Anybody know where I could find light composite rod for making spreader bars for tuna?

Just made up some daisy chains and would like to build my own spreader bars after watching Fred Archer on YouTube. Fred was able to tie his spreader bar in a knot with no damage or tangles while trolling. Archer on Mulitiple Lures Part III: New vs. Old - YouTube

Another option would be making the bars out of stainless steel spring wire a little $$$. Has anybody made them out of stainless steel rod? with no tangles while trolling.

Cheers Don.

I made some out of SS a few years ago, I was pretty precise with my layout and I can tell you the SS bar dug in and my archer setup went right then left all of a sudden and took out my spread on both sides of it. I tweaked it a bit with the same results, gave up. Try the composite as I don’t think they would dig in as bed and possibly you can get them to run straight without taking out everything in its path. I ran mine down the middle and unless you reset your spread every time and put it out first, I see a lot of tweaking to get them to run straight.

 

Thanks for the info, hopfully I will find a Lead on composite.

 

Archer style bars run differently than other bars the bar itself is up out of the water and all the rigs trail behind it they run well off of either a long rod that sits up high or an out rigger but the bar itself does not ride in the water.

 

Which would be pretty good, unfortunately my replica copycat fred archer bars didn’t like to ride on top, they liked to dig in and cause destruction. I guess I could try them with a 20ft surf rod sitting in the rocket launchers. I think the composite bars would still work better then the SS ones. Doubtful I will revisit them, lots of other things to use instead.

 

I have some SS bars that I bought, only use them occasionally. My memory is that instead of a single point attachment in the middle, they are attached at both ends with a V leader. They don't wander when I troll with them. I think a single point attachment to a metal bar would likely wander and you say yours did. Not good, try the V attachment.
ron m

 

Contact redwoodcoastspreaderbars dot com, very good guy, he used to be Archer pro staffer before Fred Archer passed away. He might sell you some of his composite material, if not you might get some ideas from looking at his products. These bars run straight, the only tangles I get with mine are if I turn too sharp and sometimes a single clone runs over/through one of the spreader bars.

 

blacktale, there was a great deal of excitement about Archer Bars about 8 years ago on the Salty Dogs. Lots of us bought them and worked them hard for a couple of seasons. The consensus, if I recall correctly, is that they work about as well as a single lure would. Absent a distinct advantage, most of us stopped using them due to the hassle of handling them, especially on the deck. Fred Archer was very persuasive (may he RIP), but the bars didn't live up to Fred's claims. Others may have a different memory of this, so please weigh in.

 

I like to make allot of my gear when possible and since I have never fished with a spreader bar I wanted to try this method of fishing since I have all the gear to build one minus the composite rod, I may end up using the vee harness on ss rod.

 

Fred told me he got the rod at Tap Plastic, I can't remember but I think it was Delrin.

The single bar Archer Bars or their clones should be run in the face of your wake with the bar out of the water, Spiders and Ruckus Raisers should run in the water, either on top or with weights under the surface. I have run them off my downriggers and have caught mackinaw and YT with them. Freed gave me some small R&D Ruckus Raisers to test on mackinaw and salmon but I have never tried them on salmon.

The Redwood Coast bars are second generation of Fred's bars with a few improvements.

Bars work, sometimes better than other times. Confidence with your gear and having it in the water can create the illusion that one lure works better than others though and you have to have whatever gear in the water if they are going to catch fish.

In my opinion having a bar or two in a trolling spread helps bring fish up, they might not hit the chase bait but it could have been what brought the fish to your spread. It's fishing and it's hard to say what was going on in their pea size brains.

 

I have never tried them on salmon.

In my opinion having a bar or two in a trolling spread helps bring fish up, they might not hit the chase bait but it could have been what brought the fish to your spread. It's fishing and it's hard to say what was going on in their pea size brains.

I agree that attractors are often helpful to bring fish to the spread even if it's not what they hit. I use daisy chains more than spreader bars, but both work as attractors.
ron m

 

Not to get off topic but on attractors- Hawaii trip in December the captain was a transplant and had brought mudflaps with him.

The action on them was really good. He just ran a single one. They have ones that look like a school of fish that would be overkill.

If you google mudflap tuna attractor you can find them. They have different sizes including one about the size of our albacore.

If I was inclined to get fancy, I’d try one. Easy to run. Easy to deploy. Easy to get out of the way.


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