Soo im planning a trip out to chs 60 this weekend but have not heard any or seen any reports or anyone talking about it lately. Its the gfs bday and i really need to break my skunked/trash fish streak it will also be my first trip past near shore reef(which i never have any luck at). Ive searched and havnt seen anything remotely recent ive been looking for just general newby info like rig setup or the same as nearshore? line size? Is it worth a trip? if i decide to try to troll what setup do i need? Should i go farther out?
Thanks i actually read that one already but brushed it off beacuse i was confused after reading about the sailfish i ended up thinking i was just confusing it with something else that i dont know about. PM Sent
i never have too much luck at nearshore… actually dont think ive ever caught anything but a toadfish out there. my last and only offshore visit was to y73 about 2 years ago and i had a blast but i also wasnt driving my offshore fishing experience consists of squid for bait and a bottom rig… which is why i could really use any advice anyone is willing to give. trolling speed? bait for bottom or should i just use squid and a bottom rig? is chas 60 far enough out to buy some skirts and ballyhoo? What kind of live bait on what rig? any help would be greatly appreciated because after google im pissin blind in the wind
I don’t run out to the 60 but some of the others. I take some clams.along and they seem to catch some variety besides squid. If you get set above some structure and see fish down a few feet below you, try and put some bait in that column. A little piece of clam on a 2 circle hook. If they are spades, you will have a blast.
I have a simple trolling spread that is semi-productive. I run a 00 Clark gold spoon back in the prop wash. I have a big pink drone I will run on a 1 or 2 planer. I will run a 1 Clark silver, a deep diver in teal/yellow, a gotcha trolling plug red head white body, russelure gold or silver, or a pink/white squid sometimes with a ballyhoo.
Depending on who is with me, I will run from 2 to 4 lines. Those Clark’s seem to catch Spaniards, big drone for kings, squid for whatever big thing is back there, and my deep diver has a few tooth marks on it but I haven’t caught anything on it yet. If you do get a russelure, be careful pulling it in while trolling. It jumps out of the water violently and will stick you in the head with 2 big treble hooks.
thanks a ton matt hopefully will have a good productive trip and then i may be able to post things besides my pleas for help. but until then ill keep doing my research and try to get things a little more figured out.
allhungup, haven’t been out in a while but with the water starting to cool you should do better than trash fish. Make sure you have all the AR-f’s marked and keep moving if you’re not catching anything. Also try a drift that to cover more bottom. Make sure you have that rod ready for a cursing cobia. We have hooked into a few of them this year out there. Good luck.
A wise man once said “Do as I say not as I do” Good advice when I tell you that.
Like oops said drifting is a good way to cover lots of ground and find a productive spot. Be careful if you anchor, the reefs seem to eat anchors.
You can use the same bottom rigs that you used at y73. Squid is a goto bait. You could catch from black sea bass to cobia to kings to reef donkeys. Keep moving until you find the fish.
Fishb8 (Fish Bait)
23 Sea Hunt “My Last Boat V”
If you can’t stand behind our soldiers, try standing in front of them.
when we went out to y73 all we did was drop the lines right under the boat let them hit bottom and wait when i go out and find a spot and try drifting should i do the same or reel them up a few feet
I bounce it off the bottom. So lower it to the bottom lift the rod tip 3 feet, then lower the rod tip 3 feet. Slowly.
Drifting a reef the depth will change and you could get hung up. So have extra rigs ready.
Fishb8 (Fish Bait)
23 Sea Hunt “My Last Boat V”
If you can’t stand behind our soldiers, try standing in front of them.
Bottom fished last Saturday from 60 ft to 80 ft, including 2 stops at CHS 60, and the bottom fishing was real slow for us, even though the sonar was marking plenty of bait up off the bottom but we could not find decent fish.
Get a few butterfly jigs and make sure you are right on top of some structure. We stopped there a few weeks back after an offshore trip and caught our limit for 3 of BSB in about an hour. It was non stop and never used any bait.
to have the rods going off like that would make my day im excited about trying some different things trolling we will hopefully get something that will put a smile on everyones face!
Cut squid is fine but you should really have some live bait… Live bait is everywhere right now in the creeks and sound. There are cobia at the Chs 60 right now still.
Also if you are concerned about finding enough bait you can always buy a couple blocks of chum. Make sure to have a stout spinning rod and use a balloon float or cajun thunder with about 3-4 feet of 80lb fluoro and drift it behind the boat. It WILL get action. Cobia, king, spanish, cuda, shark, bonita, even a tuna or sailfish is possible…
This time of year i prefer to chunk rather than run a slick unless you want to catch sharks but honestly you should team up and go out with someone. One trip with a good crew and you will be ten times better than you are now.
Run a bootom rig with live bait for bottom fish, a balloon float with a live bait for spainish, kings, cobia etc, and get some clams, squid/jellyball/barnicles chunks or shrimp and run them mid water column above the structure and you should have a blast catching spades that are tasty as well.
Spanish are all over the wrecks so take an inshore spinner and get a silver casting spoon something with a little weight to it so you can throw it 50 yards. rig it with some wire and a small swivel to tie to your line and cast it out it will get hit.
Here is last fridays bottom trip when everyone turned around. Wish I could have kept the 4 big snapper we caught
well sir looks like i am riding on the wrong boat… if you ever need an extra person please dont hesitate to ask me, i need all the instruction and help that i can get i actually felt sick the other day because i went into walmart and bought a box of whiting yet ive been fishing about 10 times inshore/ nearshore this year and have had horrible luck.
