I am heading offshore this weekend on the Super Voyager out of Myrtle. I’m doing the 12-13 hour trip. I am bringing my own gear, so here are the questions.
Slow pitch setup: I am bringing one, I love it. I have a travala rod and I’ve had it paired with a Tyrnos 8 2 speed. Out of curiosity I my Curado 300EJ on the rod and it felt fantastic. I can spool the 300ej up with plenty of 30# braid and be gtg. Is that a good switch?
I put the Tyrnos 8 on a 7’6" okuma blu striper rod rated for 12-20lb mono. I’d use this with a hi/lo rig for bottom fishing, it felt better than the same rod with a TLD 10, plus the 2 speed allows for speedy retrieve.
I picked up a baitrunner 12000D for my heavy surf setup on a 10ft rod (high hopes for St. augustine and hatteras this summer). I grabbed a shimano saragosa rod 7ft as a boat rod. is that worth bringing on the head boat?
Is 3 rods for one guy on a 12hr trip on a head boat too much?
Any input would be usefull. This is not my first trip out there, I have this gear for offshore fishing. Thanks again.
As one that captained head boats - I loved seeing some guy walk down the dock with more tackle than he could carry. If the fish are biting, you can only work one rod at a time. If they’re not you could try using 10 rods and still not hook up. Pick out one setup that you can bottom fish & jig with. I advise 80 lb braid for various reasons . If the boats equipment is 80 lbs & your using 20, every time you tangle with a strong man on the other side of the boat, you will lose a rig. If your lucky enough to get on top of grouper, the first few minutes of the fight make the difference. You have to get that fish 10’ off the bottom quickly and 30 lb with 10# drag wont get it done. You need 80 LB line or you will lose lots of fish or take forever to get a 10 lb grouper to the boat.
You can have the fanciest rods & reels in the world , but the fish will only see your terminal tackle. Don’t use the usual 2 hook rig with short drops off the main line. Make a Carolina rig with a 16- 18 oz egg sinker use a quality swivel and 4-5’ of fluorocarbon leader and good 6/0 circle hook Brown - not silver colored. You will still be limited to the daily limits! and since there are so few head boats left , chances of a DNR check are good!
Ive went with them a few times. They put us on some good fish, had a good crew and Captain. The back of the boat is usually the best to fish with current and avoid tangles. The more seroius anglers usually fish the bow or the back, which means less likely to tangle you. To get a spot at the back of the boat you have to be the early bird, it is usually first ones on get first pick of rail position.
Some boats dont care about gear others do, some dont allow braid or require a top shot for the part of your line likely to get tangled, like 50ft or so. I would bring a lightish combo for sight casting or a free/balloon line and a heavier bottom combo. Post a good report.
Ive also gone a few times with them and had a decent experience. I enjoy fishing the bow. This boat doesn’t mind braid, ive used it before no issue. I have taken a bottom setup and slow pitch setup before and done very well. Last time I went I had the tyrnos on the slow pitch rod and a tld 10 on the bottom setup. I put the curado on the the slow pitch rod out of curiosity and it felt amazing so I am going to keep it there since we only fish in 100-200 feet of water I think. I want to bring my new baitrunner just to play with it and cast some bucktails with herring on them out and see if I can get something interesting, I guess I could tie on a bottom rig to the spinning setup and only bring the 2 rods.
I will give a full report when I get back to the dock.
The 2×4 is called a rail rod for fishing off the rail or charter rod and crystal electric reels on 6 and 9/0 That electric combo is not cheap. The electric head boat experience is a good first experience for some. I plan to hit the boats up a few times this year. Ill bring 3 rods but 1 will be a 80w for trolling in and out.
So the seas were rough. We made it out, got son some grunts, seabass and other stuff. Nothing amazing. The trip was cut short by the wind, we were compensated with a free return trip. The Continental Shelf looked nice, fresh paint and super clean. Crew was on their game.