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Know the Limitations of your Boat and Crew

January 14, 2021 By InTheBite Digital Editor

jumping billfish

By Peter B. Wright

Most amateur anglers and crews would be much better off not using dredges or multiple teasers, even though many of the top professional teams pull them most of the time. Teams that consistently win tournaments almost always have expert professional captains and deck hands. These crews have skills and abilities that most amateurs will never develop. Amateur crews who pull multiple teasers and dredges may have forgotten one basic truth. Teasers and dredges do not catch fish – at best they can only help attract them. Baits and lures with hooks, however, can and do catch fish.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Advice, Careers, Featured Stories, Fishing Tagged With: bait fishing, Dredge Fishing, fishing advice, fishing teaser, peter b. wright

Master Baiters: Bait Snobs Know the Difference

October 8, 2020 By InTheBite Editor

Photo courtesy Ric Burnley

By Ric Burnley

For the most part, the playing field is pretty even,” states pro skipper Captain Andy Kubiak, “the one difference is bait.” Dock talk and the internet spread new techniques and tackle like wildfire; secrets don’t stay secrets for long. Today’s professional crews are seasoned, synchronized and sober. So, victory or defeat are determined by the details. “Having the best bait can be the difference between winning and losing,” Kubiak insists.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Featured Stories Tagged With: artificial bait, Bait Fishing Tips, Dead bait, Dredge Fishing, Live Bait

Tower or Not

April 3, 2020 By InTheBite Editor

two guys in the tuna tower of a sportfishing boat

By Captain Scott “Fraz” Murie

I’ve been asked questions about towers several times lately. The question I’m getting most is, “Do I need a tower?”

I’ve spoken with several crews and owners about this topic. Some say they never use their tower and others say they use it all the time. The answers I’m getting to the tower question are all over the place.

I believe there is an advantage to having a tower, but that having a tower today is not nearly as advantageous as it was back in the days before electronics. The advantages back then included things like spotting fish on a rip, sight fishing cobia, or spotting birds and bait.

Nowadays, when you’re dredge fishing and you have a designated spotter (or tower man) he can see the dredge in the water (and a fish approaching it) from the tower way better than he could by being on the bridge or in the cockpit. I must admit, however, that I personally don’t climb the tower nearly as much as I did when I was a young man. That said, I do like having someone up there scanning the waters as much as possible.

Another question when talking to the crews and owners is, “Do tower boats catch more fish?” That’s a trick question because it depends on what you’re fishing for. I can tell you this, I see plenty of boats without towers that consistently find themselves in the winner’s circle and they can be hard to compete with.

Back in the day, towers were a huge advantage when fishing for bluefin tuna off Cat Cay in the Bahamas and when running the flats reading the water.

With today’s electronics things have changed. This is especially true when it comes to the use of sonar. When using the sonar, your head is glued to the screen—adjusting and readjusting.

With that said, now I can use the sonar to see what’s ahead on the rip or what’s below near an object like an oil rig. I can see bait on the surface and below the surface. I can see birds miles away with my radar. So, the question was, “Do I need a tower?”

The short answer is no. It’s all in what you want. Some owners want them because they think they look good; others think they’re ugly. The fact of the matter is that if you’re not going to use it, save the tens of thousands of dollars it costs to outfit your boat with one—not to mention the knot or two you gain at sea without one.

I do however believe that towers are a must for enclosed bridge boats. Enclosed bridges should have towers just for visibility if for nothing else. Beyond that, towers are a matter of personal preference. With today’s technology and electronics, times have changed. The advantages of a tower are not near what they used to be.

There was a time when I personally couldn’t imagine a boat without one. I could hook a fish in the tower and climb down with the rod in one hand. Those days are gone. I’m perfectly content with my cushioned helm chair right on the flying bridge.

– That’s my two-minute warning. Fraz

Filed Under: Boats, Design, Featured Stories, General News, News Tagged With: Dredge Fishing, tower, tower boats, tuna tower, two minute warning

Tackle Tip: Clip Your Teasers

September 24, 2015 By InTheBite Editor

Dockside

Send us your tips to win a pair of these SMITH Dockside Sunglasses. Send to info@inthebite.com

Tim Richardson tackle tipClip Your Teasers

Capt. Tim Richardson, Tradition

One Star
 * Supplies Needed: Blacks and/or Roller Troller release clips

Capt. Tim Richardson’s been fighting the weed as well as the marlin this year during his season in the Dominican Republic so he came up with this way to run his teaser halyards through release clips off the captain’s chair on the bridge. This way the lines are right in front of him so all he has to do is give the halyards a shake to clear any grass. It’s also easier to grab when teasing a fish in by hand. He uses a Roller Troller for the regular squid chains but recommends a Blacks red clip for the Flippy Floppy Thing due to the increased amount of drag it produces in the water.

Filed Under: Tackle Tips Tagged With: Dredge Fishing, dredge reels

StripTeaser Dredge Action

September 18, 2015 By InTheBite Editor

Check out this Costa Rica dredge action on a StripTeaser from 2013. Its worth watching.The Author states “Fishing Aboard the SailsCall, Costa Rica. For more than a decade, I’ve been trying to get this shot. In the late 1990’s, underwater video cameras were big, clumsy and hard to handle. I tried for hours to get a shot of a lit up billfish hot on a teaser. I failed.
The GoPro camera paired with a Troll-Pro housing created a breakthrough that made the shot possible. I placed the housing in line with a dredge teaser and a large weight, trolled on the 2nd wave off the port outrigger.
It finally happened. February 18, 2013… hours of pulling a strip teaser dredge paid off with a fabulous 44 seconds of billfish action! Enjoy.
 

Lit Up Sailfish Underwater from SailsCall on Vimeo.

Filed Under: Featured Stories Tagged With: Dredge Fishing, dredge video

Top 5 Dredge Videos

September 17, 2015 By InTheBite Editor

Dredge Em Up! Here are a few cool dredge videos to mesmerize yourself. Are you filming different camera angles and showing different views of your dredge? Send us your dredge v [Read more…]

Filed Under: Featured Stories, News Tagged With: Dredge Fishing, Dredge mullet, how to run a dredge for sailfish

Dredge ‘Em Up: Blue Marlin

April 27, 2015 By InTheBite Editor

Feat_dredge_spreadDredge ‘Em Up: Pro Tips for Catching More Blue Marlin

by Dale Wills

“What did one dredge say to the other dredge? It looks like your having a ball! Isn’t that the point of the modern day dredge teaser. But what changes when the targeted species is a blue marlin?”

That feeling of time standing still on the bite is something that doesn’t change regardless [Read more…]

Filed Under: Featured Stories Tagged With: Dredge Fishing, Dredge Marlin Fishing

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