On our Saba 50 catamaran, we usually fish a spread of 5 handlines (75'-100') with a 6th lure on a boat rod 200'-300' back.

Lures we're using include:
- Zuker Tuna feather (ZF blue/white & ZG yellow/green)
- Catchy spinner jet (mackeral/blue/silver, 4.5 oz)
- Iland Lures Sea Star (SS700F Blue/Pink)
- Tormentor Mullet Head (Rainbow barracuda)
- Yo-Zuri Bonito on steel leader (purple/black, 8-1/3", 10-7/8 oz)
- Mold Craft Junior Wide Range (blue/white/pink, 4")
- 3' Spreader Bar with 9 tuna feathers (mexican flag & yellow/green)

I've not tried rigged ballyhoo yet.

I've seen our catches go up since we started using the spreader bar. I think it simply provides more visuals for the fish.

In the near-shore waters you'll most likely catch barracuda, bonito, and occasional cero mackeral. In 20+ years of dragging lines through the BVI near-shore waters, I once had a double hookup of mahi-mahi on the way to Anegada. That's been the highlight.

Once you get to the south or north drop, your odds to catch something edible goes up dramatically (but no guarantees).

Two weeks ago we sailed from St Thomas to BVI, to Anguilla, back to BVI, to St John, to Culebra, back to St John, to St Thomas. 425 nm in all. Caught & released 6 barracuda and 6 bonita in the near shore waters. Caught & released 1 yellowfin tuna (only 1 pound) offshore from Anguilla. The highlight was a 4 foot long (~50 lb) sailfish that we caught in 6000' deep water offshore from Anguilla on the boat rod (with Zuker tuna feather - blue/white). Fish did several tail walks near the boat. We were able to cleanly release it. The most productive lure was the Zuker blue/white tuna feather - 95% of the catch.

Remember to bring your lines in before you get in the mooring field (and put engines in reverse). A long-time ago personal lesson-learned <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />