You want a volcano-like explosion 30’ behind your transom? Tuna fish to come flying out of the water in attack-mode? Billfish to rise with their weaponry swinging? Then I sure hope you’re pulling spreader bars, because these lures will trigger more pelagics to attack than any other single lure in the water today.

Pelagic Magic
Spreader bars consist of multiple chains of baits—usually plastic squid, but also skirts or rubber ballyhoo in some cases—rigged to a single bar, which keeps them in an organized pattern as they troll through the water. The farthest aft bait should be a slightly different size and/or color than the other baits, and is rigged with a hook. Bars range in price from $40 (for a 32” bar pulling nine 9” shells, available from www.reeldraggintackle.com) to $210 (for a titanium bar rigged with 10 12” full-body squid, available at www.squidnation.com.) Some spreaders are also made with nylon bars, like those from www.fishmagiciantackle.com ($94 for a 10-shell rig made with 7” squid.) The nylon bars bend more than titanium but they have one significant advantage: thanks to light weight and flexibility, it’s possible to run them from much lighter rods than is the norm. In fact, you can run a light nylon bar from a 30-class rig or even a 16-S, while most full-size spreaders require a 50-class rig.

Naturally, you can also make your own bars by buying the squid, bar, and leader separately. This isn’t much work and there’s certainly a sense of satisfaction that comes from catching fish on a lure you made yourself. Don’t expect to save a lot of money, however. Since the tackle manufacturers buy their materials in bulk, when all is said and done, there isn’t a huge price difference between buying spreader bars and making them yourself.

Which colors should you choose when making or buying a spreader bar? As with other lures, the hot colors will change with the seasons and the hot bite. As a rule of thumb, however, greens, pinks and blues are standard producers. For the past few seasons, the multi-colored green/orange/pink squid (some call them the “rasta” squid) have been the most reliable. And carry a purple or dark green bar, for cloudy, low-light conditions.
So, which bar is the “ultimate”? All of them. As with many other things in fishing, it depends on who you are, how you fish, and where and when you fish. If it’s rough and you’re on a small boat, the light nylon bar is the ultimate because in many cases, it’ll be the only one you’re physically able to run. But when it’s calm and you’re towing a huge spread from long outriggers and multiple rod positions, a big titanium bar with a full selection of big, juicy, 12” squid will be a better choice. In any case, one thing is for sure: compared to the other lures in your tacklebox, whatever type of spreader you have is—ultimately—going to prove to be a better fish-attractor than the rest.

Run Baby, Run
The single biggest mistake people make when running spreader bars? They set them too far back, and the bar itself drags through the water. Sharpies will run their spreaders from the short or center rigger position, relatively close to the boat (30’ to 50’ back,) so the bar is held up out of the water (excepting rough conditions, when it may be impossible to prevent the bar from dipping in) but the baits are in the water. Though it sounds incredible, when wind conditions are correct it’s also possible to run a (small, nylon) spreader off a kite, and keep it out to the side of the boat. One exception: the so-called “splash bars” which have small birds mounted directly on the bar itself. In this case, naturally, the bar is intended to run in the water.

When considering placement in the spread, you should think of your spreader bar as a teaser, as well as a lure. You’ll discover that quite often, billfish will attack a spreader by slashing at it without actually biting the hook bait. To capitalize on the bar’s attraction, you have to be ready for this situation. Keep a single plastic squid, the same size, shape and color as the ones on the bar, rigged on another line and run it either from a flat line or a rocket launcher, so the bait is just behind and inside or outside of the spreader. If you spot a bill in the bar, reel in that similar lure until it’s forward of the bar, then throw the reel into freespool and allow the squid to drift back—it’ll appear to the fish as though he whacked one of the baits senseless, and it’s now drifting back behind the school. This is what he’s waiting for, and he’ll turn around and snap up that squid.
If tuna are the target, you should still run this extra squid. Now let’s say there’s a blow-up on the bar, and you have a yellowfin on. Good deal—make it better, by grabbing the squid rod and jigging it. The extra motion does have an effect, and any tag-along tunas that see it will usually move in for the kill.

Also consider the placement of your spreaders when setting up the rest of your rig. Remember that they’ll get a lot of eyeballs on them; place naked ballyhoo, Green Machines, and other offerings within sight range of the spreaders, and often fish will flock to them. Many anglers will set a bar of one color on one side of the spread, and a bar of another color on the other side. Some even put a third bar into the mix, run right down the middle. Even though the view from below of this bar is partially obstructed by the prop wash, you’ll be surprised at just how many fish it takes. No matter where or how you fish them, however, remember one thing: if you want to see multiple explosions, swinging bills, and flying gaffs, don’t leave the dock without spreader bars on the boat.

**Bonus Pro Spreader Trick: Spray-paint the arms of your spreader bars aqua-blue so they don’t stand out as much visibly.**

**Double-Bonus Pro Spreader Trick: Don’t rig your spreaders with a hook bait, but instead, put a swivel clip in the far aft position. Then, rig several different hook baits of different colors and sizes. This will allow you to swap it out, and discover if any particular color or size is more productive than another, on any given day.

You can find more hard-core how-to offshore and inshore fishing information from the author in his book Rudow’s Guide to Fishing the Mid Atlantic, available from www.gupbooks.com.