Starting spread

[Killin' It]

How much does your starting spread REALLY change???

After talking about "name that lure" 3 or 4 lures made the top of everyones list (with some exeption).

I know running 6 rods my starting spread is usally the same lures unless I have been fishing alot and found something that has been firing more then normal. This generally happens if the wife and I are fishing together and she picks out the lures for her side of the boat.

With my 6 rod morning spread I run 2 riggers 2 divers 2 full core (copper this year)

Since I start EVERY morning in the dark my spread looks something like this.

rigger- Blue founder pounder

rigger- Double Trouble

Braid dipsey-Black silver glow fly w/ black glow spin doctor with black tape on one side

Braid Dipsey- Bush Light big weenie fly with glow beads and 10 inch blue silver spin doctor

Full core- Dreamweaver blue glow bloody nose mag

Full core - This rod is the last rod out and it gets the moody blue half moon by moonshine or the Dream weaver green glow with pink dots.

Does everyone else do the same thing and go with the ol' faithfull set up or do you leave 4 rods the same and run something differnt on the other 2.

If I am fishing with a 3rd person I will use those 3 rods to experiment. ex. Running a J plug or some differnt spoon I normaly would not run right away.

[KJ pluggin]

My starting spread adapts a bit as the year goes on according to what has been working good. I usually have a few rods in the spread which I use to experiment with but my main goto lures don't get changed out unless something starts outproducing them on a regular basis.

[1mainiac]

My pre sunup setup changes all the time but usually has at least a couple Moonshine spoons and a Ace Hi plug usually Yellow Tail. I am more likely to run meat or spoons behind divers rather than flies. Again it changes with the fishing pattern, what I fish out front will be different than what I fish out deep or mid depth. I have some friends that tend to do the same thing pretty much every trip and they are either hot or cold.

[Killin' It]

Jim the question looms.... How do you know what is hot or cold...

If you only fish once a week or maybe twice....

Just throwing that out as a topic of conversation and not a personal dig.

Reading reports only tells half the story, you know this.

Aside from trusting your fishing buddies and the interwebs, It is a hard battle to pick fromt he piles and piles of gear.

[1mainiac]

For me I start with reports phone a few friends and consider what water I am fishing. If I am fishing out front I tend to stick with loud and trashy lures due to water clarity and other variables. By out front I mean any where in the river plume. As you move to deeper water it becomes clearer and you have to consider how much light penetration you have ie is it a bright clear sky or cloudy yep even at night it matters maybe more than during the day. Sending down extremely bright lures on a dark cloudy morning does not work well for me dark lures with just a bit of glow do work. On nice clear mornings the brighter stuff works and as light approach's I start thinking of UV stuff as it will be the first light in the water. I have also found UV to work better than glow on bright moonlit nights. Most of my current flies are a mix of UV and glow one of my hottest setups last season was a Pro Troll UV flasher with E Chip and a UV glow fly it worked pretty much every trip under nearly every condition. Sometimes the biggest thing is having confidence in a setup many times I have waited out a lure change because I felt there was nothing wrong with the spread it was just a matter of putting it in front of fish.

[WoLFMaN]

Dave, why don't you run any ace-hi plugs man? Those are deadly!

To answer your original question, my spread is always evolving. Yeah sure, I've got my favorites. Everyone does. Light levels, weather, depth of fish, and some other factors will dictate what I run.

I will always throw out an "unproven" bait just to experiment too. You never know what the next hot bait will be if you always run the same stuff.

For me, fishing is all about experimentation.

[fishsniffer]

my lineup gets changed every 15 minutes if the fish arent biting..its one of those deals where you have to absorb everything you read and hear and just go out and try it..internet fishing will get you to a point but nothing beats going out there throwing something out in different conditions and seeing what happens..as you stated though its hard when you only make 1 trip a week..sometimes its not really as much the color you throw down but the speed and water column your running it in

[Salmon Assassin]

If I am fishing just 6 lines, here is my starting line up...

Rigger port: Sliver Lighted j Plug

Rigger star: Moonshine blue flounder

port dipsy: homemade green glow fly on mtn dew flasher

star dipsy: moonshine wonderbread

copper board: 225 LOC moonshine happy meal

lead board: brads wonderbread cut plug

This is ever changing though after about 30 minutes. Pro King blue dolphin, moonshine bloody nose and dancing anchovy is thrown in as well as red/white flys, pink alewife spoon gets some loving.... but those listed above are my normal summer spreads to start.

[mattmishler]

it changes all the time from fishing browns in 5 fow with rapalas to fishing kings 150+ down with 11 inch flashers. I mean the spread changes on the hour. there are some spoons that work season after season like Green dolphin. Great spoon for 1-3 fish

[Pioneer]

I used to be a lure switchin' machine until I started listening to charter guys and keeping my core lures/colors intact. Keep 70% old faithful and 30% slight variations working toward a different color grouping. My core has been the same for the past 4 years,don't see it changing anytime soon.

[SUPERTRAMP]

Pre Dawn I love to run Moonshine Flounder Pounder and SS Carmel dolphin Glow off the riggers, an Ace Hi Glow or Silver Hoarde Glow usually white with Black ladder back off the fullcore, any other glow spoons round out my 10 rod Spread but I always have a Bechold pearl glow 10" flasher with a nasty lookin home made fly that is similar to a Horsefly fireworks fly with a 42" leader of 40# fluoro carbon. That rig is hot all year long on the bottom. Kings and Lakers both love it. My spread is 4 riggers and 6 boards on flat lines in the spring and goes over to lead core and copper after the water gets above 52degrees.

[wild at heart]

I start with a basic package of favorites and hot/lately's, and hot tips. If nothings is getting hit I will work more on speed and direction before I start wholesale changes. If something gets hit twice its a PATTERN and I'll start duplicating it by pulling non producers. Some off my best "number" days I've ended with 5 to 7 setups the same. Multiple setup days have included Blue Dolphin, Green Dolphin, Double Orange Crush, Double Trouble, Mt Dew SD, Green Jerry's/ Pickled sunshine, white paddles/ Oceana, and white SD/purple mirage. I have taken fish on 6 different rods all running the same spoon or flasher/fly on the same trip.