Sailfish, kingfish and wahoo headline the availability list for Florida Keys offshore live-baiters and trollers this month. Bottom fishers can concentrate on an ample supply of snappers and groupers.

A trip to Summerland Key's blue water provided a dolphin for Paige Murray and Holly Peltzer.

With sailfish season in full swing, expect to find everything from singles to pods of hungry spindlebeaks riding the waves in search of prey. Kingfish and wahoo spend most of their time cruising the mid-depths targeting an easy meal. Wreck- and ledge-loving grouper and snapper wait for prey to pass within easy gobbling range. With all these species around in fishable numbers, why not target them all at the same time to maximize your action? You can if you set up a proper drift and cover the water column from top to bottom. Several proven drifting techniques get the job done; pick one that fits your boat, rigs, bait and experience.

One of the most basic methods, known locally as power drifting or slow trolling, works on all sizes and styles of boats and allows you to maintain some control over the depths and direction of your drift. This is advantageous when the bite is strong at one depth and not others.

Boats with outriggers should slow troll a bait from each ’rigger, position one flatline near bottom and run the other flatline at mid-depth. This method of bait deployment covers the entire water column and will keep the action going even when the fish stay at one specific depth.

In most areas of the Keys, the oceanside bottom slowly deepens once you pass the main reefline. Here, fish travel parallel to the main reefline. On any given day, or hour for that matter, some species—especially sailfish—tend to run in one specific depth. Finding this depth quickly can help turn an average day into an outstanding fishing adventure.

The best way to determine the depth of the day is to drift over a wide range of deep water, say from 60 feet out to 250 feet looking for a hot bite. When lots of boats are around a faster way to find the preferred sailfish depth is to contact the boats doing the catching and ask what depth they’re fishing. Or you can just watch and see where others hook up.

Most Keys power drifters use live ballyhoo as their topwater worm. Other live bait that will do the job on the surface rigs includes cigar minnows, pilchards and threadfins. For deep baits, a cigar minnow can’t be beat.

If live bait is in short supply, use them only on your surface outrigger lines to entice a passing sailfish. Stick with dead bait on the bottom and mid-range rods. One of the best dead baits around is a whole, deboned ballyhoo. Kingfish, wahoo, grouper and snapper readily take this common bait. When rigged with a hook in the snout and a trailer in the tail, a deboned ballyhoo will swim enticingly when it is pulled through the water. Another favorite for the mid-depth kingfish/wahoo rod is a dead cigar minnow rigged with a stinger hook and a duster to add some color.

Vary tackle size depending on its position in the spread. Most Keys sailfishers prefer 20-pound spin tackle for livebait fishing with ballyhoo or other similar-size surface baits. Spinning rods are favored because they can be set with the bail open, using a small piece of wire to hold the line, ready for an immediate dropback once a fish takes the bait. The mid-range rod can be either spin or conventional and again 20-pound gear works just fine. It has plenty of backbone to stop an outsize king or even a large wahoo, yet still has a light enough drag setting not to pull small hooks. Bottom rods should be upsized to give you a fighting chance on any monster grouper you might encounter.