We fished today at 120 ft., and caught limits of bsb, porgies, Berliners, and a red snapper. But we went to catch triggers - same area we caught them a few weeks ago. Caught ONE small trigger, and have no idea why. Some of you specialize ( Sells ) in triggers. Will you tell me what we did wrong? We used the small hooks, small baits, etc. Thanks!
My last great day for trigger fish was when we had just done an anchor dive and the last two divers said there there were hundreds of trigger fish off of the bow of the boat on the bottom. If you dropped bait anywhere but right off of the bow on that one spot you would get seabass. Drop in the small spot off of the bow and it was double triggers most every time. They can be very tough to target reliably; but worth it and very tasty.
26 Seahunt
Angler’s Dream
Thanks, Jordan. There was a reason they were in such a tight spot. Did you see anything unique about it? Also,how deep?
Nothing that we could tell. Normal live bottom but they were just holding together tightly in one spot in 80 or 90 feet. I know nothing about their life cycle but the concentration in one spot makes me think they must have been spawning or in some ritual leading up to spawning. They certainly were hungry though.
Normally we just see a handful of them on each dive and they are scattered about in 2s and 3s and they follow you around. They are pretty funny little guys. I’ve speared one that was in a group of 3 and his buddies were pissed.
26 Seahunt
Angler’s Dream
Jordan,
it’s not spawning, unless triggers spawn year around. We have a couple of spots that are absolutely thick with triggers all year long…to the point that we don’t want to dive them because of all the bites. I personally believe that there’s some habitat that triggers like better than others. These two spots both have low relief and thick sand surrounding the relief. The triggers are often stacked 30 feet above the relief. Both are old wooden sailing vessels. It’s strange and I highly doubt it’s a coincidence.
Stephen Goldfinch
“Sleep When You’re Dead!”
how was the weather out there?
Slick. Did not see another soul. Yella, Scott knows where you’re talking about, but he want tell me. Can you believe that?
I really appreciate your thoughts on this. Now, if I could get Sells to tell me just a little bit of what he knows, I think I could catch more than one trigger fish. Paul, please!? Thanks, Fin Coffey
30’-40’ off the bottom, most bites happen on the drop. look for thick vertical lines on the sounder…
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Oyster Baron
NMFS = No More Fishing Season
“Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him”
Thanks
Ask any serious offshore spearfishermen to show you their trigger scars… we all have them
This time of year some of my best trigger catches occur in depper water.