BIG SEAS GO AWAY

We have for the past week had big winds, lots of rain and a great big ocean. When I write of a great big ocean I am referring to the size of the waves not the size of the ocean.

By the time this goes to print, the ocean should have laid down and when this happens you can expect the bottom fish to be chewing on the bottom of the boat. I know that the first couple of nice days, I will be out there trying to get my share of snapper and grouper.

Here is what I am going to do to "load the box".

I am going to start by plugging in some close in numbers in my new Humminbird 900 series plotter, gps, fish finder. I have a list of small rock piles and hard bottom, all within 10 miles of shore. These will be the places that I target first as I would have to go past them if I were heading out farther. I will be sure I have a couple of marker jugs ( an orange laundry detergent bottle filled with foam and a section of heavy string tied to them with a 3 pound weight on the end of the string). I like to have several of these, all with different lengths of string. One with 60 to 80 feet, another with 80 to 100 feet and another with 100 to 120 feet. The reason for the different lengths of string is to accommodate different depths of water. Or you could go out and purchase an American Marker Buoy. This one buoy will take the place of having to have multiple buoys.

If you need a marker buoy that sets itself at the proper depth, will not drift off the spot, gives current direction, has 200' of line stored internally and is made of a chemical resistant unbreakable foam.

I have been using this buoy for the past couple of years and this beats all of the laundry detergent bottles I have ever used. When you toss it on your hot spot, line feeds out until the lead weight hits bottom. This marker buoy has a fin on the bottom that lets you know which way the current is going, which we all know is important if we are going to anchor. If you do not have one of these you can get one from American Bandit Buoys http://www.americanbandit.com/. They are only about $40 and so far I have not been able to destroy mine.

Okay, we now have our numbers in our gps, we have a marker buoy and now we need to have our tackle ready for the action. Anyone that has ever fished with me knows I like to take a LOT of rods and reels, but we will only go over a few types for this journey. Anytime I go to the ocean, I take a couple of large spinner outfits like the Shakespeare Tidewater reel that will hold about 300 yards of 40 test pound Power Pro and a rod about 6 1/2 to 7 feet in length like the Ugly Stik. I will rig this with a mono leader with a small piece of wire ( about 6 inches) attached to the mono with a Daiichi 5/0 D-18 hook. I will have another of the same with a 50 pound test mono leader and the same hook. The one with the wire leader is for toothy critters like king fish and the one with just a mono leader is for cobia or mahi. These two outfits are rigged and ready in a rod holder that is easily accessible in case something swims close enough to the boat to cast a bait in their direction. For the bottom fishing rigs, I like a medium to light outfit like the Pflueger Trion 66 one a medium heavy 7 foot Ugly Stik. This outfit is heavy enough to get small snapper and big seabass to the boat and with this light stuff, it is hoot. When you do get a large fish on, you will have a blast. For the heavy stuff (big snapper and grouper) I like a Pflueger Contender 20 on a Ugly Stik Custom 7 foot medium rod. This outfit is big enough to get some pretty big fish to the boat and not so big to over power most anglers. I like a 50 to 80 pound Cajun Red leader with a Daiichi 5/0 or 8/0 D-18 hook.

Now for the bait. Something live is by far the best and if you are going to try to use live bait you can catch pinfish or grunts in the creeks before you head out, you can run the beach looking for poggies or head to the offshore wrecks and catch live bait out there. If you are going to catch live ones at the wrecks, you are going to need some Sabiki rigs. These are prepackaged rigs that have a leader of around 10 to 20 pound test with about 6 to 8 number 4 to 10 size hooks tied to the leader. Some of these rigs have only the hooks and some have tensile or some other colorful material on the hook.

Alex Thomason with three live baits that he jigged up using a sabiki rig.

If you elect to use dead bait, I would have a box or two of cigar minnows and a box or two of boston mackerel. Any small fish that I hook (except a toadfish) usually goes in the live well or back on the hook and back down to the bottom they go. Remember a wiggling live fish sends out distress signals that larger predator fish are able to hear or feel and this is always good bait.

Well, we have or tackle and bait, both live and dead. We are now ready for some spots or what to look for when your fish finder is turned on. You are going to see big humps and most of them are going to be some sort of STUFF that some one or some organization has dumped in the water to attract fish. You DO NOT want to fish in the middle of these big humps. Most of these are barges, ships, concrete ruble or something else that you will get hung up on. I like to figure out where this bottom is exactly. Even if you have to use multiple marker buoys to identify the corners of the structure. Once you have found where the structure is, you want to fish the down current side.

Most of the time the fish are going to be on the down current side because the current running over the structure causes an eddy on the down current side and washes the bait fish towards it.

Now that you know how, I hope you can enjoy putting some nice eating fish in your box.

Ryan Keith with a nice Scamp Grouper

Mark Williams with a nice snapper that he caught using the same method as above.

How about some local action.

As the summer moves on and the fall approaches the water temperature will cool and as this happens the inshore fish will turn on.

There have been some nice reports of some flounder around the inlets and in the river. Try a soft plastic, a mud minnow, cut mullet or a small finger mullet fished around structure. Like bridge piles, rocks, creek mouths and deep drops.

The redfish have been feeding pretty good in the creeks and the big ones (25 plus pounds) are in the river. The like crabs, poggies, mullet, cut up lady fish and clams. Remember, these are the breeders so pay close attention to reviving them before send them back.

The top water trout action should be pretty good during first light and last light. Try a surface lure worked like it is wounded and DO NOT set the hook until the rod is bent.

Remember moms and dads, spend some time with your sons and daughters taking them fishing and you WILL NOT be looking for them come Friday and Saturday night. They will be home in bed waiting to go fishing the next day.