Boatless

I used to have a boat and went bottom fishing all the time with pretty good luck. I am willing to go with you and take you to a few of my spots (still have my spots in my handheld gps). Not only can we get you on some fishable places, I can show you how I did it. There might be better ways to catch'em but I know I can catch em if they are there and biting. I can even give you some ideas on how to get them in an eating mood.

I got rid of my boat because I wasn't using it that much. And that is my problem now. My day job prevents me from being able to go when I choose. But anytime you are thinking about going, drop me a line. The worst thing that can happen is that I will not be able to go. I'll help with my share of the expenses. I just want to be able to fish when I can.

BTW - this time of year is pretty darn good for grouper and black fin tuna. Just gotta pick your days weather wise.

gmoney

well first off, congrats on getting a bigger boat. i have had mine for a little over a year but its been broke down for about a year now:banghead it will be fixed in december though

as far as trolling goes..if you had posted a bit earlier i would have told you that trolling is imo hands down easier than bottom fishing, unless you are trying for billfish. easiest thing to troll for around here are king mackeral. Goto your baitshop, buy yourself 6-8 dusters and 32# steel leader. start off by cutting a 6-8in piece of wire from the roll. using a haywire twist-if you dont know how to do this ask the clerk at the baitshop- attach a #4 tripple strenght trebble hook to one end. to the other end attach a second trebble hook. know cut an 18in piece of wire from the roll. again using the haywire twist, attach one end of the wire to one of the hooks..through the eye-never through the other wire. now take your duster and slide the end of the wire not connected to the hooks through the hole in the center of the duster. allow it to slide down to the hooks. taking the loose end of the wire, make another haywire twist. you know have a king rig use a snapswival to your main line and you can change out rigs quickly. to fish the rig, take your frozen cigar minnow and break his back just behind the dorsal fin. then spin the tail around several times being sure not to break the skin. hook the front trebble hook through the eye and out the skull, and set the other one loosely in the rear of the cigar minnow. or you can just let the rear hook dangle. with the duster on the cig will stay just below the surface and his tail will flap around making it look semi alive. when trolling you want to keep your speed at about 2-3 mph or 1-2kts. set the rods in the holder set the drag loose and just make figure eights or s curves over areas u suspect are holding fish..good place to start is any of the near shore public numbers. after you have caught a few you can alter the rig for larger baits and troll down the beach with bigger baits for the larger kings in the summer unfortunently king season is almost over and most of the larger fish are now offshore, but u can still get some 'snakes' in the 8-10lb range over your public numbers.

one other thing i would point out is that you dont have to have a castnet to get live bait most of the year..a sabiki rig is almost a must have on any boat unless you want to use the baitman all the time.

well this post is getting to be waaaaaaay too long so pm me if u want and ill give you my phone number, then you can call me and ill give you any help i can.

good luck,

Glen

Reel Fun

Well I'm finally flying home form Canada "work" today. Got all exited about FISHING with all the advice from you guys and hopefully get a few of the people on here to tag along with me and show me a thing or two, but I looked at the weather report and "crap" 4-6's thru wed. :reallycrying Oh well hopefully it'lllay down in a few days.

Xanadu

The difference between a bonita and a blackfin is that bonita are usually available closer in and smaller so they make better wahoo bait. Blackfin tend to be bigger and found in deeper areas so they are better for marlin bait. However, small ones of either species can work well for yellowfin tuna, wahoo and marlin.



Anyway, the key to successful fishing begins with nutrition. Always start the day with sausage biscuits with cheese and mustard. Popeye's spicy chicken and skittles are other prerequisites. The rest is all semantics.

a

id reccomend you go to the pier to watch the fish and how they react to your presentation, then watch the other fishermen to see how they catch them.

Get'n Wade

Sometimes anchoring on wreck is better than drifting on a wreck, but if you dont know how to drift a wreck, you are going to have a real hard time anchoringon it. Plus your going to risk losing an anchor or be so far off of it you might as well stayed home. Put a piece of tape or flag on your Bowrail (flags are not just for looks), as you approach the wreck gauge and estimate current and wind by watching the flag/current ,(do this a couple of times and watch how your boat reacts/Tracks on your plotter. Adjust. Once you determine an appoximate drift, run a little further past the wreck turn the boat towards the anticipated drift and engage the motor in and out of reverse to control the drift rate while working towards the wreck/waypoint.(Going a little further also allows you time to get your baits down as you approach the wreck,(try several different weights 2-6 oz. on these drifts because they cover different depthsaccording to the boats drift speed and current), in a light wind and current sometimes you can stay right on top of the waypoint just idling in reverse. It takes practice,(opening the canvas on your boat helps slow you down),but being on orskirting a waypoint can mean all the difference. It is tough to fish and captain doing this but I set up a spinning outfit w/ a 3oz. carolina rig 36" leader & a 3 or 4/0 mutu hookw/ a whole live or dead bait(as long as it is fresh)and as soon as the boat gets right, I run back open the bail leave it open till it slacks up,rip out an additional 20-30 yards then close the bail ,stick it in the rod holder.I use this as a drift gauge. Reverse till its slack, then neutral,line gets tight ,Reverse. Criss Cross The wreck this way,(watch your graph waypointfeatures as they scroll across your screen)most of the big snapper seem on be on the skirts or just after. I've caught alot of fish this way. Dont over gear for snapper. They are light biters most of the time, but like the guy said prior butterfly or use a big bait with more weight with this method also ,just make sure the rodis in the hands of the rightperson. Dont be scared to use 4-7oz.Jigs on these passes(Work them fast dont reel).Fish seem tolike a bait coming from one direction one day and from another direction the next. Overcast day is better under 100-120 feet. Heavier weight is necessary over that depthunless its calm just use as light of asinker as needed, some of the biggest snapper are caught on freelined cigar minnows(usually while anchored). Learn tides ,moon,water temps and Electronics are your best Friend when bottom fishing.. I've fished wrecks 4 miles out of the pass, on some days you would swear there is not a fish down there, then on an over cast day thats2-4 ft.seas, 4 people will limit out in 2 hours. If you anchor use mutiple weights and leader lenths and always freeline a bait on wire and one on mono out back, with bottom linescast/pitch up towards the bow or out to the sides and dump the line to it and let it drift back.(Chum!..From bow). Introduce bait into slick,try to duplicate the fall rate or right below(use split shots or 1/2 ,1 ,2 ,3 oz.sinkers).Good luck!! Take this advice and add it to all above. Trial and erroris what it takes. But there aint noting like it!! I tried to make this as brief and informative as possible. I have fished all my life offshore on someone elses boat ,but I was in the same situation as you a few years ago rigging and learningyour own boat.Watch the weather.

Reel Fun

Sorry guys for not getting up with anyone when I was at home. I didn't get any time to fish, maybe next time home from work I can get up with some of you guys and plan a trip!!