What are Fishing Spreader Bars

Spreader Bars are a daisy chain of teasers (decoy lures) rigged in a formation to create attention grabbing attraction to your trolling lures and ultimately enticing fish to chasing them.

Having a array of lures skipping across the water will significantly increase the chances of attracting your prized catch.

Spreader Bars are a must have piece of kit for tuna fishing. The multiple lure teasers are super effective on Tuna, Mahi-Mahi, Spanish Mackerel and Marlin.

Below you will find details on where to buy spreader bars, how to make them, how to use them & the best color spreader bars for tuna.

Where to purchase Tuna Catching Spreader Bars

How to make your own Tuna Fishing Spreader Bars

Lure Teaser Spreader Bars are usually up to 4ft wide or 48inches (1.5 meters) . Often they can deploy aproximatly 5-15 decoy fish or squid looking baits. The aim is to catch attention of any predators cruising in the vicinity and coax them up for a closer look.

Going from left to right in the picture we will describe the components.

A main line attached to the bar should be a clear monofilament 60-80 pound line. It needs to support the bar and lures while they bounce around on the water. The Bar can be strong wire, titanium or even fiberglass wire. Swivels and a slightly smaller clear monofilament line are then attached to the main bar with teasers or lures. you car rig additional swivels and lines to a teaser as seen in the picture.

It is advisable that each teaser be attached via a snap swivel so that they can be changed as needed. we want the teaser lures to be of similar size, shape and colour as natural baits in the area.

Lures or teasers do not have hooks. they are there to create attention and we want the fish to bite our lure which does have hooks.

The following link is a in depth look at building your own spreader bars. https://fishtalkmag.com/blog/how-build-spreader-bar-tuna-fishing

How to Catch Tuna with Spreader Bars – Techniques and Tips for using Spreader Bars.

The whole point of spreader bars is to create the illusion of schooling bait fish in a feeding frenzy. This is what tuna, maha-mahi, mackerel and marlin are chasing. Onces they are enticed to investigate the teasers we want them to discover our lure rigged up with hooks and attached to the anglers rod.

Attaching your line and lure to the Spreader Bar (Optional)

Some people like to connect their line and lure to the spreader bar. this will ensure the best placement to the teasers, having the anglers lure dragging inline and a shirt distance behind the teasers. The anglers line or leader can be attached with a rubber band and snaplink. When a fish hits your lure, the elastic band breaks leaving you clear to fight it without the entire spreader bar contraption being dragged around with the fish.

If you prefer not to attach your line to the spreader bar, you can simply guide your lure to the left, right, or slightly in front of the spreader bar, keeping it in close vicinity to the action.

Spreader Bar Placement in the Water

You want to place the spreader bar 20-40 yards away from the boat with all the angler lines lines not too far away. You can have multiple spreader bars per boat and its not uncommon to have a left, right and center deployment all operating in unison. If the bar is diving up and down in the water, the bar may be too far back, and you need to position it closer to the boat.

Ensure your spreader bar is up on the surface, making splashes and noise in the water which attracts fish. This miniks baitfish in a frenzy. That is why we run all our lines fairly close by to the bar.

Baits and Teasers for Spreader Bars

What is the best color spreader bars for tuna? Match the hatch when selecting a spreader bar teasers. The key to teasers or bait is to mimic size, colour and style of prey the fish are eating in the area. Sometimes this is fish or squid. For ease of adapting to different conditions, teaser can be attached via a snap swivel so that they can be changed as needed. Lures or teasers on the spreader bars do not have hooks.

Boat Speed for Trolling Spreader Bars for Tuna

It is estimated that a good travel speed for spreader bars is 10knots. But trolling speed isn’t as important as to what your bar and teasers are actually doing in the water. The bars and teasers should not be submerged, they should be slapping on the surface of the water. Each day may be different based on conditions of the wind and water. It may take some experimentation with distance of the the spreader bars from the pull generated by speed of travel.

Where to purchase Tuna Catching Spreader Bars

Stay tuned for more tips and tricks on How To Catch Tuna.