Another Cheater question

[bob03567]

When you guys are running cheaters fixed or sliding. Typicaly what is the main rig at the ball. Meaning are you running spins dogers, flashers or spoons.

The reason im asking is. I have a mental picture of one big mess if you use a spin or flasher with a spoon on your cheater. Not becuase of the spinning or being to close to the cheater but becuase if a king grabs the cheater spoon. that flasher or spin is still doing it thing out there, and now the 2 lines are running next to one another.

So if your using say a 12' leader off of the cheater and it slides down to the main line. The flasher is now behind it still twisting away.

So am i thinking this wrong, or am i missing somthing.

[jekyll]

I run cheaters, fixed and sliding with all the above. Tangles aren't bad unless you popp the release to retrive a line. Use your rigger to retrieve the line and you won't get tangles. It needs to come up anyway. Once you have a fish on, the flasher normally stops spinning and the sliding cheater will just stream beside the fish. Catch one on the cheater and it slide to the swivel on the flasher and that will also stop it from turning. You only really risk tangles when the cheater falls to the flasher without a fish on the line, hense, using your rigger to raise the line for tending.

In the end, the cheater is just a short mono or flouro leader of 5-8 feet. I'm more than happy to cut it away to clean up after boating a nice fish. Leader is cheap.

[skipper19]

Personally, I would not run a flasher/spin doc or dodger in any part of a cheater set. The spinning attractors will spin up your main lines and leader into a major snafu. Most cases if the fish hits a cheated leader, it will slide down closer to the ball release before actually coming off the ball. Once your main line gets twisted it will be somewhat compromised for strength. The Other case where a screamer takes off with 200 to 300 feet of line from the ball lure before the cheater has a chance to slide down,, it will definitely get your main line somewhere 180 to 280 feet up due to the line going out lateral from the boat at a high rate of bbbbzzzzzzzzz off the drag with the screamer. That will lead to a definite loss of fish and tackle. Simple spoons are your best bet, but match them according to action and speed. I like a set that has a large flashy, bright, attractor spoon 8 foot flouro leader, FIXED 10 to 12 feet above a smaller spoon running 20 to 30 feet behind the ball as the target. It is a killer on fish that are a little interested but don't hit the first attractor spoon but fall back and down and along comes the smaller darker offering over the shoulder and Whamo, that's the easy prey. AKA the "mup" rig.

The flouro leader is 15 to 18 dollars for 25 yards (Seaguar). Not something I want to cut up. Unless you have 10 foot rods I would have the cheater leader no more than 8 or 9 feet long. You will have trouble landing a fish if you are alone.

Mark

[Tim Bromund]

I only run sliders on spoon rods, anything else is asking for a horrendous birds nest IMO.

Tim

[Gill-T]

You can run a free slider-spoon over a spinnie, when you pop the release DON'T REEL until the spinnie is at the top where you can skip it back in.

[Shade]

I only run cheaters with spoons as well. I run 10 - 12' cheater lines and I look at it this way. The spinny is either 8" or 10" and the leader from spinny to the fly is 22'-24' and the spinny rolls so when that cheater slides down the line your only asking for a mess. Now you can rig a stop so the cheater does not go down as far but then it's just another way to hook to sea weed. To each his own and run whatever works for you. I run mag spoons on the main line and regular spoons on the cheater, or regular spoons on the main line and SS on the cheater. I also like to run the same spoon or look alike spoons when I run cheaters. The last few times out we got more fish on our cheaters lines. Keep your hooks sharp. I sharpen the cheater lures each time I put them on keeps the landing percentage higher.

Shade

[jason]

i run 5 ft slider cheaters with with everything....when its time to change i just hit the up button on the rigger brings up my set up without any birds nest....i have very little tangles with a fish on because there not much spinny with the attractors....

[john1947]

i use a small dodger with a fly below close the ball. . I add a cheater about ten foot just above the dodger. Silver hoards with a rattle has been a killer for kings suspended over deeper water. I have caught kings on every pass using this method.

also running diamond kings about thirty feet back with a silver hoard about ten fet above has also taken many kings.

Good fishing to all.