat!
I'll be trying 50 lbs leaders next outing............

MM

[Boonebird]

I have had to use 20 lbs leaders. It depends on if there leader shy. Dont try it unless you have to. If there is any eddy on the 100 fathom line and there getting pounded. U do what you have to do. I have a friend who starts off at 4 lbs to see if there are fish in the area. I dunno.

[tunatamer4]

TheBig1-
To answer your ? about fish responding differently,definitely YES!

I moved to southern NC.after working a boat in NJ for a few years and got a gig on a ride down here. The first trip I did was to the break and I hadn't a clue about the Carolina Way of doing things. All I had was a bag full of plastic and Jap Feathers.

On the way out I readied the gear, rigged a couple of hoos best I knew how, and got eady to fish. When the sticks came back, the spread went out. I did fairly well , no DAMN WELL for a newbie. In fact the Captain even questioned why rigs were going in without bait but after I told him I hadn't had meat in the water all morning, he quieted down. Anyway, this went on for a couple of weeks and I even had a couple of local guys come and ask me what I was doing to spank them that way,and couldn't believe a hoo never got wet.

Then comes season 2. Slowly I had to convert to more and more meat for the fish just weren't responding to the plastics the same way.

After ten years of working down here, there is still 1 or 2 positions for artificials in my spread but out of 10 or 11 lines, majority goes to the meat.

We tried to chunk once here but it was on a charter and the baits sucked. We gave it a half-ass try for three hours or so with no luck and went back on the troll. I can't say for sure if chunking will work in my area since I haven't been able to find anyone who wants to put in the time and effort. Everyone wants the sure thing.

Sorry for rambling guys...

[92 feet down]

Guys how about a quick description of your favorite YFT spread, colors you like to run and some of the lures that you would turn your boat around and head to the hill if you didn't have them with you...

Also how well does the octo skirt on an Ilander replace an Ilander with a ballyhoo...I was reading the post about short strikes and the octo looked to be the easiest fix but if the bally produces more...well you know...



placement of lures would also be of help...example being where would you put jetheads in the spread and should they be run behind a daisy chain...greenies run WWWB...spreaders on the corners...ect...for now we will probably have a five rod spread...(2) poor mans outriggers, (2) corners, (1) down the center...might run seven rods if we decide to run the planers...

I run naked ballys on the flats, & skirted ballys on the riggers (sea witches & Ilander trackers as skirts) in either pink & blue, purple & black, or blue & white. I run a red & black jet head behind a bird on the shotty. I use 100lb. leaders & do just fine. Every now & then I'll throw a GM or cedar plug out there just to mix it up. I run Mold Craft squid chains as teasers.