OFFSHORE ADVENTURER FISHING

Transcription

1 OFFSHORE ADVENTURER FISHING INSHORE TROLLING FOR BLUEFISH & STRIPED BASS Our inshore fishing is multi-faceted, and an integral part of that is trolling for Bluefish and Striped Bass, whether as the primary plan for the day s fishing or just an opportunity that presented itself as too good to pass up. The methods we use can be applied to the coastal ocean areas where those fish are native from just off the beach to 3 nm out; they can also be easily adapted for use further offshore (5-30 nm out) to catch the Bluefish and small Tunas (Bonito, Skipjack, False Albacore and Little Tuny) that inhabit those areas. Our boat is a 32 twin diesel inboard, but our equipment inventory and patterns can be used from just about any type of platform (inboard, outboard or pod, with single, twin or triple engines). Boat: Your vessel needs to be configured to troll effectively inshore. What does that mean? Inshore trolling requires putting your lures at multiple depths throughout the water column, so it means: having a set of outriggers and/or out-rodders (we often fish both to widen the spread); enough rod holders in the gunnels (we don t like lines on a rocket launcher as they always seem to get in the way or tangled) to hold all the rods in your trolling pattern (minimum of 3, and as many as 9 (while we know the guys in Delaware Bay fish up to 9 rods per side off of big planer boards, as we haven t seen them do so in anything over 1 seas in shallow water, which would be pretty rare in the ocean, so we are not convinced it would even be worth the effort and expense to give it a try up here)), and if you are using out-rodders the two rod holders those go into need to be the heavy duty models with a welded pin; enough non-gunnel rod holders to hold half your trolled rods plus one (if trolling 7 rods, you need 4) those need to be easy to get to without climbing (hard top legs, rocket launcher, large cooler, etc. - while those above that level are fine for the additional rods you will necessarily bring with you) so that rods on the working side of the boat may be cleared quickly by one person - both for empty lines after stopping and as fish are brought to net or gaff; convenient storage (either under gunnel or upright) for gaffs and a pair of large nets; and storage for lures and tackle that keeps everything dry, organized and accessible. Having some basic electronics, especially a chartplotter and fish-finder (an auto-pilot is a huge plus for keeping those lines running straight) in addition to a vhf is all that is really needed. Equipment: This is what we carry aboard for that part of the trip that specifically targets Striped Bass and Bluefish. If it is a combo trip, with either Fluke, Sea Bass or Porgy as an additional target, we also carry a full complement of gear and tackle for those species those items are covered on our species specific checklists and other how we do things articles (on our website). Rods & reels: obviously, what and how much gear you carry on your boat will be dictated by how many rods you plan to troll and what you plan to pull. For trolling, our everyday inshore trip rod & reel arsenal consists of eight (yes there is one extra just in case) trolling rods & reels: (4) Shimano TLD-25 s (80 lb braid plus 200 yards of 40 lb mono top-shot) on 6 6 Penn Senator 4/0 (20-50 lb rating) all roller guide & top rods with slickbutts (used for umbrellas and single lures), (2) Shimano TLD-25 s (80 lb braid plus 200 yards of 40 lb mono top-shot) on 6 10 custom slow taper (about a 3/ lb model) roller stripper & top rods (used for Squid and Drone spoons); (2) Penn 113 Special Senator s (300 of 40 lb monel wire over 300 yards of 50 lb Dacron backing - which are used only for bunker spoons) on custom 7 6 Bunker Spooning rods. In addition to the trolling outfits, we also bring jigging outfits, which consists of (3) Penn 750 SSM reels (spooled with 20 lb mono) on 7 Ugly Stick lb spinning rods (2 for jigging and one for snagging bunker), and bait fishing rods (4) Avet MXL s (50 lb braid with a 100 yard 25 lb mono top shot) on Penn Torque lb 1

2 jigging rods. Last in our rod & reel inventory is a shark rod (the last few seasons, big Thresher sharks have been a common site feeding on the same bunker pods in only of water) ours is a Penn International 12VSX (500 yards of 80 lb braid under a 50 yard top shot of 50 lb mono) on a custom made 6 Calstar (unibutt with all Aftco HD roller guides & top) lb blank. Yes, our 16 outfits is a lot of rods and reels to load; however, since we have the storage space (17 rod holders on the hard top plus another dozen in the gunnels), it is nice to have all these dedicated rods & reels aboard for the trip for anything we might encounter. Further offshore: when we head out to the 5 to 30 nm areas targeting Bluefish and small tunas, we leave the Bunker spooning outfits at home because they don t work at the higher speeds ( kts) used for this fishery, and instead add 4 more typical trolling outfits these come from our offshore arsenal and consists of 4 Penn International 16 VS s spooled with 600 yards of 65 lb braid under 200 yards of 40 lb mono on 6 2 custom made Calstar (unibutt with all Aftco HD roller guides & top) lb blank. These four rods are used on the four outrigger positions as part of an up to 9 rod spread: LLR-LSR-LOR-LC-C-RC-ROR-RSR-RLR, used while prospecting for the school of fish. While working the school, we drop down to no more than 5 rods. For the most part, all of the lures are pulled within 20 of the surface. The four outrigger positions are always some type of tuna clone, tuna feather, small jet, cedar plug or small squid chain. The lures at the other five positions are the same as for inshore. Mono vs. braid vs. wire: a few words about choosing your line we have spent a few years experimenting with braid, and have gone back to mono as the primary fishing line (most every reel has braid backing to allow us to use the new smaller high performance reels) for everything but certain types of bottom fishing, where thin diameter, no stretch and that ultra-feedback it gives are huge pluses. Mono, because it is more forgiving, less likely to break due to nicks boat side or by schooling fishes fins, and has that stretch which seems to cut down the number of pulled hooks substantially, and as a result, it just works better in most situations. We have found that, with the exception of Bunker Spooning, which cannot be done effectively with in-line weights, that using mono or braid with a little heavier in-line weight catches just as many fish as monel or stainless steel wire and is much easier to use, with far less breakage or line maintenance. Other equipment: you will also need supporting gear that includes: (a) out-rodders (we have used a Reliable brand pair for 20+ years, but most any will work), and don t forget the safety lines for both the rod and the out-rodder itself; (b) trolling sinkers from 4 ounce to 24 ounce (we carry 4, 6, 8, 10 & 12 ounce in-line cigar drails plus 16, 20 & 24 ounce Wahoo type) in-line sinkers; (c) flatline clips (we carry 5 Aftco s); (d) pre-rigged mono leaders for use between the lures and trolling weights (ours are lb Quattro (for umbrellas) and lb Quattro (for squid/drone spoons and single lures) all set up with a 100 lb ball-bearing snap swivel on the lure end and a 150 lb ball-bearing swivel on the other); (e) gaffs (we carry two Aftco 3 hook x 6 long we don t carry a gaff for the Thresher shark because we have every intention of releasing it (most every inshore Thresher we have encountered is a female large enough for breeding, and most of those that have been landed by others have contained pups); (f) two large nets (30 ) and a full assortment of lures (covered below); (g) three Berkeley line counters; (h) small fighting belts; (i) de-hooker; and (j) fishing pliers. Although optional, we like each of our trolling rods to have a safety line (13 long ¼ diameter color-coded braid with a ¼ ss carabiner snap hook) on it (lose one outfit overboard and you will know why). Lures: fall into three categories (a) umbrellas, (b) spoons and (c) plugs, which include divers, swimmers and other single lures. For umbrellas, which consistently produce more fish than any other type we carry only 20 4-arm models in tube type (Fin Strike in white, yellow, fluorescent red, fluorescent green and dark red, all with a 6 oz matching color tubed diamond jig as the center trailer) and 18 4-arm shad models (Fin Strike in white, chartreuse and bunker colors) - we carry two of each color. If you don t want to be constantly frustrated with tangles, get yourself some Nantucket Bound 18 x18 umbrella lure bags and one of their 18 x18 x4 holder bags (will hold 10 individual umbrella bags). Spoons basically come in two types: the large bunker type (in large (11 ) medium 2

3 (9 ) and small (6.5 )) and smaller squid type (3 to 5 ) you will need both. Our bunker spoon inventory consists of Reliable large (11 ) spoons in white and white/chartreuse (3 of each), and Tony Maja smaller (7 ) spoons in white and chartreuse (3 of each). For squid type spoons, we carry Drone Spoons in sizes 3, 3.5 and 4 in white, yellow and chrome (2 each size and color) plus Clark Squid in sizes 4 and 5 (4 of each). Our single lure collection is not as big as most would think, because the single lure is almost always run on only one position- down the center. Our single lures consist of divers: Mann Stretch 20, 25 and 30 s and Rapala X-raps in 15, 20 & 25 s (generally both brands are in bunker, chartreuse, silver/blue, silver/black and white); tube eels: Fin Strike 18 in white, yellow, fluorescent red, fluorescent green and dark red; and swimmers: Super Strike Darters (white, white/blue and yellow) and Braid Braidrunners in blue/white, green/white and silver/purple. In addition to those trolling lures, we carry equipment for jigging (mostly diamond jigs, Deadly Dicks, Crippled Hearings and Butterfly jigs) and bait fishing (see our checklist), and if heading further offshore trolling lures for the small tunas (tuna clones, tuna feathers, hex heads, small jets & cedar plugs). Patterns: There are many ideas on what pattern is best. The best pattern is the one that consistently puts the most fish in your boat. Every boat is different (not just the stark differences between outboards and inboards), and each pull lures somewhat uniquely everything from hull shape to propeller tuning affects the wake pattern and profile, so trial and error will be needed to fine tune any spread. We are strong believers in keeping the right and left patterns as similar as possible (we find you can mix tube and shad umbrellas or different types and sizes of spoons), except for color (we will run one set of colors off the right and a different set of colors off the left). We find keeping the lines close to the water is best (because it cuts down the length of line you need to put out, so unless offshore fishing for Bluefish and small Tunas, at most we run just one line off each of the outriggers at an inside position, which is a lure high in the water column targeting Bluefish. The spring-summer fishery is one about balance as baits will be smaller bunker, squid and small fish; while in the fall it is all about the bigger Bunker. Our trolling patterns reflect those different bait realities. Our starting 7 rod pattern, which is used from spring through early fall (before the big Bunker are schooling along the beaches to leave for the winter in late October or November) is almost always the same (working from left rigger across the transom to right rigger): Left Rigger: squid or small drone spoon Left Out-rodder: small bunker or drone spoon Left Corner: umbrella (tube or shad) Center: single lure Right Corner: umbrella (tube or shad) Right Out-rodder: small bunker or drone spoon Right Rigger: squid or small drone spoon. The three inside lures are fished off Aftco flatline clips. If fishing is slow (no hits in 30 minutes), we start our swap outs usually two lures at a time, working from the center of the pattern and going out. Our late Fall 5 rod Bunker spoon pattern looks like this: Left Out-rodder: large bunker spoon Left Corner: Umbrella (shad) Center: single lure Right Corner: Umbrella (shad) Right Out-rodder: large bunker spoon. We believe lure color has everything to do with light levels, so we go with the proven whites and yellows in the mid-day and darker colors (reds, greens, etc.) early and late in the day. Trolling: The first thing to do is pick where you are going to fish. Generally having a plan for the trip begins with reaching out to your network of fishing buddies to see where the fish were yesterday (I belong to a local fishing club and our members are very free with providing details on their most recent catches as well as real time discussions while on the water (by cell phone)), as they likely haven t moved much, and then once you get to your inlet, keep your eyes open for those tell-tale signs of life (birds, bunker pods and fish breaking water). We have the jigging and bait rods ready to go, because if the fish are jumping, we will stop and jig them or snag some bunker and live-line them. Once you are at your starting spot, it is time to set out you gear. For us, the first thing is to set the course into the GPS and then put the boat on autopilot (autopilot is a huge plus as it does a much 3

4 better job holding the desired course than even the best helmsman) running at kts (which is on the faster side of trolling for Striped Bass), because it allows us to cover more ground than the more typical kts for all but the Fall fishery, where we slow it down to kts. The first rods to go out are the umbrella rigs, and once they are running right (which takes some practice to keep them from tangling as they are dropped in), then we put out the spoons (squid first then bunker), and last to go out is the single lure. If the fish are thick, you probably won t get the full spread out before you get bit. How far out you set you lures and how much in-line weight you use is directly related to how deep the water and what speed you are running for the location where you are trolling; and what the quarry target is Bluefish will generally be in the top half of the water column, while Striped Bass will be in the lower third. We target both Striped Bass and Bluefish (information in brackets is for water deep) so we cover the entire water column, running squid and drone spoons up high (usually 7-15 down), our bunker spoons a little deeper (15-25 ), umbrellas even deeper (20-35 ) and lastly deep divers (5-10 off the bottom). To make those adjustments, you need to figure out how much weight and line out will get you to the desired depth (which will depend upon line type and size used, speed of the boat and lure itself a little trigonometry will help here. We carry a plastic protractor and line counter for the fine tuning, the protractor gives us the sink rate and the line counter tells us how far out the line is. Once you have the lines out and running where you want them, there is nothing to do besides troll until the first fish hits (you and your crew should also be constantly looking around for signs of fish and keeping an eye on the fish-finder looking for bait and fish). At that first bite, mark the gps often we know that bite is coming because we had just run over a school of fish showing on the fishfinder. If that first fish is a quality fish, we will reset our trolling pattern and run over that ground again, if it is not, we usually will reset the pattern and keep trolling on the original course. A few words about courtesy if you encounter others trolling, which is very common, plan on fishing with them, and by that we mean running either in the same or opposite direction along the depth contours along the beach; following, even right in their line is fine so long as you stay far enough back, which is a minimum of 1/4 mile (1/4+ mile and offset is better); never, ever cut across close behind (or in front if you have gear out); and if fishing next to them (less than 1/4 mile back), allow a minimum of 1/8 mile between boats. Fighting & landing: Assuming we have the crew aboard to do so (a crew of 3 or more), we prefer to fight our fish from a moving boat on the chosen course at a slow ahead pace ( kts), which requires someone at the helm to keep the boat moving forward by bumping it in and out of gear; we do this to keep the fish from tangling or getting fouled in the running gear. Because all of our trolling rods have either Aftco unibutts or slickbutts with gimbels on them, we carry and use small Braid Dolphin belts (we carry 4) to keep the rod from tearing up our legs or gut. By keeping the boat going forward, we only clear the rods that get in the way, which is usually only the umbrella on the side with the fish on and the center single (assuming neither one of those has the fish on it). It is not uncommon to hook up with more than one fish at a time, and when you do so, the best practice is to land them one (with the boat moving slowly ahead) at a time starting with the any fish on the umbrellas and then moving to whatever is the closest fish to the boat. Once the fish is close, the first and most important thing is to identify what it is: Striped Bass, Bluefish, small Tuna, or maybe something else; and then what size it is. For Bluefish, Bonito or Little Tuny, if we are planning to keep them, the gaff is dispatched to make quick work of bringing it aboard. If it is a Striped Bass, we will always carefully net the fish. Once aboard, for fish going back to fight another day, the hook is quickly removed (either by hand or with an ARC de-hooker) and then carefully lowered back into the sea. In our experience, fish caught on the troll with the 10 lbs of drag we use are landed quickly enough that they almost never need to be revived. 4

5 Final thoughts: Don t be afraid to experiment that is how most of today s accepted trolling strategies came about. While many/most experiments may not work, invariably one may become a major success. Try to develop a network of fishing intelligence that means sharing both ways. Inshore trolling along the beach is not shrouded in mystery; so, unlike sharing a secret wreck (which you should only do with your closest friends in a blood bond), everyone knows the geography of the shoreline areas, and the fish constantly move around, so what you are really sharing is where the fish were today. Be safe, have fun and catch em up. Cautionary warning: Under Federal Law, Striped Bass may only be possessed in state territorial waters, so make sure 100% of your trip is within the 3 nm territorial limits of your home state s waters. If you are caught with Striped Bass in federal waters (even just passing through on your way home), the Fed s will prosecute you, and it will cost you $1,000 per fish for a first offense. For a chronic abuser, forfeiture of your boat and jail time is a real possibility. Keep in mind, both the Feds (USCG, Navy and NOAA) as well as your state s law enforcement (Police, DEC, etc.) can enforce those laws even though the prosecution is through the U.S. Attorney s Office. Drawings: These two drawings show the 7 rod pattern we use when we have a full crew most of the year; and a typical 5 rod pattern for our late fall large Bunker spoon set. 7 Rod Pattern: 5 Rod Pattern: 5