Q: My question pertains to dead bait for sailfish in the Palm Beach area. My brothers and I recently upgraded to a larger boat with a better design for dead bait trolling. My question is, when pulling large dredge teasers, which can create a massve amount of pull, how do I position them in the spread to keep them out of the props? I feel like they create too much drag to pull them from the riggers. Where is the best position to run either a large strip teaser or two-stage mullet dredge?
 
Seth Funt
Palm Beach, Florida

A: Most of the top charter captains I know pull them off the outriggers -- often through a pulley fastened directly to the lower part of a strong outrigger, like a Rupp, on a heavy Nylon cord (say about the size of clothesline). They rarely fasten them much above the back brace because they do pull hard.

It takes a good, strong electric reel to handle a double or triple-dredge, but they give you the option of dropping the inside dredge down deeper when you make a turn, a good tactic when you hook a single fish or raise one that doesn't eat.

Since you living in Palm Beach, Florida, drive up to Finest Kind Marina in Stuart, or over to the Sailfish Center on Singer Island and walk the docks one afternoon when the charter boats come in. Ask the mates where they pull their dredges from and how they pull them. (You'll find that some still pull them in by hand.)