grey ghost

I have been bottom fishing mostly (25 mi) and trolling for spanish/kings/ling within 12 mi for last 2 yrs. I recently have ventured father out, want to troll for hoo's and dolphin! In conversation with a guy at local marina in OB about the spread for trolling, he told me to put two on outriggers, two on center rigger, and one way back in the middle rigger. Question** Was he talking about the telescopic outriggers or rod holders on top of gunwale(could be called outriggers)?? Thks for help

Chris V

It sounds like a couple things are contradicting. The middle and center rigger are the same thing and putting 3 lines on it is no doubt going to lead to a major sh#t storm if you hook up to an angry fish. A basic spread of 5 lines is very productive but I like to have at least 7 out. I usually pull a long rigger bait back about 100-150ft back. A short rigger bait inside of that that runs no more than 100ft. A center that runs from either a center rigger or centrally located rocket launcher. This is what most call the "shotgun" line and it is the furthest back down the middle. I then run a flat line off of each corner and these are kept short; no more than 60ft tops.

Regardless of how many lines, make sure they are staggered properly with your longest line down the center and your next longest on the furthest outrigger position. Stop by the store next time your around and I'll go over it with you.

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matttheboatman

Hello Grey Ghost,

I'd be happy to give you my input. There are a number of options - just like a coach has a playbook, there are just as many variations in a full spread.

The basics are these - keep the lines from tangling and only run as many as you can manage if the grass is bad or the bite is good. Start with 3, then go to 5, then 7 lines plus teasers if you are boored. The trick is to run at a speed that makes your lures look like something a fish would chase. Some lures look good at 6 knots, while others look good at 9 knots.

My advise would be to fish with Islander/ballyhoo combo and you will get the most bites. 5 lines out would look like; 1 each on the outriggers, and 1 each running off the rod tips close behind the boat, and 1 real long.

Over the years you will "improve" your spread, but you'll never get more bites than the simple 5 lines setup as I'm saying above.

Please feel free to call me and we can go over some other "plays" that you could do. Matt at Galati (850) 654-1575

Ocean Master

Good write up Chris,

This is the standard Gulf of Mexico spread and it's what you should start with. If you would let us know what lures or lure/ballyhoo combination you will be using you will get correct responses on what position to pull the lure from. After you get used to pulling this type of spread you can add teasers and downriggers.

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