I've gotten away from the metal spreaders and gone to the ones made from cord, I make my own from 52" long line gangion or tuna cord, I saw some at Outdoor Emporium last week when I was there and you can buy one just to see how they are made, takes maybe a minute to do one. The cords work better and are a lot cheaper. Large herring, squid, octopus work well for bait, pipe jigs work well as does a large curly tail on a lead head, halibut generally aren't fussy feeders if you get something close to them they are going to eat it but they can get pretty closed mouthed if the current is moving plus it can be just about impossible to hold bottom so you have to pick your tides especially when fishing the straits. PM or email me if you like and we can carry on a longer discussion that way.