Gear'n'beer!
Well-Known Member
I think I'll just stick to my spreaders........although I was hoping this thread was about something completely different!
Spreader bar alternatives?
- Thread starter RiverBoy
- Start date
I think I'll just stick to my spreaders........although I was hoping this thread was about something completely different!
Ok ill play
1. Braid main line to swivel with heavy duty McManus snap
2. To heavy barrel swivel
3. To 3' of 200' mono
4. To a 3 way swivel built with large spilt ring and 3 large barrel swivels
5. Middle swivel on 3 way has a lightweight snap which you attach your weight to
6. One of the 3 swivels the leads to a 2' length of 200#
7. Attach 14/0-20/0 circle hook to this 2' leader.
8. This rig does not tangle and has caught my clients and I a metric **** ton of halibut over the years. It is super cheap to build and really works. It was taught to me by a much better halibut fisherman than I about 15 years ago.
1. Braid main line to swivel with heavy duty McManus snap
2. To heavy barrel swivel
3. To 3' of 200' mono
4. To a 3 way swivel built with large spilt ring and 3 large barrel swivels
5. Middle swivel on 3 way has a lightweight snap which you attach your weight to
6. One of the 3 swivels the leads to a 2' length of 200#
7. Attach 14/0-20/0 circle hook to this 2' leader.
8. This rig does not tangle and has caught my clients and I a metric **** ton of halibut over the years. It is super cheap to build and really works. It was taught to me by a much better halibut fisherman than I about 15 years ago.
RiverBoy
Well-Known Member
When hali fishing for sure i agree. i’m trying to envision something a bit more “sensitive “ for lings. i seem to be losing a lot of lings using spreader bars. i dunno i always overthink everything ha
Rain City
Crew Member
Maybe you're only losing the rocks your gear is bouncing off.
RiverBoy
Well-Known Member
that is definitely the case at times. but where i fish the lings are quite spoiled and really like fresh bait brought to them. so i try and find points and rocky out croppings and drift past them either cutplugging or simply dragging a herring. problem is the takes can be quite subtle and the spreader bar itself really takes any “feel” out of the take. so i’m trying to change things up. thanks to all have replied!
Not sure that will happen, but I think it might, so I go heavier. It's called a spreader bar for good reason; spreads the gear as it drops. Also these were developed for the Swiftsure Bank fishery on the US side, which is over 300' deep. Shallower water may be fine with lighter line, but I see no reason to muck around. Commercial fished Hali with leaders of braided twine around .125" thick; pretty sure they are not gear-shy.
Tinny
Well-Known Member
I have never found lings to be subtle. When using bait I use a spreader bar for lings and seems to work fine. I have a 4' leader to the weight with a 2olb leader that can break away if snagged and only a 1' leader to the bait. This allows me to tap bottom with the weight, drawing them in with the sound, while keeping the bait just off the bottom where it gets their interest. Use braid for the mainline so you can feel everything. With a mono mainline you are flying blind. If the weight gets snagged, give it slack right away and then pull up. More times than not, this sets you free. I would imagine that some of these hali setups with the weight above the hook would result in a lot of snags and lost gear if drifting for lings in a rocky area with changing depths.
For lings I prefer a homemade top hooked hoochie pipe jig, I have tried to figure a way to use a spreader bar type rig without the spreader bar. So far all have been unsuccessful, currents, wind, drift and drops past 100 ft all seam to twist bait around main line making a mess. You can let rig down real slow to try and avoid twisting but who does that? Spreader bars are free, bend from the right coat hangers, and in the rocks lengthen spreader to weight leader and ensure its less than main line and on a snag a quick pull brings all up except the weight, free as I have molds and a lifetime of lead. We did use the stiff mono method above in Alaska but current was river spead and "walking the dog" was all we could do. Never had success in BC. Hope someone can figure it out.
HM
HM
trophywife
Crew Member
Double J?? lol
Gear'n'beer!
Well-Known Member
Wonder if JJ's is open? Social distancing? 2 m from the stage.....where is the fun in that?
Gear'n'beer!
Well-Known Member
Okay I was intrigues so just built this. What is the third swivel in step 4 for? One is for weight and one is for set up. Maybe I made it wrong. I'm guesssing it's for the 3' "spreader". But there is already a swivel there so maybe I'm missing something
Gear'n'beer!
Well-Known Member
Nevermind....was looking at it and it has to be double swivel at each end of "spreader" Seems a bit much however.
adanac
Well-Known Member
Ive never seen anyone run spreaders for ling . we run 6 - 8 oz bank sinkers that we rubber band to our top shot about 6 - 8 feet up from a swivel connected to 4 feet of 60 or 80lb mono, 8/0 gammie with the same size treble snelled as a trailer. Should have no problem getting this down if you fish lings like you say you do , bump in and out of gear till hits bottom .
This is the best sub hundred foot bait rig I’ve found , can also sub the bank sinker for your regular mooching slider , but the heavy elastic band somehow seems to pull your weight out of small snags , or on really bad snags breaks off and you still have all your terminal. Learn this one fishing for cubera and broomtail grouper in Panama and Mexico!
RiverBoy
Well-Known Member
yes the point of asking the question is i want to avoid using spreader bars for ling at all costs; the problem i’m having is i’m adding weights and dropping my herring and the leader keeps getting caught in the mainline on the drop. i’m anxious to try some of the suggestions above including yours. thanks again for all the replies!
Rain City
Crew Member
I've never had bait get tangled on mine.
When spreader bars came out we used a very short wire leader; maybe 16" max. Sounds like the tanging issue is too long of a leader, and/or too light of a leader.
fishbadger
Active Member
At the risk of hijacking this thread, that sounds interesting. . .got a pick or explanation of how you elastisize your weight to your top shot? Sounds interesting, I'm always scheming to make something better.
FWIW I can't imagine using a spreader for lings in sub 100 fow. I have always just used a 6 oz mooching sinker hard-tied in line, and fished live bait on a 3-4 ft leader of 40 lb. This works fine down to 120 fow or so. I don't have tangle issues but I could see vertically dropping a cut plug could be a mess. Less experienced anglers have snag problems as their bottom awareness isn't that great, but good ones excel with this setup. I don't like the slider because I need to know exactly how far my meat is from my weight all the time.
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