In response, companies such as Daiwa, Kristal, Hooker Electric, Miya Epoch and Lindgren Pitman have developed powerful electric reels that can retrieve even the largest dredges and heaviest weights with push-button ease. Increasingly heavier weights are needed to ensure the entire thing stays well below the surface at trolling speeds, and the drag they produce is also immense-rigging systems need to be virtually bulletproof. Today, a professional crew may have two dredges sporting three tiers and 50 or more carefully rigged natural baits, or a giant monstrosity with nearly 100 artificial fish or squid. If a single tier was good, two was better. Those early years drove what came to be known as the arms race in dredge fishing. It’s a pretty amazing concept for a hookless teaser, and one that caught on quickly before spreading throughout the sport-fishing world. Simple yet effective, those early adopters of what became known as a dredge went on to win scores of sailfish tournaments in South Florida before the rest of the fleet caught on. The first sailfish dredges were modified striped bass umbrella rigs, with four arms and a single tier of large silver mullet with a large trolling weight to keep it swimming below the surface, it was either cleated off at the transom or pulled using a manual downrigger for retrieval. Originally designed to attract sailfish like this one, dredge-style teasers are remarkably effective for a wide range of pelagic species, including marlin, sails and mahimahi. As the fish approaches, it spots a nearby bait or lure swimming by itself, an enticing loner that somehow became separated from the school and is now easy prey. The concept is a relatively simple one: While trolling offshore, create the illusion of a tightly packed school of baitfish, with enough silhouette and profile to attract the attention of a pack of hungry sailfish, or maybe a prowling blue marlin.
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