I’m looking to try my hand at fishing for spanish this year and was wondering if its better to troll or chase birds and sling lures? If trolling would a couple of 6000-8000 spinning reels be suitable?
I replied to this recent question too about chasing Spanish in the surf. http://old.charlestonfishing.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=169756
Back in the Chesapeake, when they were around, most of the time trolling was the best method, and was primarily done with spoons. This allowed covering a lot more water to find them. When opportunities presented, such as spotting birds working over fish, casting was always more fun, but was sometimes less productive than trolling as the schools move rather quickly and are difficult to follow.
Personally, I prefer slinging lures (actually casting flies to Spanish is even more fun for me) to trolling but always know that it’s not necessarily the best approach for putting them in the boat.
Pick your poison. Both can be fun & productive, both can be frustrating.
Use what you have. I like baitcasting tackle for casting, but spin gear works fine. I have trolling rods for trolling, 6 1/2’ to 7’ medium heavy & some heavy action rods, all fiberglass. Don’t need hi tech rods for Spanish, but everyone has their preferences. I don’t use spin gear for trolling. I have used some of my casting gear for trolling too, the spoons are not heavy, so med heavy casting gear works fine as long as you have enough line capacity.
That size (6000-8000) spinning reels seems like A LOT of overkill for Spanish. Not that we’re prolific chasers of the Spanish Mackerel but when me and my buddy get on’em, we use 2000-3000 size spinning reels on 7’ medium/medium heavy spinning rods. Pretty much the same stuff we target reds, trout and flounder with. Granted we’ll throw different baits and either use wire or heavy leader. We throw Got-Cha plugs and Clark spoons for SM.
No matter how much it hurts, how dark it gets, or how far you fall…you are never out of the fight.
Keep it simple. Rig 2-3 typical inshore rods with casting spoons (silver preferred, followed by gold) for casting to busting fish/birds. That is the most fun way to do it IMHO. If you can’t find the birds/schools then troll small Clark spoons on a flouro leader about 10’ behind a trolling sinker. Need to keep it down at least a few feet at a pretty quick trolling speed. You could go up in rod/real size for the trolling set ups but I don’t. Our Spanish are fun but small. 1-2# typically. 6000-8000 is too big. Smaller set ups will allow you to cast those small spoons a mile and lead to more hook ups.
Y’all are getting me amped up for some fish dip! I’m gonna have to see if there are any takers tomorrow.
quote:
Originally posted by Juice15Y’all are getting me amped up for some fish dip! I’m gonna have to see if there are any takers tomorrow.
Scouting…I like it!
No matter how much it hurts, how dark it gets, or how far you fall…you are never out of the fight.
They have been thick chasing menhaden off Folly beach. Small but they are numerous. Just be careful for some strange reason the chopper blues are right in there with them this year lol. I lost numerous gotcha and plugs other day to blues. Not a big fan of wire leader since cuts down on bites.
Thanks for the info. I typically fish 3000s. Was wondering if I should size up in the event I hooked into something other than spanish. Suppose we could chase it in that case. Looking forward to trying something new.