33 Miles SE Outta Winyah 7/27/15

Saltwater Offshore Reports
1

This is my 2nd time heading out into the ocean… First time was 20 miles to the Hilton Head reef; took home two BSB. I surely hoped this time would be different after a recent trip with Saltydog to give me some pointers.

Very crappy day. Ran 32.5 miles outta the last jetty can.

Put 108 miles total on the boat.

I made several drifting passes around a ledge. The bite would turn on, then cut off. Reel up, move up, drop lines, drift again. I need a cheap anchor and another 200’ of rode. And an anchor ball and ring. Lesson learned.

I tied awesome chicken rigs and bought some sharp hooks. Well, guess what? The (**()ed 80# line wouldn’t fit into the hook eyes. I was pissed after all my work. My buddy had some 6/0 but the gauge was HUGE. We fished those for a while, but felt as if we were missing too much due to hook diameter and them not being overly sharp. I then turned to cheap wire double drop rigs I had in a bag. I used my 5/0 razor sharp hooks and at least started bringing things up. Yeah…lesson #2 learned.

Got 30-35 fish. One grunt made it to the box. Got bliners, all 1" under. Got BSBs, mostly 1" under. Got a flounder. Again, 1" undersized. Got some lizardfish, ringtails, and bank bass. Saw some sharks at the boat.

It was rough out there, that’s for (**()ed sure. Ran 18-20mph on the way out. 26-28mph on the way in. I’d say all the forecasts got it wrong! It was not 11 seconds like it said it’d be, the wind wasn’t out of the SE as forcasted, and of course, the waves were a bit higher; to add to it all, we got rained on twice. Saw one other boat all day, and he was probably 5 miles off. We couldn’t even find bait. Got to some once, and got busted up by an ass of dolphin (mammals).

Needless to say, I was tired yesterday. 240 miles driving the truck and the 108mi in the boat on 4 hours of sleep. I slept like a baby!

'14 Key West 203FS w/ Yamaha F150
‘99 145 Sportfish w/ Johnson 40
"Kiss my ass, I bought a boat; I’m goin’

2

Ha, I was just reading your post on another forum. I can imagine the pride you feel in being the captain and everything being dependent on your decisions and abilities. Just gettin’ back home safely is proof of a good trip; the fish are just gravy on top. Well done, sir. :sunglasses:

“I’m not a hundred percent in love with your tone right now…”

3
quote:
Originally posted by Black Bart

Ha, I was just reading your post on another forum. I can imagine the pride you feel in being the captain and everything being dependent on your decisions and abilities. Just gettin’ back home safely is proof of a good trip; the fish are just gravy on top. Well done, sir. :sunglasses:

It is true – a bad day fishin’ is better than a good day at work. I was nervous on how my balls would take it, as I had “the big snip” done last Wednesday. There were a few uneasy bumps, but all in all, it was a safe, relatively comfortable venture. :smiley:

'14 Key West 203FS w/ Yamaha F150
‘99 145 Sportfish w/ Johnson 40
"Kiss my ass, I bought a boat; I’m goin’ out to sea." (Jimmy Buffett covering Lovett)

4

Try this site for some awesome hooks with larger eyes.

http://www.gerrystackle.com/gt-hooks

they made a big difference for me.

5

Had the exact same thing happen with the hooks. Live and learn. I guess thats the difference between a marine and a regular guy. I think i was still bedridden a week after mine.

Hydra-Sport 3300VX
18 Key West

6

Did you have anyone else with more offshore experience than you on the boat with you? New to being offshore is a venture. I can’t speak from personal experience because I grew up on it but I have been off on others boat who haven’t bottom fished before or not much and they struggle doing it there way or which way they believe to be correct. The more you go the more you’ll learn. I’m a complete rookie compared to most on here. I never seem to get on the big fish or larger variety. Usually the same Ol same ol for me.

7

I’ve been bottom fishing one time offshore. That was with Saltydog on here. Oh…and a headboat: once three miles out, once for a full-day trip. Oh, wait, there was that Hilton Head trip, but that didn’t really count as I brought home two BSBs for the whole trip. Well, wait – that WAS more fish than this trip.

I’ve been offshore trolling a handfull of times on other people’s boats.

So, yeah, I’m a TOTAL rookie.

'14 Key West 203FS w/ Yamaha F150
‘99 145 Sportfish w/ Johnson 40
"Kiss my ass, I bought a boat; I’m goin’ out to sea." (Jimmy Buffett covering Lovett)

8

Another rookie, so to speak, but was wondering if you were off shore in your 203FS KW? Cause that’s more bold that I’ve been and thinking we will run out deeper now.

220 Outrage
250 Verado

9

Yup. That’s what I took out. I hold 60 gallons. I have not hit the pumps yet, but judging by the digital gauge, I believe I burned about 35 gallons. Engine ran from 0600 till 1630.

'14 Key West 203FS w/ Yamaha F150
‘99 145 Sportfish w/ Johnson 40
"Kiss my ass, I bought a boat; I’m goin’ out to sea." (Jimmy Buffett covering Lovett)

10

Sounds good to me. The learning process has to start somewhere. Everybody came home, nobody got hurt, the boat didn’t break and you caught some fish. Nothing wrong with that. Every day is a learning experience.

Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper

11
quote:
Originally posted by Cracker Larry

Sounds good to me. The learning process has to start somewhere. Everybody came home, nobody got hurt, the boat didn’t break and you caught some fish. Nothing wrong with that. Every day is a learning experience.

Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper

This^^

Fine job! You won’t get much better sitting on the couch at home! Thanks for the report.

12
quote:
Originally posted by JB3

Try this site for some awesome hooks with larger eyes.

http://www.gerrystackle.com/gt-hooks

they made a big difference for me.

Forgive my ignorance, but I have no clue what I’m looking at. I see the circle hooks. I see the sizes. However, I can’t tell anything about the eye size. The only thing I can see that would remotely accept what I’m trying to feed it is the ringed hooks. I don’t suspect that I need those? That just seems like another spot where something could fail.

Thanks.

'14 Key West 203FS w/ Yamaha F150
‘99 145 Sportfish w/ Johnson 40
"Kiss my ass, I bought a boat; I’m goin’ out to sea." (Jimmy Buffett covering Lovett)

13

I use Eagle claw circle c hooks. 3/0,4/0,5/0. My 80# chicken Rigs slide right through.

14

USMC, to help solve you problem buy local. They can give you advice and you can see what you are buying. Cant tell you how many hooks I have that I dont use b/c they looked good on line. Also tie up all your rigs before heading out, just leave the sinkers off. I tie them up place them in zip loc sandwich bags (1 per bag) then place them in a pouch I picked up at home depot for $3.00. Its much easier to pull one out of the bag and clip it on (in seconds) better then tieing new rigs offshore. That way you can also have different hook sizes and different rigs ready to go.

chasvalve
I run that far in a 20ft CC also. Just pick your days and keep one eye on the seas and the sky.

15

We use 50 lb mono for the smaller hooks that we use to target vermillion and triggers.

Pioneer 222 Sportfish
Yamaha 250

16

Thanks.

I tied my rigs all ahead of time, left sinkers and hooks off. When I went to hook them is when I found the problem. :frowning: I kept them in a Bass Pro binder style holder. Worked great.

I’ll keep my eyes peeled for the right hooks. Around here, I’m limited. But there’s a huge fishing section, lake a whole wing, at The Barnyard Flea Market and I’m sure they’d have what I need.

'14 Key West 203FS w/ Yamaha F150
‘99 145 Sportfish w/ Johnson 40
"Kiss my ass, I bought a boat; I’m goin’ out to sea." (Jimmy Buffett covering Lovett)

17

PM Sellsfish.
Paul had a source for some good hooks at one time. The guy even identified one of the hooks he sold as “Sellsfish Grouper Hook”.
I bought some from him but that was a year or two back and I can’t remember the contact info.

found it…http://www.gerrystackle.com/gt-hooks

218WA Sailfish
200 Verado
The "Penn"sion Plan

18
quote:
Originally posted by JB3

Try this site for some awesome hooks with larger eyes.

http://www.gerrystackle.com/gt-hooks

they made a big difference for me.

Thanks for the tip on the hooks. I ordered hooks and sabiki's ...Great deals

19ft. Carolina Skiff
w/115hp Yamaha 4stroke
30ft. Contender
w/twin 225hp Yamaha 4stroke

19
quote:
Originally posted by RDW

PM Sellsfish.
Paul had a source for some good hooks at one time. The guy even identified one of the hooks he sold as “Sellsfish Grouper Hook”.
I bought some from him but that was a year or two back and I can’t remember the contact info.

found it…http://www.gerrystackle.com/gt-hooks

218WA Sailfish
200 Verado
The "Penn"sion Plan

Thanks. I think that was posted above, or in another recent thread. I visited the site, but couldn’t tell which hooks would accommodate a double-strand of 80# running through the eye. Also, I’m just looking for 5/0 or 6/0, not monster hooks.

I guess I’ll look around semi-locally. I will be at the beach in about two weeks. I guess I’ll be hitting up Bass Pro.

'14 Key West 203FS w/ Yamaha F150
‘99 145 Sportfish w/ Johnson 40
"Kiss my ass, I bought a boat; I’m goin’ out to sea." (Jimmy Buffett covering Lovett)

20

Silver, I sometimes take a short piece of 20 lb. mono and run it through the mono loop on a chicken rig, pass both ends of the mono through the eye of the hook and use that to pull the chicken rig loop through the hook eye.

Pioneer 222 Sportfish
Yamaha 250