Time To Re-Rig those Spreader Bars

[Reel Draggin Tackle]

This is the time of year that most of us take time to look over our tackle, cleaning "stuff" and figuring out what needs to be discarded and what can be rerigged.

This thread is going to be about rerigging your spreader bars. We have done one or two, so I thought we would post the entire process over the next week or two.

Our spreader bars are by design ultra light weight and tend to need attention throughout the year. In fact, any productive tackle will probably need some sort of attention through out the year. If it don't, its probably not working for you. As a rule, we start every year with re rigged spreader bars. It only takes a small nick in the mono to cause you to loose big fish,

We'll go into a little more detail than just a simple re-string. I will go through each step in the making of a bar, squid selection, rigging lines and then the stinger and stinger selections.

So, post your questions and we'll address everything asked. And in the process I am sure I am going to learn as much if not more than anyone on the board.

Cheers, and lets get ready for a GREAT 09 season:clapping2:

[Reel Draggin Tackle]

We make hundreds of crimps A DAY and have gone through a bunch of hand held crimpers. Here is a picture of the hardware we are currently using.
http://www.reeldraggintackle.com/images/Terminal%20Tackle/hd800_SM.jpg
The Hand Held Bill Fisher HD800 will last us about two years (other than the foam handle which wears out in about four months) before they start wearing down under our use. No other crimper has lasted more than six months in our shop.
http://www.reeldraggintackle.com/images/Rigging/100_0816.jpg
We have several Bench crimpers identical to the one portable one pictured here. The oldest is now five years old and shows only minor wear. I don't expect to have to rebuild the oldest unit for another two years at our current usage rate.
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If there was one disadvantage to these crimpers, it is the bite size, you have to use the longer crimps which is exactly what we use so they work out great for us.

[Bend-Lure]

I'm interested - Keep it coming.

[Reel Draggin Tackle]

There are lots of spreader bar wire solutions to choose from. We have tried just about all of them and settled on thin wire Spring Steel. Here are the specifics:
316 Stainless Spring Steel
32” and 16” lengths
.093 diameter
http://www.reeldraggintackle.com/images/Rigging/100_0820.jpg
The choice was based on these strengths:
- Able to withstand the harsh offshore environment (316 Stainless)
- Spring Steel so the bar has “flex” while being trolled
- The lengths have been specifically selected in relation to the diameter to ensure the bars have just the right amount of flex.
NOTE: The 16” bar is a little stiffer and is ideally suited for the large RDT slammers. Also, a few mates outa Ocean City got a hold of our short bars, bent them in a bit to form a “V” shape. Getting the squid or slammers close together seemed to be a hot ticket. Sure enough it has been a great producer this past year.

These bars are durable, when the do bend, they either flex right back, or can be bent back into the original shape over and over.

[Reel Draggin Tackle]

After you decide on the bar you'll need end tackle and a center block for the bar. This is the connection point between the business end of the bar, and your main line to the rod/reel. You have lots of options here. When we first started, we bought sheets of starboard and ripped and drilled small blocks. Here is a good look at the poly block we made.
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http://www.reeldraggintackle.com/images/Rigging/100_0822.jpg
A few Crimps:
http://www.reeldraggintackle.com/images/Rigging/100_0824.jpg
These are #9 Rosco crimps. They cost a bit more, but they are the best we have found:
And here is a shot of the finished center block of your spreader bar:
http://www.reeldraggintackle.com/images/Rigging/100_0827.jpg
There was nothing wrong with the blocks we made by hand. It was just a very labor intensive process. In late 2006 we started pouring molds and making hundreds at a a time. These were our first products:
http://reeldraggintackle.com/images/Rigging/Poly%202007.jpg
Then, starting in 2008 we enhanced the poly block to include a modified 240# coastlock snap.
Here is a picture of our improved poly block:
http://reeldraggintackle.com/images/Rigging/Poly%202009.jpg

[Reel Draggin Tackle]

When we first started making spreader bars we were using stainless steel cotter keys crimped to the tips with soft thick walled aluminum crimps,like this.
http://reeldraggintackle.com/images/Rigging/Bar%20tip.JPG
http://reeldraggintackle.com/images/Rigging/Bar%20tip%20with%20snap1.JPG
In 2006 the entire spreader bar received an over haul, from the center block to the tips. We found a supplier for the perfect size Sleeve Swivel for our spreader bar tips. These arevery hard to find in a size that fits a .093" spreader bar. Here is the result:
http://www.nbssportfishing.com/vBforum/imagehosting/546459af8dcccdc2.jpg
This cleans the bar up quite a bit and ensures that when you have a line over the tip, which occurs often, the line will not be nicked by the large crimp on the ends.

[Reel Draggin Tackle]

Now lets talk about the lines:
We use three line spreader bars. They are light weight and have been just as productive as 4-line bars. Over time, we have never seen an advantage of using the bigger four line bars. In fact, the size, weight/drag difference of these bars are all the more reason to downsize.
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Line length: The teasers on the tips are 36 inches long. The center line starts at 48 inches long. The last squid in the center line chain as a ball bearing coastlock snap swivel for a detachable stinger. The stinger is 30 inches long. Well get into the stinger rigging later. The swivel in the last squid allows than angler to switch out stingers as desired. Some like to put meat back there, some like to run a larger bait, like an RDT Slammer on a squid chain.
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At Reel Draggin'' Tackle we only use 130# Momoi Blue Diamond. We use this due to the breaking strength (~244#) vs diameter. It seems to be just right even for the smaller 5 to 6 inch squid.
Next I'll post how we string our squid, and the spacings we use.
http://reeldraggintackle.com/images/Rigging/100_0845.jpg

[Reel Draggin Tackle]

Each teaser line has two 7.5 inch squid, or if we are rigging with anything smaller, we put three per line. You just do not need any more. It might look cool to build a bigger bar with more stuff, but the bottom line is that you would be better off with two smaller bars run close together than one big bar.
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Each squid has a float inside of it. There are all kinds of options none are wrong and they all have good/bad points. Just get a float in each squid. We use foam because it fills up the squid so it keeps its shape under any condition; and when they get stepped on, they do not crush!

We use flat rigging beads in front of a crimp to keep everything in place. Here are a few pictures:
http://www.reeldraggintackle.com/images/Rigging/Squid%20Float.JPG
After its stuffed:
http://www.reeldraggintackle.com/images/Rigging/Squid%20with%20Float%20inside.JPG