Reel Draggin' Tackle

We will run this thread just like we did the Spreader Bar Design thread. Over the next week or two we should be able discuss all of the many topics. As always this is an open post; we would like to hear any and all questions, suggestions, comments. There is always another great idea out there somewhere waiting to be shared.
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Cheers,
Ken

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Reel Draggin' Tackle

We will strat with a description of the boat and hardware we use on our canyon hunts. We always have one objective, one day troll for T\tuna. We have whites and blues enter the pattern, but we don't specifically target them.
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The Boat:
We make most of our runs form a 23 foot Grady White. It has a nice 9'3" beam, carries 150 gallons of gas and has plenty of storrage space in the cabin. It is fitted with a well maintained 225 Yamaha OX66 which allows us to make our 47 to 70 mile runs at 23 to 26 KTS.

Electronics:
We belive in redundency for safety. We have two seperate chart plotters that are both fully sonar and GPS capable. These are the LCX111HD and the LCX19C from Lowrance. We have not had good luck with LEI Transducers, so this year we will install one of the new AMAIR ducers.
Radios: We have two Standard Horizon DCS radios, attached to independent antennas. Our Radar is a Furuno 1623. We have never used an EPIRB, but we probaly will for the 2007 season.

Tackle Hardware:
We carry 10 AVET 4/0 2-speed reels that are matched to Outterbanks Special rods in the 50-80# class. We also carry two AVET MXJ 2-Speed reels and 2 AVET SX reels that are fitted to 15# class rods. We use 65# Power Pro on all of our reels. The 4/0's are topped with 200 feet of 65# Momoi Blue Diamond mono which gets changed out frequently. We also carry two Penn 600 downriggers with the 48 inch boom and 360 degree swivel base. These fit in rod holders so they can be quickly removed when needed.

In the next thread we will cover the Trolling Tackle.

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74Formula233

47-70 miles to the Canyon.......

We can only wish up here LOL

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Reel Draggin' Tackle

74Formula233,
I know what ya mean, Thats what I say about the Hatteras guys.... vbmenu_register("postmenu_13579", true);

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74Formula233

LOL yeh....and that's what THEY say about the Miami guys

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Reel Draggin' Tackle

Before I post about trolling tackle (wet end gear) I will very quickly hit a requested topic:
How do we know where to go?
For us that’s easy, we cheat! We started by subscribing to ROFFS, we studied the charts and observations and learned. After a while we became comfortable with other basic (and much cheaper) observation services. We watch water patterns very closely and it’s not just the temperature, we look for color breaks and possible weedy areas (unlike some, we love the weeds!). We do not get to make a canyon run on every good day, but we are able to track potentially good water right up to the time we head out (weather permiting). Our last look at the charts is usually around 2am the morning we make the run.

Now that’s all fine and dandy, and it gives me something to build the basic search plan from and gets my head in the game for days before we go. However, most important is our network of fishing friends. Forums like this are an excellent way to gather information. Posting all your good and bad reports are very useful. It’s great when we get to share information with some of our Ocean City friends on a day that we cannot make the run, and they in turn can get out there and verify we were right on. You can't beat an extended network of boats that share what they know. Once water holding fish is located we follow the water and if it goes away, someone will usually return some key piece of information that will get us in the hunt. If you are a recreational boat, find a charter Captian who will let you run your own cockpit, and get your team on his boat a few times a year. You will learn years of knowledge in each trip, its priceless information.

If we are headed to a “good water” position we lead it for our time late. As I said, we try to track the water, and project where we need to be in order to be three miles ahead of the water. On the way though, we are always looking, and we try REEL hard NOT to over run fish. We pick three miles as our place to get the spread in the water, and then start trolling back to the estimated position, working from what should be a cold water position to the warm water break.

So, that’s how we get start our hunt.

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Reel Draggin' Tackle

It Takes A Spread; To Turn a School.
Our objective is to find the fish and in a single pass get as many hookups as possible. Three to six lines down on a pass is common. If you have followed Reel Draggin' Tackle in the past or have read the trolling information on our web site; then you know, for us its all about the spreader bar.

Its just a plain fact that if you put out a spreader bar, you are going to draw more bites. The trick for a small boat (any boat really) is to set a spread out there that is big enough to draw more than one curious tuna from the school. You want the whole mess of them crashing your spread.

We accomplish this by using multiple spreader bars (hooked), Daisy Chains, and the RDT Sport Dredge (small low drag dredge, with a stinger). We put out nine to twelve lines from the Round Tuit. I will be posting pictures later, but here is the basic pattern:

Outriggers double Rigged
......................Starboard Long Rigger 17 inch bird bar
...................Starboard Short Rigger 32 inch bar
................ Starboard Flat-1 RDT Bird Chain
........... Starboard Downrigger RDT Sport Dredge
.......Starboard Flat-2 RDT Daisy Chain or Jet

.......................................Center WWWB 13" RDT Big Bird & Slammer Chain
.......................Short Center RDT Big Eye with Hoo,or Big Bird & Slammer Chain

.......Port Flat-2 RDT Daisy Chain or Jet
........... Port Downrigger RDT Sport Dredge
................ Port Flat-1 RDT Bird Chain
...................Port Short Rigger 32 inch bar
......................Port Long Rigger 17 inch bird bar

This is our standard spread. Yep, its a lot of lines. I have a typical crew of three very experienced tuna killers who have helped me develop this spread and the coordination required to maintain it on a small boat like ours.

Next we will discuss what bars with what chains, why and when. In-between, I look forward to questions and comments that will get us into the details.
Ken

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ARCTEKJim

GREAT INFO KEN............................JIM

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AlloyToy

Ken,

Do you mix your colors to see what the bite is on a given day or do you run all lines the same color?

Reel Draggin' Tackle

That is a great question. Its also one with more than one answer. This is what works for us;
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We almost always run one color. We mix size and skirt vs shell squid, but the colors are almost always the same. Our daisy chains also match our spreader bars and the sport dredges.

We want to give the impression of a large tight pod of bait that demands attention. In turn, our spread is often crashed by many Tuna and multiple lines go down at a time. We feel that when you present a mixed bag, you may get a pull or two, but your chances of multiple strikes is reduced. Also, you have to think about the time it takes to bring in your one or two fish, the entire mixed bag spread, get out the hot color spread and then get back on the fish. Sometimes its hard enough just to stay with the school and this added time could cause you to miss your next pass.

I have learned to never say always or never. When things are not working you have to change up. Usually when the bite is not turning on, we change out the entire spread about every 45 min, trying different spreads of colors. Especially when we know there are fish there and can see them down deep. When they are there and we are not getting a bite, we put more bird bars and bird chains in. When you have four spreader bars and two or three daisy chains all with little birds causing a commotion on the surface, this is often the ticket.

If we do decide to run different colors, we keep the port side consistent and the starboard side consistent.

We also follow the basic rule of contrast, light colored rigs on light days and darker rigs at dawn to 10am, dusk or overcast days.

Another note, green is inconsistently consistent. It seems to work when ever with no explanation. So, when we are mixing it up, we often put out an entire spread of GREEN (RDT Green Slammers and Squid).

We carry a lot of spreader bars and daisy chains, entire spreads of different colors. It is important to have options. Also, this is where your network comes in. We often know what the hot color is before we head out. Or, when we get out there and check in, that kind of information is passed to us.

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