Hey everyone-- I’m taking a crew out for my first time as captain (been out several times with others). Have no proprietary numbers, but was thinking of running out to Y-73 +/- Commanche and dropping cut squid/cigars in hopes of catching the standard BSBs, Vermillion, possible grouper.
Any tips for a successful trip? Anchor vs Drift?? Any ways to target trigger out there?
Hoping, mostly, for a fun safe trip!
The bsb are thick out there
big dog
A few weeks back we were throwing back 17" BSBs in 90’.
Triggers are there too, you just have to fight throw the bass to get to them. I would anchor if I were you…
…because everything is a conspiracy!!!
drifting may be simpler for one of your first trips. if you anchor over sandy bottom, you won’t catch much… if you drift you will cover more area. after better understanding boat handling, move on to anchoring.
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For triggerfish you need to present the bait and fish differently than for other fish. The same is true with B liners.
The thing to remember about B liners is that they school. The more baits you get in the water in a certain vertical area, the better you will do with keeper B liners. They will follow you 200ft away from where you first picked them up if you keep bait in the same vertical location with the same presentation. Once you catch a good one, do not change what you’re doing. B liners are very similar to schoolie dolphin in how they feed and how they can be caught in high numbers sometimes and low numbers at other times. I have seen B liners turn off and on just as dolphin do. When you get one of them tasting and eating, the rest will be ready and willing to be caught. Have everyone repeat exactly what just caught the fish when you got the first one, and you will pretty easily be done with your legal bag limits if you choose to take it that far.
Back to triggerfish,
Think about what triggerfish mouths look like and how they eat. Keep this in mind along with the fact that J hooks have now been illegalized. What works for me is putting the bait on a certain type of circle hook in a way that forces the triggerfish to bite the barb rather than the shank…
Method used to catch them is then similar to what you have to do to catch sheepshead. Transition to circle hooks hasn’t been too difficult. Just have to fish differently- as you must with circle hooks regardless.
For c bass, you can target the biggest ones by using larger, moving baits. Fish all thru the lower third of the water column. The largest c bass are the most aggressive. The opposite is often true of grouper. The largest (in a given species) feed less often during a day than the smaller ones. If you are trying to catch a grouper where there are lots of C bass, keep in mind that you are trying to get a chance at the less-often-feeding, lazier fish. That means using something that the c bass cannot quickly eat, if at all, or, if
Concentrate on the fun and safe part and the rest will take care of its self. watch your Fish finder, record all the good # if its not too rough mark the spot with a float,motor up wind/current drop your anchor off the bow and let enough line out to reach the float while watching your ff. practice will make you better.
always good advise Phin,Thanks for sharing.
Jeff