This is crucial piece of equipment when fishing out of a triple or quad powered outboard center consoles as the dredge tow line may be damaged by constant friction against the outside engine cowlings when making adjustments. If possible, look for a 6-8ft boom as this will only give your spread more dimension while also keeping the dredges out of the prop wash. Regardless the size of your teaser, the objective is to resemble the appearance and vibrations of a tightly swimming baitball.Ī manual or electric downrigger with a minimum 4-foot boom will work as a cost effective deployment system, which keeps the dredge spaced out, away from the boat like an outrigger. These can be custom rigged with single, double, or triple tiers.

Many options exist on the market from different dredge designs to configurations including 4-arm, 6-arm or 8-arm dredges.

Running surface teasers often lacks replicating the dredge's level of intentional disturbance. Riggingīy presenting a larger profile, offshore game fish such as Dorado, Yellowfin Tuna, Sailfish, and Marlin quickly shift focus on the vibrations and magnitude of flash produced from a dredge. The drops are trailed by a combination of hookless lures, rigged natural baits, or soft plastic squids generating the illusion of a natural bait-ball below the surface. Unlike the ever popular umbrella rig, a dredge is rigged with hookless baits or lures position in a bait ball configuration designed to entice any pelagic. Deploying a single or multiple dredge systems provide anglers with an excellent opportunity to raise just about any pelagic gamefish through resembling a live baitball swimming behind the boat.Ī dredge is pretty much a six-armed umbrella rig on steroids with several connection points off each arm, also known as drops. Traditional teasers, spreader bars and daisy chains are still a mainstay in any saltwater angler's box of trolling strategies, however dredges provide one of the most crucial dimensions to any spread by bringing the fish up within striking distance. Dredges are one of the greatest developments over the last few decades.

What does it mean to dredge fish