|
Offshore Fishing
Since really deepwater runs so far off the West Coast of
Florida, fishing for Marlin, Dolphin, Wahoo, can take a
little time to get to, but the rewards are well worth
the wait. Grouper, Snapper, Sea Bass, and other bottom
fish can be found just a few miles from the beach. But,
if you want to catch the really big ones, like the ones
in these pictures, they're usually farther offshore. In
the Gulf of Mexico, the preferred method for catching
these big fish is with live bait.
Free lining live baits while drifting or at anchor is an
effective way to catch all types of game fish. The baits
left to swim freely on the waters surface so they splash
and dart around, sending low frequency signals,
attracting all types of game fish we are looking to
catch. Lines can also be put out on the down wind side
of the boat at various depths to present baits to fish
feeding below the surface. This method of fishing allows
us to present baits in different parts of the water
column covering a large area of water.
Trolling is another method of catching big fish in this
area. If conditions do not favor drifting live baits,
they can be "slow" trolled to cover a larger area of
open water. Trolling can also be done with downriggers
for the fish deep in the water column, live baits, dead
baits, and artificial lures are used in different
combination.
Baits are placed at different distances and different
depths behind our boat, to make it appear as if a school
of bait is following us. Since fishing tides change
through out the day, a trip may start out catching one
kind of fish, and end up with another.
|