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Salwater Sportsman Seminar Secrets

MolarBoater

MolarBoater

Contributing Member
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Mountian Brook
Went to the Mobile seminar on March 8th and got to see and hear alot of good information from George Poveromo, Capt' Harry, Dr. Bob Ship and a few other guys, all which would be nice to have a beer with one day. They kept the focus on the fact that most of us fish from center consoles of 26' or less (trailerable boats) and the things we can do and places we can go.

Maybe the number one thing to help us be more productive fishing is to implement the tools which allow our baits whether live, dead, artificial or combo to be more noticed and enticing than the boat next to you. Outriggers, downriggers, chum, chuncking, surface comotion like teasers, looking for anything on the surface, in the air and to hone in your sounders by increasing the gain and magnifying the bottom 50% or wherever you are trying to fish other than the surface.

Most agreed that you need to have some "meat" on your hook whether live or dead or even Gulp for reef or inshore.

They went over so many things, species, techniques and such it would be hard to cover everything in a single post but I will focus on one subject at a time and post subsequent replies to this thread so that everyone can maybe pick up a pearl or two.

Will post info on trolling spreads, tuna, reef fishing, cobia, daytime swordfishing (just a little), trout and redfish, wahoo and anything else I made notes on....I took alot of notes!
 
Molarboater, Thank you so much for this thread. Looking forward to your posts. :)
 
Where And When To Fish, a Satellite Perspective

Ok, this will vary a bit from coast to coast and we were focused on the Gulf of Mexico only. Dr. Roff was there with Roff's Offshore forecasting service and was explaining how they work with NOAA and NASA and are currently not only offering temperature zones but are now offering water color analysis which targets chlorophil in the water. This in turn indicates a "food chain" area.

So, in the Gulf, we are looking mainly at the "loop current" and the eddys that break away from it and move warm blue water closer to the shore. The longer these eddys remain in tact and when they move over "structure" such as ledges, reefs canyon areas etc, you get a double whammy!

When looking at temperature and chlorophil enriched water, you are looking at a significant change in temperature and/or an area of high chlorophil/green color change. These are baitfish congregation zones and you should camp out in these areas as fish will eventually "feed" in these spots.

The key is, the longer these currents and eddies remain stationary, the higher the concentration of bait and the better the fishing.

So the Roff's surface analysis not only tells you the temperature breaks (like we can get in vague forms on the internet) but analyzes the information over days and can point out areas that have remained stationary. They can indicate "hot spots" of bait which can help eliminate lost time and fuel hunting down productive areas.

We have alot of constant nutrient flow into the Gulf from the Mississippi River and Mobile River and it flows constantly so tides, etc don't have a huge impact on the Gulf. Obviously the tributaries, rivers etc are more effected and that is where they recommended learning from a guide service or local knowledge.

Lastly, "water color", like what we see in our boat, can be deceiving. There can easily be 5-10' of "dirty water" on top of clear/blue water. The dirty water is from the rivers and would not be ideal for fishing offshore but, you can sometimes look at your prop wash/etc to see if cleaner water is coming up from underneathe, allowing for good fishing. So, you would want weighted baits and downriggers to get the meat beneathe and into the clean water where the fish would be active.
 
OFFSHORE TROLLING

Make your bait stand out.
Use alot of teasers at 25', 20' and 15' off the back. Run some half way up the outriggers using squid umbrellas, strip teasers, a large fender teaser and put a flat line right behind them with something like a ballyhoo/cigar minnow lure combo and then a small mackeral behind that.
Fish get mad cause they can't eat the teasers and they will then hit a hooked bait. You can also use a extra large lure as a teaser and put a hook in it too.

Always run a spread with some "meat" in it, dead or alive.

Run at the speed that makes your spread "work". Chugger lures etc should mimick flying fish in that they
should create a bubble trail, stop bubbling and then start again. Due to wind and waves, etc, this may be at different speeds. Trolling live bait, you can kill them if too fast and cause them to swim around and tangel if too slow.

Use flurocarbon when trolling at 80-100lbs for leader (use some short wire leaders when kings present)
George rec's that you only use fluro once per catch due to loss of properties after "stressed". Also,
you can carry alcohol wipes to clean the leaders so they remain transparant. You can cut away
mono or replace top shots over braid as needed or after heavy days of fishing.

Most fish will hit a combo black/silver/purple lure and dolphin like pink/white.

Check the gut of the first keeper fish you catch to "match the hatch".

So, slow trolling: use two hook lures with a bit of wire leader fast troll: single hook lures with heavy mono
or Fluro.

Always fish a lure near the prop wash

Weedline, use a 4-6" jig or poppers to tease big dolphin out while trolling. If you are only catchin small
dolphin, rig a big horse ballyhoo etc bait so the peanuts can't get it and the comotion may entice
a larger fish to come out of the weeds or depth to strike. Also, many times, the big ones will hang
deep under the weed line as will wahoo, so run a downrigger if possible. If you can see them but not
catch them, use a bait net and catch some weedline creatures and put them on a hook and cast into the
weedline. Also, a live shrimp on light tackle works. Use small squid skirts to make lures "weedless".

Adjustments for poor biting: 1. live bait 2. Gulp 3. deep trolling 30'+ 4. chuggers
 
thanks molarboater that is a lot of info keep it up. what webb site do you go to for the water temps.looks like i will have good wheather down at the gulf next week. i hope the fish will be happy to see me as i am them. cant wait to read some of your other info. i need all the help i can get.
 
Do a site search on performanceoutdoors.net as I hope I posted some of them in the past.

I lost all/most of my saved "favorites" websites on my browser.....and I had a bunch of weather sites saved with most info for free but, of course, those don't interperet and tell you where to fish either!

OK here's one.....http://www.nowcoast.noaa.gov/

Obviously, you can go to www.Roffs.com and get the best info already done for some money. But might help you catch fish.

Are you gonna be looking for some Cobia? I need to get that info up soon as March 20th is usually the big day!
 
yes molarboater i am going to hunt for some cobia. i dont have a cobia platform on my boat so the best thing i can do i guess is to anker up on some of the close in reef and chum them up. i have been toll by alot of people that trolling for them doesnt work to good. what about you have you ever trolled for them. but i will be happy with what ever bites my hook, just being out there is enought for me.
 
Here In The Southeast On The Smaller Boats, We Have Our T-tops Made With A Platform On Top And A Rail So We Can Get Up There And Sight Cast For Cobia. Amazing What 5 Feet Will Do As To How Far You Can See. Cobia Can Be Seen Under Manta Rays , Turtles ,and Swimming On The Surface Along The Riffs Created As Water Comes And Goes In The Inlets
 

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illocical, i have seen pics of your boat on the site, nice boat .did you have the platform custom made or did you buy it some where and what was the cost. only thing i am a big man or maybe i should say a fat man well you get the picture.250 lbs of big, think that platform will hold this fat man.
 
COBIA (ling)

Thought to be a distant relative to the Remora, they are often first thought to be sharks until further inspection. The will hit most anything and become a little more picky as the season progresses.

March 20, is the average day they show up on the North Gulf Coast.
Late March to mid April, solitary arrivals cruising the beaches. Site fishing.
Mid April thru May, they associate more with each other, turtles, sharks and rays.
June-August they associate more with structure, anything that floats and stationary etc.

The cobes come in first followed by pompano, mackerel, dolphin etc.

Use jigs, squid, eels, catfish etc

Suggested rigs: 30lb main line, 80lb Fluro leader to a 4/0 hook.
or 30lb main line, 50lb Fluro leader to a 5/0 offset cirlce hook and live or plastic eel.

If casting to a group of Cobia, cast out a larger bait and the larger cobe will usually win!

Keys to success:
1. Sharp hooks as they have a hard mouth
2. Good baits
3. Accurate casting 5' past and 10' ahead

Many ladders are lashed to center consoles as Cobia lookouts, hold on tight cause the sea is usually rough this time of year!

They are the best tasting fish in the Salt.......if you disagree, just send me some and I will be happy to
give a second opinion! And a thrid, fourth or fifth.
 
KING MACKEREL
(and to some extent, closer to the beach, Spanish)

68-72 degrees they start to show up.
They are sight and hearing feeders. They are beginning to become resident fish year round at oil rigs.

Look for structure and bait....blue runners. Look for emerald green water.

Run and Gun......cover as many spots as possible till you find them, oil rig hopping, basically.

Gulf kings, use #7 stinger wire leaders to a 5/0 nose hook and a #2 treble. Big blue runners as bait, might need two trebles. Use with a 100lb mini swivel.

East Coast, scale down the terminal tackle a bit.

Aslo, try diamond jigs @ 30' down oil rig legs.

Use ribbon fish on downriggers.

Always slow troll, light drags and let the fish have the hard first run then they usually come on in.

One suggested outfit: 7' light action tip roller guide rod, Penn 300 Torques with braid, 20lb mono top shot and fluro leader connected by blood knot.

I like to catch small kings to eat...usually less than 33 inches, a fat 29 incher tastes best. Gotta fry them up, easier to catch them with Strech 30's and cigar minnows.

For bigger macks, live blue runners and ribbon fish are standard.

Good fishing late May-July without having to go too far off shore.
 
BOTTOM FISHING

structure and healthy live bait is primary. CHUM is highly recomended.

Gulp type bait can be used, sometimes.

Cut squid for vermillion snapper, cut cigar minnows for red snapper, live pinfish for amberjacks up off the bottom and grouper on the bottom.

Reading your sounder:
blobs can be schools of vermillions
stationary dots usually snapper, triggers
streaks and lines...moving fish usually amberjacks (usually deeper water)

These fish will not leave the structure, that is their safety area, you must mark the structure and position the boat correctly and anchor unless you have a dedicated helmsman.

Braid can increase your "feel" of the strike or use 60lb mono. Use fluro leaders, small circles and use your thumb on the line to feel the tap/strike.

Amberjacks, 60lb main line, 80lb leader to 6/0 hook to a pinfish. Weight on the main line.
Drop live bait down slow to prevent tangling.

If fishing oil rigs, etc, must pull fish away from structure to prevent cut offs.

Chum, use the same stuff as you are using for bait.
 
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