9/28 Barge canal trolling

Salty Dawg44

Got an early start and watched an offshore sunrise. 




Began in close and worked some drop-offs and rockpiles in 12' to the north of the channel, and then the old river channel, picking away at a few in the 20 inch size, and then one really good one for the fishbox.  Then after it got calm I ran farther out not far from the barge anchorage area. I got a few more shorts there.



On the way back in I spotted birds working about a quarter mile to my left So I headed that way to check it out. There were hundreds of Little tunny tearing up a bait school.



All I had was my light spinning rigs ready that I bring for Spanish, but the drags are silky smooth and I had plenty of new line. I caught 3, and each fight lasted about 10 minutes. 



After that I was worn out (must be getting old) and headed non stop back to the boat ramp.




Oh.... That one Gag that I kept was 32 1/2 inches.



Gotta rest up tomorrow, but I plan on going out again later this week.

Debo

Great job. That's a beast of a grouper.  

xmuskyguide

Excellent day on the water. WTG!

stc1993

Them bonito will wear you out.

chronicbreak

Thanks for the report!  Looks like it laid out nice. 

butchbal

Nice gag there Pete. Gotta love those single in-lines on an x-rap.

capt louie

That's cool. We were South of you. Only seen one small group of something small busting some small baits. It's time for the bonito to get thick I hope.

Ruff One

Nice report Pete. Looks like you are recovered. Love those big hard pulling grouper! 
.

Soda Popinski

I've seen little tunny 2-3 miles out of Bayport and didn't know what the heck they were, they move like lightning and didn't want the plug I threw at them.   

Doc Stressor

You can't move a plug fast enough to get them to hit most of the time.  Small spoons or jigs ripped as fast as you can get them to strike. The size needs to be pretty close to the baitfish they are on. 

Soda Popinski

Thanks Doc, they were chasing something smaller than what i was throwing.   It almost turned into a win when a small snook hit that plug (what he was doing out there I have no idea) but he spit it before i set the hook, was a cool strike though to see 5 feet under water 15 feet from the boat i see this flash of white and a black line.   That'll get your blood pumpin

Salty Dawg44

Soda Popinski said:

I've seen little tunny 2-3 miles out of Bayport and didn't know what the heck they were, they move like lightning and didn't want the plug I threw at them.   

Individual fish will hit a trolled plug, but a school feeding on a pod of bait are very size, shape, and speed specific. I use a diamond jig about 1 1/4 inches long and 4" of #3 wire connected to the leader directly with an Improved Albright connection. It will cast a LONG way. My reels are high speed Quantum Smoke 30 models that have a 6.2:1 gear ratio and retrieve 35" of line per crank and has ceramic drag discs. Even with those I reel as fast as I can. Remember, the baitfish are not just swimming, they are panic stricken and fleeing for their lives, and you must match that.

If you can't find the jigs, take an extra long shanked hook, add one of those inline lead  sinkers that are split down the middle and have tabs on each end,. Pinch it on the shank of the hook and then wrap it with aluminum foil.

Flash

Excellent

Billy

Salty Dawg44 said:

If you can't find the jigs, take an extra long shanked hook, add one of those inline lead  sinkers that are split down the middle and have tabs on each end,. Pinch it on the shank of the hook and then wrap it with aluminum foil.

Excellent advice, I believe you and I have done that in the past, for sure I used them fishing with Captain Marrio a couple times when he was scouting for them. I still have a few I made in my tackle. You can't rip them too fast...for sure.

Billy

ANUMBER1

nice fish

Slacker

great gag!

Jts

Nice size grouper Pete.

Alex from GA

You're eating fresh grouper while I had a store bought salmon for dinner tonight.  You win.  Good fish Pete.

Wishin i was fishin

Way to go Pete. Good to see you back at it!