Since I love the bait-and-switch, I’m pretty picky about how I set up my electric teaser reel system. Our new boat, Gladius, was built to pursue billfish on the fly, and since the boat is an express, it was imperative that I be able to operate my teaser reels from the tower. Although my teaser reels are recessed into the buggy top, I chose to run my lines on the outside instead of through the top itself. This makes it much easier to reach up and grab the teaser line, so I can tease the fish in with my hands. I use a Ronstan nylon bull’s-eye fair-lead (westmarine.com) with the stainless-steel insert to run the teaser line through as it leaves the tower. [1]The bull’s-eye fair-lead looks a lot nicer than a stainless eyelet, and it won’t cause the teaser line to bunch up when I let them back out.
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I also install a couple of Harken Offshore Cam-Matic cam cleats next to my teaser reels, [2] since I like to secure the teaser line quickly once the teaser gets all the way up to the boat and the fish switches to the other side or moves off to a bait. I also put a Dacron sleeve over the teaser line [3] to act as a marker and chafe guard to keep the cam cleat from damaging the mono.
This little setup looks great and works even better.
Randy Baker
Freeport, Florida
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