By Captain Mike Fisher
Posted Saturday, July 30, 2005
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I strongly recommend that you use at least two of the larger Bait Ball Spreader Bars™ in your spread, one pulled from each outrigger. Pulling three or four of the 10-skirt, Bait Ball Spreader Bars™ is the alternative. If you have only one large spreader bar try pulling it right down the middle with Bait Ball Daisy Chains™ below or along each side of that bar. Try to match the hatch by size; we have colors that match the various baitfish, and squid.
How you position each bar is important! Place all Bait Ball Bars ahead of the swell, or wave, so the chase/stinger-bait is running down the face of the swell. When the wind builds above 15 knots try lowering the outrigger clip, and that will reduce the effect of the wind on the line and the bar.
The 30 and 20 Bait Ball Spreader Bars™ are best pulled from the outriggers, and/or center riggers, placed close to the boat with Bait Ball Daisy Chains™, jet heads and divers running between and/or below them. I recommend that you pull these on heavier outfits, thirty pound or heavier. I pull them on 50 pound outfits. Six to above 8 knots is recommended, but I like the 6.5 to 7.5 knot span, myself.
Any lure placed in a spread has to be positioned correctly. When employing a spreader bar out of each outrigger place the daisy chains on the inside and next to the Bait Ball Bar. You want that chain of splashing squids skirt to look like a line of bait that have separated from the spreader bar’s group of baits.
Like the stinger/chase-bait on the spreader bars, you want the stinger/chase-bait on the daisy chain to run in the same spot on a wave, right down the face of the swell. Not on the backside where you can’t see it, not in the middle of the trough either. The distance behind the boat will depend on the size of your vessel, so experiment. Albacore aren’t shy; if they haven’t been harassed too heavily, they’ll come right to the transom to take a lure. So, I always pull everything closer to the boat when targeting albacore. You can rig one of your favorite marlin jigs/lures on a shorter leader of about 24 inches and attach it to that snap under the last skirt. That’s the reason I used heavier line and ball bearing snap swivels in the construction of the 30, 20,10 and 7 bait bars.
The 4-skirt Bait Ball Daisy Chain gives its best performance while clipped down low. An inexpensive way is to use a rubber band; make a quick wrap around the line and then anchor it to the rod where it comes out of the rod holder in the covering boards, or the handle of the reel. The alternative is a Roller-Troller flat line release clip placed low on the transom. This position reduces the angle of the line as it enters the water. The Roller-Troller is what I prefer and use. I don’t recommend large lipped diving plugs as chase baits on the Bait Ball Daisy Chains™.
The place you don’t want to put your Bait Ball Spreader Bars™ is in water void of fish. Even dynamite fails to bring them up in those conditions. Find the fish first, then the bars and daisy chains can go in. Study the SST charts. If you don’t subscribe to a SST chart provider – do so. It saves gas, time, bait and that’s money! Look for the temperature breaks associated with bottom structure, like banks, canyons and drop offs. Keep your eyes peeled for the tell tale signs from birds, porpoise, and whales. Those creatures have to eat too, and they eat the same varieties of baitfish that albacore, yellowfin, blue fin, big eye, black fin, yellow tail, Dorado, Wahoo, marlin and other fish do. They often-feed in concert with each other!
Water clarity and temperature are important; the SST image or chart will tell you the areas to start in. Fish have temperature tolerances; looking at the chart is going to tell you where NOT TO GO! Follow the local fish reports DAILY; keep notes on the catches as they’re reported. This information is invaluable and gives you a definite advantage. I use Terrafin’s SST images, (www.terrafin.com) I can print them daily if I want to, but I print one early in the week, and then monitor the catch reports. Mark the numbers (latitude and longitude) on the printout daily, a dot will do, a different color for a different day. Then print the last image or chart just before you head off shore. Now you have a good idea of which direction the fish are moving in, the current conditions, and you can find the fish while you keep yourself out of the crowd, saving a great deal of time and gas. That equates to more fishing time! Concentrating your efforts in the most probable area, and watching for the tell tale signs of feeding fish has a greater probability of success than trolling empty water!
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