Most sailfishers use 20-pound gear for dragging baits.

Tricks of the Trade

Jumping a few fish doesn’t have to be hard or involve hours of professional bait and teaser rigging. Family fishers can employ similar strategies that provoke hookups without the extra toil. You will need to master the basics, however, such as rigging ballyhoo and deploying a dredge teaser, an umbrella-shaped frame with multiple natural or plastic baits in tow that resembles a bait pod.

We’ve covered suitable ballyhoo rigs and dredges in past issues, but here’s a quick refresher. Small ballyhoo, often referred to as “dinks” by veteran sailfishers, are by far the best size for hooking an Atlantic sail, due to the fish’s relatively small mouth and the species’ tendency to bat baits before swallowing. Dredge teasers draw sails, period. Nothing raises a sail into a ballyhoo spread like a dredge. No need to spend all night rigging silver mullet and ballyhoo to string on the dredge, not with all the pre-rigged plastic ballyhoo and shad-tail models on the market. Shop around and purchase a dredge that’s compatible with your boat’s setup. (I keep a double-tier model manufactured by Calcutta Baits rigged and ready with plastic shad for deployment off a stern cleat; it seems to draw fish without fail.)

Standard gear for sailfishing here is 20-pound tackle, either conventional or spin. Conventional reels, such as a Shimano TLD 20, Penn Graphite-Lite 20, Okuma Titus Gold 20 or Pflueger 20GL, that holds 400 yards or more of line gets the lion’s share of duties. If you prefer to battle sails with spin tackle, choose a reel with the Bait Runner, Live-Liner or Freeliner feature. You’ll need it for dropping back baits (more on this later) to fish. Reels in this class include the Tidewater 60FLX, Shimano BTR 6500B and Penn Slammer/Live Liner 560.

Dropback City

Hooking a sail on trolled baits is different than livebait fishing. Reel control is key in this release game. Atlantic sailfish seldom charge a trolled ballyhoo and inhale it on the first go-round. They bat it first, the same way they do with wild prey. This slashing bill attack usually pops the flatline and outrigger clips, alerting anglers there’s a fish in the spread.

Hooking that fish is up to you. Savvy trollers and tournament fishers throw the reel into freespool, dumping yards of line to the fish so it won’t “feel” the hook or any pressure from the line. How long to drop back is a matter of personal preference, but don’t do it for too long—the sail will spit the hook. Most sailfishers stick with a 5-count dropback, then shove the reel into gear. If the fish feels the hook, you’ll see the results immediately as the fish goes ballistic with tailwalks, jumps and drag-burning runs.

Natural dredge teasers summon sails to trolling spreads.

Fort Pierce fish are calling. Are you ready for some fun?

FS