im finally going to try off folly fairly soon and am wondering how everyone rigs their leaders. i have a bag of 40lb single strand wire and am thinking of 2 treble hooks about 4-5" apart and have a reel with a bait clicker and about 400 yards of 65lb braid. of course a king would be ideal, tarpon would be an awesome suprise (not that im counting on either), but i wont complain 1 bit if spanish or chopper blues come to play instead. as for bait im going to try to net some mullet but if that fails ill try the sabiki rig in the cooper for pinfish before i leave. any help is appreciated.
Menhaden are the best bait for kings, try to cast net them in the creeks or look along the beach for diving pelicans. They can be anywhere from in the breakers to a mile off the beach. Mostly several hundred yards off the beach. Mullet and pin fish will work as well. Set your drag light 3-4 lbs of drag.
i did get to try it once last week and was able to net some finger mullet and a couple big ones, however they went belly up pretty quick and never got hit. tried a couple perch in the bait tank and they got smacked by sharpnose pretty quickly. it was decieving when i 1st got there the dirty/clean water line was just out of reach of my anchor rod so i was hoping it would come towards me as the tide came in…WRONG!!! the water got muddy several hundred yards out and it was shark fest all over the pier. other than me there was one other guy there that was pretty helpful. note to self: next time bring shower curtain rings.
Try hand sized pinfish. They are very flashy and will get noticed easier…
I’m a high class redneck.
Fishing is a delusion entirely surrounded by liars in pfgs and buffs.
took the sabiki rig to the cooper on base where i usually get destroyed by them and they werent there
spent 2 hours looking for bait last year, finally got to my spot.Most my bait would die fairly quickly in the water.I noticed a charter catching kings and was there super early. back at the dock I asked what I was doing wrong? Very helpful Mi guide! Said I was wasting prime time looking for bait. He said he looks but doesnt waste much time unless they are right there in front of him. He used frozen cigar minnows as his regular bait and killed the kings. He said if he saw a school he would definitely throw a net but wouldnt waste much time if he didnt see it. He was the nicest guy even invited me to follow him out and he would put me on some kings. He didnt have to do that. I then started catching kings. Last year a stretch 20 got my biggest 27 lbs.Not bad for me I suppose. Wish I could remember the guides name but was super helpful.
JSadler- How far out were you running for kings? I used to use cigars minnows as well but I noticed they start spinning around after a while and kink up your line. Glad to hear the stretch 20 worked for you. Leader used?
S
at the Belkie Bear 12 Miles I think, although caught the bigger one 3-4 MILES. near the paradise reef . Love to catch the Baracudas on the yellow cans as well. most people dont want to, but there fun as Hell. put a swivel in line a few feet up will definitely cut down on the kinks. I also use the “king rigs” with a skirt thats pink has worked well. Wish I lived there maybe I could be more consistent but I will take what I can get. Have 2 weeks scheduled at MI next month
King rigs and swivels help with the spin. I get the spins when I am trolling too fast
Cliff
2006 pioneer 197 SF 150 4s
quote:
Originally posted by jsadlerHe used frozen cigar minnows as his regular bait and killed the kings.
Never had used those until last year when we went to PCB FL for vacation and guy at Half Hitch tackle told me not to waste my time looking for live bait to just use frozen cigars. Well I was a LITTLE skeptical and got a small box and as soon as we hit other side of the rocks and into some blue water(not a mile off beach) we dropped two down on downriggers and two on top. Not 10 minutes later reel was screaming and I shook my head. We actually ran out of bait catching kings that day and my “crew”(two teen nephews, bro in law and another youngster) actually got worn out catching fish.
Guy at Half Hitch grinned when I came back in next day and TWO big boxes of frozen cigars
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