holographic vs. natural

[Spencer]

There is no substitute for natural dredges but when in alot of scattered grass or critter bites the holographics work great. We tried them last year for the first time and worked very well. Just a little tip at the end of the day always rinse in fresh water and let air dry (don't put away wet because they turn cloudy and don't look as well) and once they cloud up they don't clear back up.

[hotrodmarlin]

Thanks for all the opinions guys-

[OffTheHookB&T]

On those connon down riggers what size boom do you run? Mine are 24", I wish they were longer.
Jimmy

We were using the Uni-Troll model, there extendable but start at 24". I'm waiting to get in the new Offshore Models, they replaced the plastic spool with stainless, so you can spool with mono. Oh, we also replace the stock cable with AFW cable, I think 200lb.

[Capt. Squiddly]

Ive never pulled dredges. Are you guys only targeting billfish with these? I havnt seen tuna guys pull them before...

[hotrodmarlin]

Ive never pulled dredges. Are you guys only targeting billfish with these? I havnt seen tuna guys pull them before...

I only run them for billfish. Whites and sails mostly.

[Chuck Richardson]

Whether you use ours or someone else’s, holographic strips give you the best bang for the buck. They are light weight and easy to handle for the amount of baits you can have on one dredge. Most dredges with the rubber artificials will only have 13 baits, where the same dredge with the strips can have over 100. Quite a bait ball.

Dredges are for all types of fish you are after, not just billfish. A school of bait is what there’re all after and a tuna will crash a dredge just as any other hungry fish.

As far as the downriggers, there are some that are changing the wire with 500 and 600lb. Spectra. It’s expensive but will last and has a much higher breaking strength. No humming or kinking either.

[kshoff]

Ran dredges for the first time in last years WMO. We ran them off Penn downriggers. One was a stripteaser and the other a flashfoil dredge. We had bills on both. I would say from a human point of view from the cockpit the stripteaser created a bigger ball in the water. Did they work? I would say no better than our spread when we troll for tunas. We caught as many bills with that spread.
Kevin

[OffTheHookB&T]

From running the different artificials I definetly like the mullet style they seem more lifelike than the strip style.

Chuck, I don't understand the advantage of going with braid as line cap is not an issue. I don't have much experience with braid that heavy, how is it handling? Is it easy to grab hold of and does dig into your hand?

I misstated earlier we used AFW49 strand 400lb, no kinking and suprisingly easy on the hands, this season I moght give mono a shot just to compare.

[Chuck Richardson]

Chuck, the advantage of the Spectra over the cable is the ease of handling, no humming and strength. It will last considerably longer, won't kink or fray and is much easier on the hands. It has nothing to do with the capacity.

The 600lb. is about the diameter of 300lb. mono so you can grab it with no problem