How many of you have used a spreader bar ???????

[Fishmagician]

curious to see how many of your in Malta or EU. for that matter have used spreader bars? I was just talking to a customer, and he's changed over from single baits / lures to mutiple baits, like spreader bars and chains. He's astounded at the number of fish, from marlin to all the tuna that rise to these great lures. Let me hear from ya

Capt. Mike Fisher
FishMagicianTackle.com

[placebo]

never! Was talking to a friend of mine and he will be trying them this year.

[Fishmagician]

Placebo, do you fish your own boat? IF so, and you fish off shore, you owe it to yourself to try them yourself. These are great fish attractors. Are they used at all in other coiuntries. I have a few customers in Spain, but I don't know where they use them.

Best regards,
Capt. Mike Fisher

[skip]

Hi All,

If you want to see Mike's spreader bars in Action in Malta, we'll be running a spread of 3 diff. types of bars this year and a whole host of daisy chains including the famous cedar plugs. So anyone interested in them can check them out in person, just give me a shout,  you'll be impressed.

Skip

[placebo]

I fish with my own boat but it is a very small one! I fish some 17 miles out in albacore season but that would be only some 5 - 10 times

my boat is 14 feet tall 7 feet wide
I do not think we can equip with spreaders! normally I use 2 rods and sometimes I let one squid just behind boat trail in surf with a fender.

[skip]

Hi Placebo,

I think you have in mind Outriggers which are different to spreader bars. Outriggers are large fiberglass type poles to create a much wider spread pattern and therefore usually let you use more rods.

Spreader bars can easily be pulled from the rod directly (especially the smaller ones) and basically give you say 10 or 14 4 1/2 squids attached with mono to a nylon bar. At the end in the middle is an attachment to connect the chase bait which is usually different to the others in the bar.

The advantage of this is creating the effect of a shoal of squids moving through the water, with a trailing chase bait simulating a struggling squid aka easy prey. Game fish love them and you're giving them well 11x the reason to come up for the bait as opposed to pulling one squid from each rod.

If you come out with us you can see them first hand, in the meantime check out the articles on spreader bars and have a look at them (and order if you like) at www.fishmagiciantackle.com

Skip

[placebo]

morning Skip,

Yes I know about outriggers okay.

When using spreaders how many lures you have rigged with a hook?

I mean is there a chance that you end up catching 2 fish at a go?

I think it will be impossible to land such fish!

Also if there are many squids on the spreaders with no hooks then you might get bites and no catch!

[skip]

Hi Placebo,

Did you check out the above link in order to visualise them? You have say, 7, 10, 20, 30 etc squids with no hooks, these are the attractors simulating a large fleeing shoal of squids. Then on the last one you attach the chase bait, now this one is rigged with a hook. So effectively you only have 2 hooks out in your case if you're using 2 rods, but you are created a pattern in the water simulating far more squids.

Maybe you can relate (I know I can) to have two or four rods out with single lures with a hook/hooks and trolling for hours not even getting a bite. The reason (aside from maybe no fish around!) is simple. If there are Tuna or Albacore below the surface, say 15-30 metres down and you pass with only 2 lures, then maybe this won't be of interest to them. Pass over with say 14 or 20 baits moving along and they are going to be far more interested to come up and try and attack. As the last bait rigged further behind has the hook, it simulates a stuggling prey and the fish go straight for that.

Skip

[placebo]

I learnt that spreader bars put a lot of drag on the reel?

How do you cope with such drag?

[skip]

Well the smallest reel we have is a Penn Commander 30 which is rated at 30lbs and matched on to a 30rod. We  pulled a Bait Ball 30 inch with 20 baits off a Lineaeffe KAM 1000 and thats only rated at 30/50, then we had the big Palegic Magic 36 inch with 10 x 8 1/2 inch baits on a 50 Wide Reel, we were pulling a daisy chain down deep on a planer off an 80 2 speed reel and an 18 inch Bait Ball with 10 baits off a Commander 30.

It's all about the material used, and Mike's special Nylon bars are top notch, they dive down a bit, come up and splash at the surface before diving down a bit, perfect for attracting those fish. As you can see we were pulling an 18 inch BB with 10 baits from a simple 30lbs rod and Commander 30 reel with no problems whatsoever.

I would say up to 30lbs stick with the BB 18 inch 10 bait models, if you have a 50lbs reel then you can pull the 30 inch 20 bait models or the Palegic Magic ones.

Skip

[Fishmagician]

Placebo, You hit upon a big problem with some spreader bars, those that are metal and very heavy, they sink out below the surface and start cartwheeling when the come up...that puts a lot of drag on the reel. My bars, and I"m proud of them, are made with nylon bars, they "breath" and flex, that gives a lot action to the baits, and keeps down the amount of drag you get on the reel. If you're fishing light tackle use the smaller bars, and if your targeting the heavier fish, use heavier tackle.

Unless you use an extremely small rod and reel, the drag, made by my bars is not a problem. This will all very to some degree with the size of the swell, or sea conditions.....

If you have friends that use heavy metal bars, they're going to have trouble with them. That was why when I did my research for my product's I did not go to metal.

I just re-rigged a a metal monster for a client., that bar was something you could have hauled elephants with....very heavy, clumsy in the water....a night mare. He won't use that bar again!! That client fishes Cabo San Lucas evey month of the year... He love my bars because they are light, and raise fish...marlin, tuna, dorado...and most anything else that swims.....Take a look at my site. - Drag on the reel - not a problem with my bars.

[gottie]

Where can I get a light spreader bars? Or maybe I can assemble one myself by attaching some hoochies with a plastic pipe?

[skip]

You can order them direct from Mike's website at the moment www.fishmagiciantackle.com though they will shortly also be available locally.

Have a look at his site and drop him an email as I believe there are some sales on some of the bars. You could try and make your own but the way it moves in the sea isn't as simple as it looks!

[Fishmagician]

Here's a neat trick you might try on  your overnight fishing adventure. Use it only if it's legal. Light sticks, and spreader bars AT NIGHT. Now I do this, but I run with radar. At the end of the main line of the spreader bars it ends with a ballbearing swivel, that's where you attach your chase bait...but you can also attach a light stick too, and I mean right along with the chase bait. I'll but four bars out each with a light stick,,,what a sight it makes behind the boat...don't be surprised at bigger tuna,,,,or maybe a swordie.....heavy gear is called for. Now right this down and put it where you'll find it off shore at night.

Best of luck to all of you fisherman in Malta..

[skip]

Excellent idea Mike, we've got a couple of Electralumes we could use and some chem sticks so we'll def give that a try