Most fishermen can carve reasonably flat pieces of meat from bones, but pro captains and guides know tricks that cut time while also paring flesh to the bone for a variety of species. I’ve asked several professional guides and captains from New England to the Bahamas for their filleting tips.

Fishing Fillet Knives

Most pros have at least two fishing knives — one for filleting and one for skinning. A straight blade around seven inches long with just a bit of flex will typically provide the best control of a fillet-knife tip as one navigates through and around skin, flesh and bone. For skinning, on the other hand, long, flexible knives do the job better. Nine inches seems about right. Expensive isn’t necessarily better, but a cheap knife won’t have a blade that’s both flexible and hard enough to hold its edge. ­Forschner and Dexter Russell were recommended by several pros I interviewed.

The One-Cut Fillet

Fish that aren’t very tall from dorsal to belly — like sea bass and yellowtail and vermilion snapper — can be filleted with just one pass. “I make an angled cut from the top to the belly just past its pectoral fin, then I turn the knife and run it right along the fish’s spine,” says Capt. Carl Griffin, of Reel Deal Charters in Charleston, South Carolina. The blade penetrates both belly and dorsal simultaneously, all the way to the tail, and the fillet comes off in one piece. Lay the fillet skin-side down to cut ribs out, and check the fillet along the spine up near the head for remnant bones.

This works well on small mackerel too. “I’ll run the knife through the whole fish in one pass on fish up to about 20 pounds,” says Capt. Jamie Ralph, a freelance captain in Boynton Beach, Florida. A few pieces of backbone stay in the entire length of the fillet, but Ralph cuts these out along with the blood line — the dark meat surrounding the spine, particularly in mackerel, tuna and dolphin.

Top-to-Bottom Fish Fillet

Larger fish require a half-dozen knife cuts, always working from the dorsal downward. Griffin starts with an angled cut from the head to belly, then he makes “a long cut from the head all the way down the back, just barely breaking the skin.” In the next pass, Griffin says, “I cut along the bones down to the spine, then I work up and over the spine. You have to hold the top half of the fillet up away from the bone to get a good fillet on the bottom of the fish.” Griffin’s fifth cut goes from backbone down to — but not through — the rib cage. As his knife moves toward the tail, the tip comes through the skin from anus to tail. Griffin then uses a heavy serrated knife to cut through the ribs, working from anus up toward the head.

Ribs In or Out?

Instead of cutting through the ribs, many pros cut them out while removing the fillet. “Run your knife along the rib bones,” says Capt. Brian Garris, an inshore guide. “Just don’t put so much pressure on the knife that you break those bones.” This takes some practice on delicate fish like seatrout, so check the fillet and trim out any missed bones.

Striped bass have a pronounced rib cage. “The knife goes along the ribs easily at first, but it gets hard at the steep angle of the rib cage,” says Patrick Wood, of Hindsight Sport Fishing in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. “I’ll hold the fish down with the knife blade and then rip the rest of the meat off the ribs.”

How to Skin a Fish

A ragged fillet might not be noticed at dinnertime, but a bit of skin left on the meat stands out. If skinning is a problem, try these tips.

“Use a long fillet knife with a flexible blade,” says Capt. Justin Hubbard, who works at Haddrell’s Point Tackle in Charleston, South Carolina. “Bend that knife so the point of the blade and the heel of the blade are running right on the table,” he says. “It will lie flat right along the skin.”

On fish with thick skin, angle the blade down into the skin just a bit. On fish with thin skin, break the job up. “On mackerel, you have to remove the blood line anyway,” Griffin says, so he cuts each fillet down its length into two lengthwise halves, and then skins each. “It’s a lot easier to skin just half a fillet.”

Most pros take the skin off in one or two smooth strokes, but this takes practice. Until then, skin evenly across the fillet, dorsal to belly, a few inches at a time. With the fillet skin-side down on the table, start at the tail, leaving just a bit of meat at the tip of the tail to hold on to. (If you muck it up, try again from the corner near the head.)

“Get a good hold on the skin,” Garris says. “As you move the knife along, keep following with your fingers up close behind the blade so you’ve always got even pressure between the blade and the skin.” Garris says in doing this, you’re also holding the portion of the fillet you’ve already skinned up out of the way.

Peel or Cut to Skin?

Many people cut barely through dolphin skin all the way around the fillet, and then pull the skin off before filleting the fish. A glove or pliers helps. This works for mackerel, tuna and other small-scaled species as well, but pros shy away from this trick.

Pulling the skin off leaves fibers of flesh on the skin and somehow also changes the taste of the fish, according to Capt. Lige Lawrence on the Island Hooker in Fort Lauderdale. He’ll pull the skin off small dolphin, but he cuts larger fish from their skin. Lawrence divides his fillets in half or thirds while skinning. “Cut about an eighth of an inch above the skin,” Lawrence says. “You can feel it. The knife cut gets tougher when you get close to the skin.”

No-Knife Tuna Fillet

Capt. Brett Wilson cuts large tuna down the length of the fish along the lateral line. “As long as it’s good and cold,” he says, “you can reach in and fillet it — take the meat right off the bone — with your hand.” To get tuna that cold, he packs ice in and around gutted fish and then adds seawater to make a brine.

While variations to these tips are numerous, there are a few universal recommendations. Keep knives sharp — there are plenty of tools to help. Go slowly — speed comes only with ­repetition. And probably most ­important, pay attention to pros cleaning fish and don’t hesitate to ask questions. Most experts will even guide you through a fillet job — but only with your fish!

How to Fillet a Mahi

The post How to Fillet Fish Like a Pro appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Anglers targeting big kingfish and Spanish mackerel by slow-trolling live baits use specialized techniques to entice wary fish to strike. One popular and proven tactic involves presenting two live baits on a single terminal rig, which creates a larger profile and more action. These double-pogy rigs can be tied in two basic designs. And while the pogy, or menhaden, is commonly used, this system works well with a variety of other baitfish. Both rig designs use extra-strong hooks and swivels, and employ haywire twists to make connections between lengths of single-strand wire. Skirts or colored beads can be added for color and flash.

King Mackerel Double Pogy Rig

Here’s the list of the materials needed:

• American Fishing Wire pre-cut lengths of camo brown 58-pound-test (12-inch) and 38-pound-test (36-inch)
• VMC 4X strong treble hooks, black nickel, size 4
• Owner Flyliner live-bait hooks, black chrome, size 1/0
• Spro Power Swivel, (single barrel swivel), size 7
• Spro Power Swivel Combo (three-way swivel), size 5
• Skirts or colored beads if desired. I like chartreuse and mylar.
• DuBro E/Z Twist tool for making haywire twist

This rig is built like a single-bait, two-hook rig but you add a second treble hook. Easy to build and tougher to tangle, the three-hook rig can also be used with small Spanish mackerel, large blue runners, ladyfish or ribbonfish — if you run short of terminal rigs built specifically for those baits.

STEP 1: Haywire-twist a treble hook onto each end of a 12-inch section of 58-pound-test wire. Leave approximately 6 inches of wire between the hooks.

STEP 2: Connect another 12-inch length of 58-pound-test wire to the eye of one of those treble hooks and finish the opposite end of the wire with a live-bait hook — again leaving about 6 inches between the hooks.

STEP 3: Haywire-twist one end of a 36-inch length of 38-pound-test wire to the live-bait hook and finish the opposite end with a single barrel swivel.

STEP 4: Below, a finished rig before adding live baits. But now it’s time to fish! Attach one bait to the live-bait hook by passing the point through the nostrils. Attach the second bait to the middle treble hook by passing a point of the treble through the nostrils. The last treble swings freely.

The Four-Hook Kingfish Rig

This rig is a combination of two single-bait rigs attached to the mainline with a three-way swivel. The four-hook rig allows each bait more freedom of movement, somewhat eliminating a tiring tug-of-war between baitfish, but it does so at an increased risk of tangling.

Haywire-twist a treble hook and a live-bait hook onto a 12-inch section of 58-pound-test wire, leaving approximately 6 inches between the hooks. Connect one end of a 36-inch length of 38-pound-test wire to the live-bait hook and the opposite end to one eye of a three-way swivel. Repeat this process with another treble and live-bait hook, but this time, remove 6 inches of the 36-inch length of wire before connecting it to the second eye of the three-way swivel.

Attach baits to the two live-bait hooks by passing the points through their nostrils. Attach the trebles to the bait by passing one point through the skin just behind the dorsal fin. If the treble hooks swing freely, that increases the chances of tangling when the two baits swim together.

Although I always try to pick baits of equal size and friskiness, it’s common for one baitfish to tire before the other, rendering the rig less effective and making it necessary to change out baits more often. However, this extra effort pays off when a smoker king skyrockets behind your boat with your handmade double-pogy rig in its mouth.

The post The Best Kingfish Live-Bait Rig appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Weakfish are more than a contemporary enigma, they are a flat-out mystery. I’m not talking about how to catch them — we’re pretty good at that when they’re around. Nobody can seem to figure out their year-to-year patterns, frustrating scientists, biologists, tackle shops and anglers alike.

Weakfishing Used to be Dependable

For years, especially in the 1980s to early 2000s, weakfishing was legit. New Jersey- and New York-area anglers caught up to 50 fish on a tide. Most fish were from 1 to 4 pounds, but true “tiderunners” of 10-pounds plus could be found before sunup in the Northeast bay systems.

Delaware Bay was once considered the “Weakfish Capital of the World,” as that slogan is still written on salt-weathered wood plaques along the docks in Cape May, New Jersey. Historically April and early May brought tiderunners into the bay systems after the breeders spawned out. Then around 2006, they went ghost. Literally gone. Disappeared. Nobody was catching anything, save for a few unicorns. 

Strangely, during wintertime each December, seabass party boats reported catching 5- to 10-pound weakfish 80 miles offshore on the canyon flats in 300 feet of water. What gives? Who knows. Nowadays, spikes of weakfish seem to show up every 5 years or so for a week or two and everybody gets excited. Then, they’re not to be found again.

Anglers are Hoping for a Weakfish Rebound

But this year could be the start of something interesting.

Jacob Krause, a research biologist for the United States Geological Survey (USGS), is one of the few scientists who’s researched weakfish via tagging studies (although his last assessment was from 2017). He surmises their population has a direct correlation with natural predation.

“Bottlenose dolphin are a main predator of small weakfish from 0 to 3 years old,” he said. “There was a die-off of the bottlenose dolphin in the 1980s and again in 2013 to 2015 due to a virus. We calculate [the virus] contributed to a near 50% die-off of the species.”

If anyone remembers the 80s and early 90s, weakfish were abundant in New Jersey waters. Could that have been related to the dolphin mortality?

Linda Barry, a research scientist with New Jersey Fish and Wildlife, concurs with the idea of natural mortality.

“It seems weakfish in the New Jersey area have been depleted since 2003, and with bag and size limits under severe restriction, their absence can most likely be attributed to natural predation from striped bass, bottlenose dolphin, bluefish and spiny dogfish — rather than overfishing practices,” said Barry.

Krause’s research has shown that juvenile weakfish don’t survive in great numbers to adulthood because of predation. “There’s a recruitment bottleneck somewhere,” he explained. “Weakfish can spawn as early as year 1 and 2. If those fish don’t make it to adulthood, stocks cannot be replenished quickly enough.”

So if bottlenose dolphin are a main factor in the survival rate of the weakfish stocks, will that die-off of dolphin from 2013 to 2015 equal a weakfish rebound this year and in the coming years?

Hot Start to New Jersey Weakfish Season

This past year in late May, I cast a black Bomber plug in the New Jersey surf, landing 30-pound striped bass after bass. Every once in awhile, I’d feel a few taps — tail slaps from bass, I thought. So I slowed my presentation down.

I got a bump again soon, and then I took it really slow during the fight. I ended up landing a giant tiderunner of 34 inches. It was the first serious weakfish I’d seen in the surf in 15 years. I proceeded to land six weakfish from 32 to 36 inches, all 10 to 14 pounds that night. The following nighttime outings were just as successful. My knees were knocking. This was something — unusual. I predicted they would be here this spring once again, and all signs point to yes.

Already in April and May, the New Jersey and New York areas have seen sporadic photos of catches of large fish, 6- to 12-pounders. It’s not hot and heavy, but every few days, some big weakfish are being reported in their old school haunts. This is all new and unfolding as this is being written.

• Raritan Bay’s Flynn’s Knoll is giving up tiderunners on old-school sand-worming tactics.
• Barnegat Bay anglers are hooking 10-pounders on ½-ounce bucktails, paired with bubblegum Lunker City Fin-S baits.
• Cape May jetty anglers are floating bloodworms to hook up.

Matt Broderick, of The Fisherman magazine, told me Peconic Bay in Long Island Sound has immense numbers of 1- to 4-pound-class fish. It begs the questions: Is this the start of a really good weakfish season? Will we see a consistent summertime fishery with spikes of 5-pounders this year in the bay systems?

Keep a keen eye out this year in the Northeast. My prediction is there will be a mild resurgence of the fishery through the summer. Will it last or are we destined to get our hopes up again? The good news is that most of the fish hooked this year are large breeding-population fish. In the past decade, we were welcomed with smaller fish mostly. But the presence of tiderunners around area waters could signal a shift in the fishery for the next few years. Stay tuned.

The post Are the Weakfish Back? appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Probably few things annoy an angler more than perfectly delivering a cast to a spot you know holds fish only to have the hook on your soft-plastic lure immediately snag some sea grass, a stick, an oyster bar or rocky bottom.

“If you throw a lure out in front of a fish and it gets hung up, you either have to rip it out of the grass and it runs right by the fish, or it’s hung up and a big, ol’ wad of grass spooks the fish,” says professional redfish tournament ­fisherman Mark Cowart, of Panama City Beach, Florida.

To avoid that, top anglers and guides rig their soft-plastic baits on hooks and jig heads to run weedless. The key is to essentially hide the hook point, a goal they achieve using a variety of hooks and other terminal tackle.

Hide The Hook in the Soft Plastic

Capt. Gary Dubiel of Oriental, North Carolina, is a Rapala pro staffer who fishes Storm’s 360GT Coastal soft plastics. The 360GTs feature slots in the belly and back so the hook point remains hidden, not protruding from the bait. The lures come pre-rigged with either a VMC Coastal Black jig head or a VMC Coastal Black Hook with Keel Weight.

Instead of fishing them on a jig head, where the hook would be exposed, Dubiel prefers the weighted hook, which he says is “fairly lightweight and designed primarily for fishing shallow grass flats in Florida. If you want to get deeper, you need to use a little bit heftier weight.” In that case, Dubiel rigs the lures on a VMC Heavy Duty Weighted Swimbait hook. The wide-gap hook features a locking spring that screws into the head of the bait and a weight on the shank. He uses 3/0 and 4/0 hooks, going bigger for thicker baits.

“I put the hook point into the body of the bait, and when it comes out, it actually sits in the groove on top,” explains Dubiel, who targets speckled trout, redfish and striped bass. “It’s outside the plastic, but the point is protected. It’s pretty smooth going through the grass. And the keel weight has a tendency to keep the lure a little cleaner, whether you’re fishing grass, wood or oyster shells.”

Capt. Ed Zyak of D.O.A. Lures in Stuart, Florida, says the company works with Eagle Claw to design hooks customized for its baits. D.O.A.’s PT-7 topwater lure comes with a 7/0 extra-wide-gap spring-screw TroKar hook with a needle point instead of the standard triangular point.

“The triangular point cut through the PT-7 easier than the needle point, which doesn’t rip out of the bait as easily and still has an extremely sharp point, plus we needed a bigger gap for the PT-7 for better hookups,” says Zyak, who also fishes the hook with a 5.5-inch jerk bait, 4-inch shad, and 5-inch swimbait for snook, redfish, and trout. “What makes it good is it’s a very strong, very stout hook. And because the wide gap drops down so far, it acts like a keel, which makes the baits swim true.”

Zyak skin-hooks the lures, going through the top of the bait with the hook point, then barely sticking the point back into the lure. He does the same with the 3/0 Needlepoint Screw Hook that Eagle Claw makes for D.O.A.’s 3-inch C.A.L. Shad and 4-inch C.A.L. jerkbait. He adds that a benefit of the spring screw, besides easy rigging, is it allows for multiple bites. “Many times fish come up and whack the bait, pull it down, and now the bait’s compromised, so you’re not going to get that follow-up bite because the bait’s in a ball. With the screw, they whack it and whack it and whack it.”

Rig Saltwater Soft Plastics Like Bass Fishermen

Capt. Mike Mann of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, a member of the Rapala and Z-Man pro staffs, pairs VMC’s freshwater bass hooks with Z-Man’s swimbaits for redfish and trout in central Florida’s Mosquito Lagoon during summer. Because of Z-Man’s stretchy, nearly indestructible 10X Tough ElaZtech soft plastic, Mann employs an old Texas-rig trick from his largemouth bass fishing days.

“I use an eighth-ounce worm weight and put a toothpick in the top hole, breaking it off to pin the weight to the top of the lure. Screw-in worm weights don’t work well with Z-Man baits because they don’t stay in the ElaZtech,” says Mann, who fishes with an exposed jig hook during winter. Summertime is when he gets away from jig heads. That’s where a small bullet weight keeps the hook weedless.

“I use a wide-gap 4/0 hook with Z-Man JerkbaitZ and PaddlerZ and a 3/0 with PogeyZ and small (3-inch) paddletails.” Mann says. He Texas-rigs the lures. “I’ll bring the hook point up through the slit in the lure’s back and then just catch the tip of the hook point back in the lure. When a fish hits, it’ll pop right out and you’ll get a better hookup, but it still allows the lure to come through the grass without getting snagged.”

Zyak Texas-rigs lures with Eagle Claw’s specially made Long Neck Hook when grass is thick on the surface. He inserts the hook eye into the bait to reduce the chances of snagging grass, and secures a small bullet weight atop the nose of the lure with a rubber bobber stopper. Zyak also uses the hook to weedlessly rig a ¼-ounce 3-inch D.O.A. Shrimp backward, cutting off the tail flipper, leaving the weight, and adding a glass rattle into the bait’s head.

When he’s fishing around structure, Aaron Wavra, an associate manager at Pure Fishing, Texas rigs Gulp! Shrimp and Mantis Shrimp on a Berkley Fusion19 EWG (extra wide gap) Hook with an unsecured bullet weight because “you get a little more movement when you jig the rod and impart action to the bait. The weight slides up the line and allows the shrimp to do its own thing. It has an erratic action.”

For a truly different weedless option, Wavra suggests drop-shotting a baitfish imitation. Using a technique popular with bass anglers when the bite is tough, a Fusion19 Drop Shot or EWG Hook is attached to the line with a Palomar knot a foot or so above a weight. “Instead of nose-hooking the bait, come in between the gill plates” Wavra says, so the hook point is just inside the nose. “I’ve used it in Islamorada [Florida], in sand holes where you’d typically throw a shrimp on a jig head. You can really control the presentation and keep the bait vertical. The nice thing is you always have a tight line and can feel every bite. It’s ­excellent for finicky fish.”

If he’s fishing in grass, Wavra rigs Gulp! Shrimp, as well as the Gulp! Pogy, Nemesis and Ripple Mullet, on Fusion19 keel-weighted or unweighted swimbait hooks, which have a spiral bait keeper attached to the eye. “The thing I like about it is it keeps the shrimp vertically oriented.”

Likewise, Mann pairs the Z-Man EZ ShrimpZ with a VMC Heavy Duty Weighted Swimbait hook because it allows the shrimp to hover vertically in the water and float down when he lifts the rod tip. He coats the shrimp lures with Pro-Cure Super Gel fish ­attractant, his favorite scents being shrimp and bloody tuna.

Rig Jig Heads With Soft Plastics

Cowart is a Z-Man pro staffer who partners with his son, Capt. Michael Cowart, in three different redfish ­tournament series. They used to Texas-rig their Z-Man baits on Mustad Grip Pin weighted hooks. Thanks to field testing and recommendations Cowart and his son made in conjunction with Eye Strike Fishing, Z-Man now offers the Weedless Eye jig head. It features a streamlined head that has a bait keeper plus a wire weed guard that goes through the hook eye, which is bent at a 45-degree angle, to the hook point. The weed guard prevents the exposed hook from snagging. “It’s 99.9 percent weedless,” Cowart says. “You can throw it with any Z-Man bait. Not just any jig head will work with a Z-Man. You need a keeper for the ElaZtech.”

Read Next: Secrets of Fishing Soft Plastics

Cowart also uses the Z-Man Texas Eye jig head. The freely swinging Weedless Eye head is attached by a ring to the eye of a Mustad hook. He Texas-rigs the jig head, going through the bait with the hook, then skin-hooking the hook point back into the lure.

“Any paddletail bait swims like freaking crazy on it,” says Cowart. “When you’re fishing a Z-Man and the jig head is resting on the bottom, the bait will float straight up. It makes one fantastic dead-sticking bait. Redfish can become very finicky. They don’t want a lot of flash or movement. A retrieve with the Texas Eye could last two minutes.”

Use a Lightweight Hook or Jig Head

Cowart says that for 90 percent of their tournament fishing, they tie on a jig head with a 3/0 hook. They use as light a jig head as possible because too heavy a head dampens the action of the bait.

His Weedless Eye weights are usually 3⁄16- and ⅛-ounce. He uses a ­3⁄16-ounce Texas Eye half the time, going to ¼-ounce when fishing in 5 feet or more of water.

Dubiel’s VMC weighted hooks range from 1⁄16- to ¼-ounce. The heavier hook is used for deeper water when Dubiel has to get a 360GT down to structure. Whichever hook he uses, it’s perfectly rigged so only fish get the point.

The post Hooks for Weedless Rigging Soft Plastics appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Since many saltwater gamefish—from seatrout and redfish to stripers and mackerel—feed somewhere in the water column, suspending a livey or lure between the surface and bottom can increase your odds of success. The easiest way to suspend baits involves one of angling’s oldest tools—a float attached to a fishing line.

Slip Floats

In regions where tides fluctuate frequently and greatly, anglers use a depth-adjustable slip float to keep a bait in the strike zone. Slip floats come in high-profile, pencil-shaped models like the Lindy Tackle Little Joe Pole Float and low-profile versions such as the Thill Big Fish Slider.

While some models come with built-in weights, I prefer the unweighted versions, which I pair with a cigar-shaped lead matched to the float’s buoyancy. Pencil-shaped models require less weight than the bulkier low-profile models. For example, an 8-inch Big Fish Slider requires 2 ¼ ounces to perform properly while an 8-inch Little Joe Pole Float works fine with 1 ¼ ounces. Choosing the proper weight boils down to trial-and-error, but assume you need to add or remove a ¼ ounce of weight for each inch of float length.

Some slip floats also come pre-packaged with rigging supplies, but for those that don’t, I keep these materials in my tackle bag:

• Pre-made stoppers, either knots or rubber bobber stoppers,
• Small plastic beads (be sure the diameter of the opening is smaller than the size of your stop knot, and that the bead is too large to fit into the opening of the float),
• A selection of cigar-shaped weights with a wire loop at one end and a barrel swivel on the other matched to the floats,
• Larger plastic beads, or short lengths of vinyl tubing, to serve as a cushion between the float and weight.
• A 14-inch length of thin-diameter wire with the last 2 inches bent back on itself for threading the main line through the float.

To rig a slip float, place a bobber-stopper knot or rubber bobber stopper on the main line. Both can be purchased at tackle stores or online, or you can tie your own stopper knot.

Slide a plastic bead onto the main line before threading the line through the float, starting from the top down. Pull the main line from the bottom of the float and slide it through a larger bead or piece of tubing. Tie the line to the fixed loop at the end of the cigar weight.

Attach a leader and hook appropriate for your quarry to the swivel at the bottom of the weight.

Position the stopper on the main line to set the depth of the terminal rig. I usually start with the bait a few inches off the bottom and work upward in the water column until I find the fish.

When properly rigged and presented, the brightly colored upper section of the float extends perpendicular above the waterline while the lower portion remains submerged. Slip floats can be especially effective for drifting live baits over and around fish-holding structure.

On days with a stiff wind, especially one opposite the current, fishing high-profile floats can be difficult. So I opt for a low-profile model that’s effected more by the water movement and less by wind.

If the presentation involves drifting the bait with the current, leave the reel in free spool allowing the float to move naturally. Remain vigilant to engage the reel and set the hook as soon as the float disappears.

Popping Corks

Gamefish respond to a variety of stimuli with two of the most important being sound and movement. Thus, the popping cork has become an indispensable part of the modern inshore saltwater angler’s arsenal since it mimics the sound of feeding fish, imparts movement to the bait or lure suspended below and provides anglers with a visual cue of the strike.

The most popular version comprises a short length of corrosion-resistant wire threaded through plastic and/or brass beads and a cigar-, egg-, or conical-shaped foam float with a cupped face. Barrel swivels terminate both ends of the wire. Some versions are weighted to facilitate longer casts. Common brands include the Bomber Paradise Popper, Precision Tackle Cajun Thunder, and D.O.A. Clacker.

Read Next: Fishing With Popping Corks

Position the popping cork between the main line and a length of leader matched to the water depth and tipped with a hook, jig, spoon, or even a crankbait. When using a live bait, adding a spit shot or two to the leader midway between the float and the hook keeps a frisky livey in the strike zone.

If you fish an area where the depth changes dramatically over the duration of a fishing trip, keep pre-made leaders varying in length from 2 to 6 feet stored in labeled plastic zippered bags to minimize rigging time.

I make mine with a surgeon’s loop on one end. Simply pass the loop through the open eye of the barrel swivel on the popping cork, bring the opposite end of the leader back through the loop, and pull it tight. Finish the leader as desired.

After casting the popping cork, wait a few seconds then vigorously jerk the rod tip causing the beads and float to crash together. Quickly recover any slack, pause then repeat. Often the popping cork disappears immediately, but sometimes fish hit the bait or lure a few seconds later as it descends. Change up the pace until you find the right rhythm and intensity.

The Best of Both

It might come as no surprise that ingenious anglers have figured out a way to combine the best of slip floats and popping corks. On Betts’ Billy Bay Aggravator and the Harper Super Striker, a hollow brass tube replaces the wire typically used on a popping cork. The main line threads through the tube, and then the popping cork is rigged the same as the slip float with the stopper-bead-float-bead sequence. The result being a popping cork that can be fished effectively in deeper waters.

The post How to Rig Slip Floats and Popping Corks appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

If any fishing tool is as ubiquitous as rods, reels and hooks, it might be floats. Buoyancy comes into play whether you’re using a bobber to suspend an earthworm for bluegills in a pond or a balloon to drift a butterfish chunk to yellowfin tuna in blue water. Floats can be so effective that they’re virtually omnipresent on all bodies of water.

The retail market provides a dizzying array of floats, including some shaped like shotgun shells and others with built-in night lights. But for offshore saltwater fishing specifically, floats can be homemade as often as store-bought.

Using Floats in Deep Offshore Waters

For bluewater game fish, anglers ­usually need floats that can suspend a significant amount of weight — sometimes pounds instead of ounces — at depths ranging from 10 feet to hundreds of feet, despite strong currents or fast drifts. Floats must be adjustable for various depths and set to release after a hookup so they won’t interfere with line retrieval during a fish fight.

“I’ve set floats as deep as 1,700 feet when daytime swordfishing,” says Capt. Bouncer Smith, who fished out of Miami for decades. “We use a two-liter soda bottle and attach it with a No. 64 rubber band looped around the line and back around the neck of the bottle, which is easy to remove. Longline clips work too.”

Why use a soda bottle? Store-bought offshore floats can sometimes be difficult to locate and surprisingly expensive, although online ­searching presents a few interesting options for floats that can support up to 4 pounds of lead. The key feature to look for is a quick-release mechanism that allows the float to slide freely on the fishing line after a strike.

Another option is to use in-line floats. “Rig a bead, then the float, then another bead on the line,” Smith explains, “and tie a rubber band around the line to keep the top bead from moving. When you reel in the float with a fish on, it’s easy to slide the rubber band along the leader to bring the fish in.”

Smith says that although this in-line system isn’t used as much these days, it remains an effective way to keep a bait near the surface while fishing for sailfish, and the same egg-shaped floats used for kite-fishing rigs work when you don’t need much weight on the line.

Eco-Friendly Floats for Offshore Fishing

Floats made by RediRig feature a built-in quick-release mechanism in the form of a clip at the top and a pair of spring-loaded rubber stoppers that hold the line in place at the bottom. When a fish pulls out the line from between the stoppers, the float slides freely while the line continues to run through the clip.

Balloons are another popular (and very cheap) option, but they’ve fallen out of favor due to pollution and sea-life concerns. When a fish drags them underwater on the strike, balloons commonly pop. Latex can remain on the fishing line or drift in the water. Balloons can also float free and become an ­ingestion danger for sea turtles.

That said, balloons do make ­effective floats. Angler should be sure to affix them to the line breakaway style with a thin rubber band so they can be retrieved after the fish is boated.

Hollow-foam pool noodles have increased in popularity in recent years, particularly along the mid-Atlantic coast, because they don’t drift away after a hookup. The main line runs through the center of the noodle and is temporarily secured at the desired depth by tucking the line under a ­rubber band (or several rubber bands, when used with lots of weight) on the noodle’s exterior. When a fish strikes, the line pulls out from under the ­rubber band, and the noodle slides freely on the line.

Anglers can choose how long to cut noodles, according to need (a 10-inch section is enough to support more than a pound of weight); they’re extremely inexpensive; and they allow for color-coding lines according to depth, distance set from the boat, or whatever variable you like to track.

A Float Aficionado

Just how important can a float be? Capt. Mark Sampson of Fish Finder Adventures, who operates out of Ocean City, Maryland, during summer, and the lower Florida Keys in winter, says without hesitation that he’d never leave the dock without floats aboard his boat.

“The only time I don’t use them is when trolling, and even then, I’ve stopped the boat and wished I had one,” he says. His on-the-spot solution? He digs through the trash can and pokes around the galley until he finds a drink koozie that can get the job done.

“Anytime you’re either drifting or at anchor, fishing either a live bait or a dead bait, you should have a float on at least one line. It doesn’t matter if you’re live-baiting for kings, chunking for tuna, or fishing for sharks; a float will help you place a bait at the exact depth you want. It’s also a good way to keep a bait up top when you might normally want to kite-fish but the conditions don’t allow for it,” he explains.

Sampson says his preferred tool is the pool noodle: It’s inexpensive, easy to rig, and doesn’t add to the refuse floating around in the ocean. But he cautions that whatever system you use, you shouldn’t just set out a float and ­forget about it.

“Obviously if you’re watching the float, you can react quicker if you get a bite, but you also want to watch it to make sure the line doesn’t get fouled,” he says. “Sometimes a bait will spin or a live bait will swim in circles, tying a knot or twisting the line around the float.”

Read Next: Fishing With Popping Corks

Another issue you might encounter, particularly with mako sharks, occurs when the shark attacks the float instead of the bait. Sampson says that when this happens, there’s not much you can do other than crank the float out of the danger zone, which often brings the bait within the predator’s view. If the float gets bit and severs the line, send back another bait as quickly as possible.

Having a mako eat your float might be a problem, but as far as fishing goes, it’s about as first world a problem as you can have. Besides, were it not for the float, that mako might not have attacked in the first place. Forget to bring one on your next offshore outing, and you might end up merely bobbing around on the ocean praying for a bite — or rooting around the cabin looking for a drink koozie.

The post How to Drift Baits Away From the Boat appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

A lure that swims flawlessly prevents tackle tangles and skittish game fish, illustrating that proper ­presentations are the most important factor when retrieving lures. Lures spinning in the water erroneously because of sloppy rigs, incorrect hook modifications or improper retrieval speeds can create line twist and fishless days.

Thankfully, a quick test next to the boat can tell you if a lure is swimming correctly. Anglers should take the next step and match the retrieval speed based on the conditions. Most lures require unique presentations based on different types of retrieves — not every soft plastic needs a steady retrieve back to the boat, and not every hard bait demands spastic action.

We asked expert captains and fishing professionals how different speeds affect their lure presentations. Is it better to be the tortoise or the hare?

Pacing Hard Plastics

With any lure, let the fish show you what retrieval speed they want by varying speeds until a fish connects with your presentation.

“Say I’m walking a lure such as a Rapala Skitter V across a shallow bar. I’ll start with a slow, steady retrieve,” says Bernie Schultz, a veteran salt­water angler, BassMaster Elite Series pro and lure collector. “I may pause the lure at times, but the pace is mostly slow at first. If I get a quick, aggressive reaction from the fish, then I’ll speed up the retrieve or give the lure sharper snaps with the rod tip to create commotion.”

Without feeding responses from increased retrieval speeds, he’ll slow down the plug again and pause the lure at key points near pier pilings, sand holes in a grass flat or irregularities along a shoreline.

“A steady twitching cadence is how I initially start working my jerkbaits, then vary from that speed according to how the fish react,” says Schultz. “That goes for most species, when casting ­suspending or ultraslow-sinking lures.” Some species, such as seatrout, ­prefer specific actions, often hitting a lure at rest between pulls.

“For whatever reason, trout ­occasionally prefer the lure lying dead still, especially when water temperatures are extremely hot or cold,” says Schultz. “That’s the best time to throw a jerkbait. There’s something about a small profile and flash, hanging in the strike zone, that really triggers a reaction.” Other species, such as Spanish mackerel, prefer a more aggressive, erratic action, especially if fish are actively feeding on or near the surface.

“I go with a fast retrieve during a surface-feeding fray,” says Schultz. “Usually the quicker you get your lure in there, the better. That goes for all types of schooling game fish.”

Sight-Casting Success

When fish are in plain view, sight-­fishing requires different tactics.

“On grass flats, redfish hang along the edges and you have to slow your baits down,” says Mark Cowart, who fishes pro redfish tournaments with his son, Capt. Michael Cowart. “When you spot them facing into the current, make sure to quarter the bait to the fish.”

Mark prefers to cast baits that ­imitate sandworms and crabs, ­utilizing Z-Man Finesse TRDs and Palmetto BugZ, respectively, both freshwater soft baits.

Michael uses a speedier ­presentation to locate fish via blind-casting, then switches to a slower presentation to seal the deal.

“I fish the Z-Man PaddlerZ quickly, just below the surface, to force reaction strikes,” says Michael, of Shallowtails Adventures in Panama City Beach, Florida. “If they miss the bait but swirl or wake on it, cast back to the spot and let the bait drag slowly along the bottom.”

Water temperatures affect Capt. Lynn Zirkle’s sight-fishing tactics. Fishing Tampa Bay waters on Florida’s west coast, Zirkle presents baits faster in warm waters and slower in cool waters. “In Florida, below 70 degrees is cool and above 80 degrees is hot,” jokes Zirkle.

Besides seasonal trends, ­temperatures throughout the day affect retrieval speeds. In the morning, Zirkle works surface baits slowly. In the afternoon and evening, he jumps to subsurface baits, such as the LiveTarget Scaled Sardine twitchbait, and soft swimbaits for faster retrieval speeds.

Fishing for linesiders is a perfect example. When sight-fishing for snook along a beach during the sizzling summer months, Zirkle works the bait faster, especially in conjunction with tide movement. But in the backwaters, he works jerkbaits much slower along docks and mangroves.

“When sight-casting, the safest approach is to start with a slow retrieve,” says Zirkle. “Make sure the lure is well ahead of the fish — not on top of its head — and when the fish starts to follow the bait, then speed up the retrieval. Speeding up the lure retrieve once a fish locks on mimics a fleeing baitfish, and a quick twitch or rest during the retrieve can entice the bite.”

Perfecting Poppers and Stickbaits

Calm surface waters are ideal for most popping styles because conditions won’t hamper your ability to work the plug. Rough water, however, can cause a popper with a large head to tumble in the troughs. Popper fishing really thrives with two types of fish species.

“For me, it’s aggressively feeding fish on the move, or deeper-holding fish with the potential to launch into aggressive feeding behavior,” says Capt. Jack Sprengel, of East Coast Charters in Rhode Island.

“Aggressively feeding fish include tunas, jacks and even ­bluefish, while the explosive strikers that hold in current or orient to structure comprise species like cubera snapper, wahoo and mahimahi.”

Capt. Jamie Thinnes, of Seasons Sportfishing in San Diego, California, targets bluefin tuna from 40 to 70 pounds at the surface when his local waters hit 66 to 68 degrees.

“The ‘foamers’ are those tuna attacking anchovies at the surface,” says Thinnes. “‘Puddler’ tuna also hang at the surface, creating ripples but not necessarily eating. Feeding tuna hit plugs almost immediately, destroying the lure when it hits the surface.”

Thinnes watches for ­followers behind surface lures such as the Shimano Coltsniper. If he gets bumped on the retrieve, he’ll speed up the lure even faster. No bites at all are a sign the retrieve is too fast, or the tuna are ­simply puddling at the surface.

Sprengel tries to emulate the speed of fleeing baitfish. “The key with [surface feeders] is for the lure to hit the water moving, consistent with your patterned speed,” says Sprengel. “Slow it down or speed it up in a pattern; once you get their attention, keep it there.”

When casting a popper near ­structure, start the retrieve with long, deep sweeps of the rod, quickly taking up the slack line. The long, deep sweeps are perfect for grabbing the attention of the deeper-holding or structure-oriented fish, and often result in a large swirl behind your plug.

“Once a large boil forms behind the lure, begin a series of fast, erratic chops, acting like an injured or disoriented baitfish, and you will likely be rewarded with a classic, full-body breach [attack],” says Sprengel.

A fishing lure is only as effective as the angler applying the action. Be creative and mix up retrieves until you fool fish into striking. If fish are receptive, you might be able to work the bait without much thought. But when fish get picky, that’s the time to try to figure out necessary changes in how you retrieve your lures.

Five Things to Remember About Working Topwater Lures

1. Try not to stop reeling after a miss. The sudden halt can turn fish off the chase almost immediately. Conversely, don’t get so excited that you rip the lure away from them.

2. Fish the plug right to the boat. Fish often follow a bait, especially after missing it a couple of times during the retrieve.

3. If you see a fish strike your topwater, set the hook only when you feel the weight of the fish tight to your line. Setting the lure too early often pulls the bait from the fish, even with treble hooks.

4. When you come tight to the fish, give it one or two quick sets. Don’t swing for the fences or do 30 hook-sets.

5. Use a slightly heavier leader when popping, compared to jig or subsurface baits. Popping imparts increased stress on the leader system; heavy mono is ideally suited for this type of fishing.

The post How to Retrieve Fishing Lures to Catch More appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

The razzle-dazzle of a slurping, clacking popping cork might seem off-putting at first, but its effectiveness and dominance as a fish catcher is indisputable. While particularly effective and popular in Gulf Coast states, the technique has followers in the Carolinas and beyond.

My baptism into popping corks occurred on my first-ever trip to the toe of the Boot State. Fishing the ­turbid open bays close to the Gulf, anglers in our boat caught oversize redfish hand over fist until we begged for mercy. What was the best rig for redfish that day? A flashy cork, about 4 feet of leader and a jig-and-bait combo. A topwater plug or “tight-lined” soft plastic did not attract the same interest from the bull redfish we were targeting.

Ever since, I’ve been hooked on corks in off-colored water, paired either with natural baits or lures. It’s my go to redfish rig, and sometimes the popping-cork rig is the only presentation a redfish or speckled seatrout will hit.

The main draw of the popping cork is an attention-getting clacking or clicking sound created by beads hitting a foam cork along a metal through-wire. Second, when a cork is jerked by the rod tip, the lure or bait presentation jumps off the bottom like a fleeing bait. A weight attached to the bottom of the cork adds casting distance and stability; swivels at the top and bottom of the wire serve as line ties for the main line and leader. The sound mimics fleeing shrimp, crabs, baitfish or even other game fish attacking prey. Some models of corks also throw a disturbance splash.

When and Where to Use Popping Corks

Popping corks are prime to use when water conditions are choppy or turbid, with the best depths from 2 to 6 feet.

“If you tie a leader much longer than 6 feet, then casting is difficult with 7- to 7½-foot rods,” says Capt. Ray Markham, of St. Petersburg, Florida.

Use light leader material, such as 15- to 20-pound fluorocarbon, in clear water, but bump up to heavier leader in specific situations.

“You can use 20- to 50-pound leader, no problem, with a popping cork, especially in dark-colored water,” says Capt. Richard Stoughton, of Charleston, South Carolina. “I’ve even used 80-pound around structure like docks with success. I tie long leaders in spring and shorter leaders in fall, mostly because fish move into deeper waters in the spring.”

Anglers on the boat should cast ­different-colored corks so they can pick out their own float in a crowd.

Markham prefers to throw less-noisy corks when fish are skittish.

“Where I fish, there isn’t much boat traffic, but the more traffic, the spookier the fish and the less noise I want from my cork,” he says. “Mostly we catch trout and redfish, but incidental catches include bluefish, snook, Spanish mackerel, ­snapper, grouper, cobia and others.”

Stoughton prefers to use corks because of the motion of lure imparted by the cork — if done correctly, when a cork is twitched or popped the lure will jump in a vertical motion. When an angler stops popping the cork, the artificial shrimp, jig or live bait will settle back to the bottom. He prefers to impart a double-pop action so the lure jumps twice and then falls.

“Often, I’ll add an egg sinker below the cork on the leader,” says Stoughton. “Pass the leader through the egg sinker twice so a loop wraps around the weight and holds it in place. Don’t let the egg sinker slide too close to the shrimp or jig because it will affect action negatively. Split shot can fall off the leader when a seatrout shakes its head near the boat.”

Some captains will tie their braided main line directly to the top swivel; others add a trace of leader material first. “I use braided lines on my rods, but tying directly to the top swivel of the cork can cause tangling issues,” says Markham. “Instead, tie a short piece of 30-pound fluorocarbon or some other stiff leader that stands away from the cork.”

Popular cork makers include Bomber, Cajun Thunder, Comal Tackle, D.O.A., H&H Lure Co., Red Alert and plenty of others. Soft lures to tie below the cork include artificial shrimp from D.O.A., LiveTarget, Gulp! and Z-Man lures. Also, soft plastics pinned to a jig head are popular.

But watch out: Sometimes trout or redfish will attack the cork itself. Try casting out a topwater in those situations for exciting surface strikes.

Using Popping Corks With Live Baits

Capt. Jeff Poe, of Lake Charles, Louisiana, ties on a specific type of cork for those customers who want to use live baits, such as shrimp, crabs or fish.

“We use spinning tackle with football-shaped weighted corks that have beads on either end,” says Poe. “Their weight makes it easier for our clients to cast farther. Whoever casts farthest wins with the most bites, usually.”

The average depth in Calcasieu Lake, where he fishes, is 6 feet, so a cork works anywhere in the lake.

“The deepest water where I’ve ever caught fish with a cork is about 35 feet,” says Poe. “That was around an oil platform in the Gulf. I’ll try a cork anytime I feel I’m around fish but we’re not getting the amount of bites I expect. Corks are a great way to catch fish in dirty water, as the noise attracts and the float suspends your bait in the strike zone.”

Poe strays away from corks in strong current because in those conditions fish hold tight to the bottom. He also won’t tie on a cork near large schools “because as soon as a fish eats your bait and pulls your cork under, other fish will attempt to eat your cork.”

Comparing Different Styles of Popping Corks

Anglers will notice a host of different-style corks available from a number of makers, with the most common styles shaped like an egg, a cigar or an ice-cream cone with the point bitten off. Each foam cork is different in how it’s built, so personal preference goes a long way in deciding how much you’re willing to pay, what style of cork you want, what type of beads you want, and through-wire ­material stiffness and durability.

Here’s how some manufacturers describe their corks:

Bomber Paradise Popper

Bomber’s Russell Garner says, “The Bomber Paradise Popper’s wire is titanium. It springs back to shape. I have seen these corks with the paint and part of the cork gone, and they still produce fish. All of the other components are plastic or brass. The Popper is tested not to break at less than 70 pounds of pressure, and many don’t break until under more than 90 to 100 pounds.”

Cajun Thunder Equalizer

Cajun Thunder’s Bill Hall says, “When you pop the cork, the head should dunk into the water’s surface, not away from it. The stainless-steel wire slides first, then cork splashes on its side. Next, the click of the brass beads sounds like a shrimp, crab or baitfish. Finally, the lure action should vertically jig up and then free-fall.” Cajun Thunder produces its classic inshore models but also offers larger floats for tarpon and offshore fishing.

D.O.A. Popper Clacker

D.O.A.’s Capt. Ed Zyak says, “Between the cigar, oval and popper D.O.A. Clacker corks, some make less noise and have a different pitch in the sound they create. The popper style is louder and deeper in tone but also produces a big splash when worked aggressively. Due to the internal weight, the popper is durable and gets less wire bend than do other styles of D.O.A. corks.”

Red Alert Speckanater

Red Alert Lures’ Keith Fussell says, “There are two unique features about my popping corks. One, the beads used are hematite, which creates a very distinct pitch like a shrimp slapping its tail. Steel inserts in the foam cork also contribute to the sound. Two, the through-wire is rated at 250 pounds but not rigid, with 100-pound swivels at the ends for a longer‑lasting cork.”

The post Fishing With Popping Corks appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Diverse offshore-fishing styles ignited angler resourcefulness throughout the decades to produce innovative leader setups. See a need, fill a need. The ingenuity among experienced fishermen is ongoing, with captains quick to recognize and change tactics whenever better leader options are created. At many fishing ­destinations I visit, I often learn a fresh twist or new leader system from a local captain.

Many techniques are versatile, allowing offshore anglers across the globe to utilize the leader setups. Leaders from the past still have value today; new leader systems stretch the capabilities of today’s tackle. You’ll find both in this column. Below, three respected veteran captains describe tried-and-true leaders.

At least one of these leaders will almost certainly work for your preferred style of offshore hunting.

Trolling for Marlin

Capt. Rom Whitaker of Release Sportfishing in Hatteras, North Carolina, targets dolphin, wahoo, marlin and tuna off the Tar Heel coast. I wanted to know his leader rig for catching blue marlin.

“The leader combinations we use have been tested and improved many times over the years,” says Whitaker, “but one certainty about fishing is there’s always something new and better coming along, and you had better be ready for change.”

Whitaker sets out specific trolling spreads for tunas, white marlin and blue marlin, but here we highlight his tournament-winning blue marlin spread composed solely of lures.

Penn International 80s, packed with 130-pound braid and mono, are set out on Whitaker’s long outrigger lines. Specifically, for tournament fishing, he uses a 300-pound snapless ball-bearing swivel, and crimp connections for the main line and leader.

“I would recommend to those who use crimps to experiment with different crimps, crimpers and monofilament to find a combination that works for you,” he says. “There is an obvious difference when you start switching crimps and crimpers. If you put your leaders to the test, you want everything right.”

Whitaker’s leaders start with 300- to 550-pound Momoi Extra Hard, depending on the size of the lure. He keeps leader lengths at a standard 28 feet for tournament conformity. A single-hook cable rig with an 8/0 to 11/0 Owner Jobu or Gamakatsu Blade Point Tuna Hook connected to 650-pound stainless-steel cable finishes the rig. He uses the same leader setup on short and flat lines but swaps out 80s for 130s. Favorite baits include a Black Bart 1656 on the long rigger, a Mold Craft Wide Range on the short rigger, and a Bonz Agitator on the flat line.

“I like the bend of the hook to hang out of the skirt a half to three-quarter inches,” Whitaker says. “Depending on the size of lure, I try not to overwhelm the action by ­rigging too big.”

All-Purpose Bottomfishing

Fishing in Key West this past October, I noticed the bottomfishing rig that Capt. R.T. Trosset, of Spindrift Fishing, used to catch all types of groupers and snappers. I was lucky enough to join Fin-Nor’s Bob Bagby and Chris Littau on Trosset’s boat one day, testing the new Fin-Nor Primal lever drags (available summer 2017) and Mega Lite spinning reels.

The modest leader setup is a beefed‑up version of a freshwater drop-shot rig. I’ve fished sliding sinker rigs plenty, but this might be the simplest rig ever I’ve used to keep cut baits and live baits near, but not on, the bottom.

“My main setup is 30-pound Cortland Master Braid main line connected to 40-pound Ande fluoro-carbon leader,” says Trosset. “I tie a spider hitch in the braid and then a double uni-knot to the fluorocarbon. My leader length varies depending on the type of fish I’m targeting.”

For casting baits, Trosset might shorten his leader to the length of the rod. But bottomfishing doesn’t require casting, and extra leader length provides protection against structure, so he’ll measure off 15 feet of leader material.

“My basic bottom leader rig in up to 60 feet of water is 10 to 15 feet of ­fluoro, with a double overhand loop 3 feet up from the sinker,” says Trosset. “The egg sinker is attached with an improved clinch knot.”

Trosset uses a 1/0 to 4/0 short-shank hook (such as a 9175 Mustad) in the Atlantic and a 1/0 to 4/0 circle hook in the Gulf of Mexico. To attach a hook, he pulls the loop through the hook eye, then the hook through the loop. The rig itself is similar to the dropper-loop rig used both offshore or even surf-fishing. If not familiar with a dropper-loop knot, check out our knot video online to see how the overhand and dropper loop knots are tied. Trosset was able to tie his rigs in a matter of seconds if a fish broke off.

On our trip, we landed red and black groupers, plus snappers. In some spots, Trosset also landed red snapper regularly on the rig. Minimal tying and minimal effort make this leader setup a cheap but effective option for ­natural-bait bottom-bouncers.

How to Tie the Dropper Loop Rig

Watch this video to learn how to tie two different variations of the dropper loop rig.

Casting for Tunas

Capt. Jack Sprengel, who runs East Coast Charters out of various ports in New England, has been jigging, casting and popping for tunas since 2005.

“We knew braided line would be the answer to strength and capacity,” says Sprengel, “but in the early days, I had issues attaching a leader because most knots simply exploded when the tension caused braided line to cut through the fluorocarbon leader.”

The number of hookups he could expect in the earlier days was staggering, but the number of fish landed was laughable. During that time, Sprengel used 50- to 80-pound braid, connected to the leader via an Albright, Bristol or uni-to-uni-knot. Most times the knots would fail under the extreme pressures. He tried a Bimini twist to a swivel, with the leader crimped to the swivel — but the swivel made it hard to cast a long leader.

“Next, spliced leaders with hollow-core braid made it possible for us to jig with confidence,” says Sprengel. “While these systems were fantastic for vertical jigging, the large loops and the transition of soft loop-to-loop connections to rigid splice points created terrible wind knots when trying to cast through the guides on casts.”

Finally, Sprengel settled on two knots that seamlessly connect heavy braid to fluoro leader: the PR Bobbin and FG knots.

“These knots were something out of the future, and initially they were a little intimidating, but they totally revamped the confidence I had in using a knot to connect my main line to leader,” he says. “Over the past few seasons, I have adapted to the quicker method of tying the FG knot, by leaning the rod away for tension and weaving the fluoro around the braid.”

At the end of this leader system, Sprengel ties a Palomar knot to a heavy-duty split ring (with more than 100-pound-test, he uses a crimp). The lure or jig is then added to the split ring.

“For targeting all species of tuna in the Northeast, our most consistent approach is a weighted-head-and-soft-tail combination that allows you to fish actively,” says Sprengel. “For a long time, jigging and casting offshore was considered less effective than trolling or baiting, but I believe now, when positioned near a biomass of fish, ­jigging and casting is just as ­effective.”

Check Out This Jig-and-Pop Adventure

“While live bait still reigns supreme among those who fish Costa Rica waters, some anglers are all about throwing poppers and dropping metal jigs when possible, enjoying the hands-on action and variety.”

The post How to Rig Popular Offshore Leaders appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Whether casting a jig or live bait, West Coast anglers are some of the best offshore conventional casters I’ve ever seen. Experienced slingers out of San Diego, Dana Point, Long Beach and other popular ports launch surface iron with a star-drag reel 100-plus yards to blitzing yellowtail. Possibly even more impressive, they cast delicate live baits (as small as 4 inches long) away from a drifting or anchored boat using conventional gear filled with braided line of 65-pound-test or heavier.

Because of the nature of headboat fishing off the SoCal coast, anglers have mastered distance casting to catch tunas, yellowtail, wahoo and dorado. And because fishing is often shoulder to shoulder along a rail, anglers require lightweight conventional gear with high drag pressures to prevent losing fish to friendly-fire tangles, the boat’s hull or sharp teeth.

For anyone who trolls the majority of time with live bait, or tosses plugs with a spinner, casting 50- to 80-pound conventional gear is a whole new ballgame. But as SoCal anglers will tell you, conventional gear casts iron (a type of metal jig) farther than any spinner. Conventional reels also have stronger drag systems to land 25- to 200-plus-pound pelagics from a stationary boat (though a few elite spinners are making a push into the high-drag arena).

Given these advantages to casting conventional gear offshore, I reached out to two West Coast experts for their insight on what to do and what not to do. Their comments convinced me that there’s no reason to fear the overrun.

Practice Casting

Practice, practice and practice some more, says Southern California’s Steve Carson, director of Penn Fishing University. There’s no substitute or shortcut for practicing and learning the proper cast and feel. (But don’t practice on pavement because the surface can harm your braided line.)

“Practice with an unfettered free-spool,” says Carson. “When live-bait fishing, you want zero casting controls to [allow] free-flowing movement of the spool. It’s up to you to train your thumb.”

One good way to practice casting is to use an old soft-plastic swimbait on a hook. “It replicates a live bait closely in size and weight,” explains Carson, “much better than a clothespin used by old-timers to practice. Always practice with a wet line to replicate actual fishing conditions.”

Mono is More Forgiving

When drifting, monofilament’s ability to float during long soak periods helps live-bait anglers track their baits and prevent tangles, says Capt. Ernie Prieto, owner of Chubasco Sportfishing in San Diego.

Many surface iron casters still use mono too. “You won’t lose casting distance by using mono,” says Prieto. “In fact, I specifically put 100 yards of mono on top of my braid for casting iron.”

Carson utilizes a top shot of 100 yards of mono also. “Whatever distance you regularly cast your iron, there should be enough mono to handle a long cast,” he says. “Your braid shouldn’t touch the water unless a fish pulls drag. Use a 9- to 10-foot jig stick for longer casts.”

When fishing conventional mono with lures, the mono is much more forgiving with tangles and backlashes. Still, mono does have memory and can twist up at times. One absolute necessity is the ability to slow the line and reel speed during the cast.

“The side of the spool is your friend,” says Prieto. “Don’t thumb the line; instead, thumb the wall of the spool.

Carson points out that the shoulder of the spool is actually called the flange. “This is what you want to pressure when casting to prevent burning your thumb,” he explains. Size 16 lever drags and other larger reels mostly don’t have the flange because it cuts down on a reel’s line capacity.

Backlashes often result when ­something affects the timing of a cast. Don’t get distracted by other anglers’ actions. Backlashes with braid are a nightmare compared with a monofilament headache: Braid is much more expensive, and the knots are tighter and tougher to untangle.

Match Tackle Appropriately

Many California fishermen, especially anglers who fish their gear on multi-day trips, tend not to tweak spool tension. For example, when a lever drag is completely disengaged, they want their spool to spin as freely as the reel is capable.

Instead of tweaking tension settings, fishermen have multiple “sticks” for different classes of fish and fishing techniques. Specific rod-and-reel setups allow anglers to cast surface iron, deep jig, fight fish in the 50-pound-and-under class, and live-bait for larger tuna in the 100-pound class. Some anglers even incorporate a spinning reel with substantial line and drag capacities into their quiver.

“A surface iron is like a driver in golf: You want to launch that thing as far as possible,” says Prieto. “So fishing live bait is like a pitching wedge or putter: It requires finesse to cast your bait away from the boat without killing or losing the bait during the cast.”

The live-bait fishery in SoCal is vitally important; Prieto fishes live bait almost 95 percent of the time. Usually sardines, anchovies or mackerel are baits of choice, depending on yearly and seasonal changes to bait prevalence. The size of the baitfish dictates the weight of tackle to use.

“My go-to live-bait rig is 65-pound-braid main line to 25-pound mono leader for tuna up to 50 to 60 pounds,” says Prieto. “Because braid’s diameter gets so thin, 65-pound is about as light as I go. Up to 80-pound braid is a common weight on my boat. The lighter line is easier to cast.”

When casting a live baitfish, as soon as the bait hits the water, immediately put your thumb to the spool to prevent a bird’s nest. In past decades, presenting big baits to monster tuna required casting a 50-wide, packed with mono, which “required the angler to ‘kick-start’ the reel with their hand to get the spool moving,” says Prieto.

Casting large baits such as mackerel, anglers today use heavy 80- to 100-pound braid to make a decent cast. Braid helps casting distance, so the leader might be just a couple of feet in length.

“Off Guadalupe Island this year, small sardines were the only bait available,” recounts Carson. “So anglers had to use 80-pound braid and a 4- to 5-foot section of 80 fluorocarbon to get a bite from a 100-plus-pound tuna. The live-bait rods were 7 to 8 feet long to help pitch the bait away from the boat.”

Carson calls a traditional method to cast big live baits the Prowler Boat Flip, named after the time he first saw it in 1983 on the Prowler sport-fishing boat.

“It’s an underhand flip with the right hand, able to cast 40- to 50-pound mono,” says Carson. “While flipping with your right hand, give the mono line a yank with your left to get the reel moving at the exact same speed as the cast. This is how anglers in 1980s cast anchovies (or other small baits) away from the boat.

“This was a very difficult method to master, so thankfully lighter rods and reels, plus braided line, help casting today,” Carson continues. “Capt. Mike Lackey, of long-range boat Vagabond out of San Diego, is still very good at this technique.”

Common Mistakes to Watch Out For

• Anglers should “set and forget” their spool tensions, says Capt. Ernie Prieto. “Make your free-spool as free as possible in the morning, then set your star drag to a specific pound rating, and don’t touch the drag for the rest of the day.”

• Bring a backlash tool on board, says Steve Carson. Bass fishermen tend to use these for their baitcasters, but they work on all types of reels. Bass Pro Shops sells a Baitcast Pic for $5 that helps dissect those tiny braid boogers, backlashes and bird’s nests.

• Pay attention to the whole cast. Finish the cast, says Prieto. Keep your thumb lightly on the spool the whole time. “It’s like coaster brakes on a bike,” he says. “Be ready to brake quickly.” If you cast too hard and backlash, the lure will likely snap off or the bait be thrown from the hook.

• Always evenly level the line back onto the reel. “Most reels that we use here don’t have levelwinds,” says Carson, “so it’s up to the angler. Make sure line is level across the reel, or your next cast could lead to a severe bird’s nest.”

• Pay attention to how much line is spooled onto the reel. Underfilled reels definitely affect distance, while overfilled are more likely to backlash. “I believe a spool filled to within one-eighth of an inch from the lip of spool is the safest option,” says Carson.

Further Reading: Long-Range Mayhem

A greenhorn heads to Baja for explosive yellowfin tuna, wahoo, dorado and yellowtail action.

“Sea air hung heavy with anticipation as Capt. Tim Ekstrom called for lines in. Over the previous two days, obsessed anglers had rigged and examined their tackle, embellished fish stories, and gorged on chef-prepped meals.”

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