03/28/16 - PE BLACKFIN TUNA
gsweaver
Posts: 856 Officer
Left boat ramp around 9:00. trolled small feathers up north in 350-400 ft up to hilsborough inlet. Had 1 cutoff (probably a wahoo in 390 ft). great day on the water and plenty of action. All the tuna ate a small pink feather.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]2012 DUSKY 227XF SUZUKI 175
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[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
2014 Sea Hunt BX 22 BR / 250HP Yamaha **Retired**
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Pura Vida!
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Finest Kind
that's a chunky one
Any chance you have a pic of the small feather or amazon link to the ones you used? I was trolling feathers all day last week in 250-400 without a single hit! I was trolling around 8knots going north out of PE to Hillsborough
After trolling for 4 hours feathers I switched to trolling 1 skirted ballyhoo, 1 naked ballyhoo (mono w/ weight) and 1 skirted squid. Trolled those south back to PE for about 2 hours still with no bites! Was going around 6knots with this setup or else the baits weren't swimming right
Got out around 9am and was back in around 4pm.
236cc Key Largo - 200HP Mercury
Williamson Flash Feather Rigged Lure
and something like this, but in black/purple:
I trolled from PE upto Hillsborogh without a bite also, It wasn't until we were in 370 ft of water almost due east of the lighthouse that we got hits, and we just trolled back and forth in that area
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THAT is the key. Too many guys will just re-set after getting a hit and continue to drive away trolling blindly.
When you finally get a hit after trolling a while, first thing to do before you even throttle down is hit the MOB button on your GPS plotter. Work that same area over and over again!
"You never leave the fish to go find the fish".
Finest Kind
Thank you! Appreciate the info. Coming from flats fishing and primarily casting artificials 100's of a times a day on various flats, a lot to learn on the offshore/nearshore side of things.
Up in NJ we always trolled the following spread for school BlueFin Tuna....works just as well down here for Blackfin, Skipjack, False Albacore and Dolphin in these waters:
2 cedar plugs in tight off the transom
2 splash bars just beyond the white water
1 Green Machine on a bird way way back down the middle.
Here is a link for a killer splashbar...my favorite version is the 18 inch bar with green 6 inch floating squid:
http://www.sterlingtackle.com/#!18bars/c16up
You can troll these small bars off light tackle and really have some fun with these small Blackfin!
Finest Kind
Interesting setup, might give this a try. Couple Questions.
1. When you say tight behind the transform w cedars. Are we talking like 10ft? OR even closer like 5 ft, pretty much in the prop?
2. The spreaderbars aren't too big for those little BFT's? Those skirts look pretty big, but maybe that's just the pic.
3. What speed are you trolling at? I always had issues with spreader bars going crazy if going too fast, but normally I troll the plugs really fast.
236cc Key Largo - 200HP Mercury
I usually run the cedar plugs 10 to 20 feet behind the transom. Favorite colors are natural wood, red and white and blue and white.
Those are light tackle 18 inch spreader bars. The 6 inch squid size is not too big....they are just right for the Blackfin and most nearshore pelagics in these waters.
Note that those Sterling Bars have a built-in bird in front which makes the bar splash even at slow speeds. You need to be aware when setting out the bar that the bird is right side up, otherwise the bar will dive instead of splash.
The speed depends on the water conditions. You want the cedars to be dancing under the surface, the bars splashing on top, and the Green Machine behind the bird leaving a smoke trail. Speed will be anywhere from 6 to 10 MPH, whatever is working that day.
You will find that less throttle is needed going North with the current, and more going South against it.
Finest Kind