“Please don’t get off,” Vollmer muttered through clenched teeth. “My family is expecting a red snapper dinner...”

Once anchored, it's customary for the captain to sound the okay for anglers to drop baits.

Luckily Vollmer’s gear held up, and he was able to horse his fish away from that rocky bottom. It was a red snapper of just over 10 pounds, and it certainly seemed enough for a red snapper dinner.

Meanwhile, other fishermen were busy catching triggerfish, seabass, vermilion snapper and a few keeper grouper. Occasionally a big grouper would take someone’s tackle down into the ledge and break it off, despite shouts of encouragement from everyone nearby.

Later in the day, Savitz moved the boat again, anchoring over a multitude of small ledges at Elton Bottom, prime destination for many Jacksonville anglers. The best action here lasted from 30 to 45 minutes before it slowed down. Then we moved again, but only a short distance. Action resumed; the bait of choice here again was squid, but some of the larger fish were caught with live baits, including pinfish and cigar minnows.

“We normally jig up a livewell full of cigar minnows with sabiki rigs,” Savitz said. However, a recent storm had scattered the baitfish, so we mostly stuck with squid and cut baits. “I really think this was the reason we haven’t caught any cobia today, because baitfish are so scattered,” he said.

“We normally fish with chunks of Boston mackerel or squid when the water is dingy,” Capt. Strait added. “Bottomfish smell dead baits better when the water is dirty. When the water clears, we jig up those live cigar minnows and hook them right through both nostrils.” (Hooking them through the tail also works, and the minnow’s skin there is toughest of all.)

The key factor here is that the best bottom fishermen anchor over structure. Many prefer those 2- to 3-foot ledges instead of wrecks, simply because hooked fish find it too easy to break off in taller structure.

“I also recommend fishermen around here have on board three jugs that are rigged with 80, 100 and 120 feet of line, attached to a 2-pound weight,” Savitz said. “Label each jug on the handle with a bright magic marker, showing the correct length of line. Match the right jug with water depth; you want that jug to stay right over the structure or fish. If there is too much line on the jug, the jug will drift off a ways, and you won’t be able to tell exactly where the ledge and fish are located.” (In a stronger current, it doesn’t hurt to use a 5-pound weight.)

“It’s critical to anchor over structure on your first try,” he said. “By watching the jug, you get a pretty good idea which direction the current is running. Once you’ve determined the direction of the current, head upcurrent about 150 feet and drop anchor. Back down slowly to the jug (so you won’t rip the anchor loose) and secure the anchor line when the boat’s transom is within a few feet of the jug. Watch your GPS and fishfinder to make sure you’ve anchored over structure or fish, which should be very close.” A tenth of a microsecond is equal to 50 feet on old Loran units, and that’s what they aim for. Skilled bottom fishermen like Savitz and Strait often arrive within 20 feet of their buoys. One should ideally anchor on the high side of ledges, to pull fish away from the undercuts, where fish are frequently lost. You can always drop baits back to the ledge if you anchor up too short. Or let out more anchor line. Finally, always retrieve the jug if it’s close by, because you don’t want hooked fish wrapping around the jug’s line.

It’s also important to have aboard a good Danforth or similar style anchor, with at least six feet of anchor chain to keep the anchor digging into bottom. Chain can make all the difference, so don’t skimp on length or size of the chainlinks.