Bill Pino

Bill Pino is the owner of Squidnation and one of the pioneers of modern dredge fishing for billfish. His dredges, teasers, and squid chains, including the famous Flippy Floppy Thing, are used by top tournament teams around the world, and he is an excellent tournament sailfish angler in his own right. In his In The Spread video, Pino breaks down sailfish dredges and teasers for tournament fishing, from dredge configuration and teaser deployment to the baiting strategies that convert teased fish into hookups.

• Dredge Fishing Videos
• Sailfish Fishing Videos
• Saltwater

Instructor's videos

If you have watched a tournament billfish team pull a dredge and wondered who is behind the gear, the answer is very often Bill Pino. As the owner of Squidnation, Pino is one of the people who put dredge fishing on the map, and he remains at the tip of the spear when it comes to designing the dredges, teasers, and squid chains that top teams rely on around the world.

Pino did not just adopt dredge fishing, he helped invent the modern version of it. When a captain suggested artificial squid might look good on a dredge, Pino built one, it worked, and the idea spread through the fleet until everyone wanted one. He went on to create some of the most effective teasers in the sport, including the Squidnation Flippy Floppy Thing, a pattern born from watching Costa Rica sailfish crash clouds of tiny red lanternfish. That is how Pino works. He sees what the fish are eating, then builds something that fools them.

He understands this fishing from every angle because he lives it. Pino is an excellent tournament angler who fishes with top teams in the Pacific, and he designs his products for real conditions, from compact dredges built for center consoles to full setups for the biggest tournament boats. He knows how dredge weight, arm count, and running position change what the fish see, why a dredge run a little farther back in clean water can outdraw one buried behind the props, and how to convert a lit-up sailfish into a hookup before it loses interest.

Dredge fishing has become the gold standard for teams winning billfish tournaments, and there is no better person to learn it from than the man who builds the gear.

In his In The Spread video, Pino breaks down sailfish dredges and teasers for tournament fishing: dredge configuration to simulate a bait school, teaser deployment, and the baiting strategies that turn a teased fish into a bite. If you want to fish dredges the way the winning teams do, start with Bill Pino.