How to Know When to Make an Offshore Changeup

Things are changing in the world of bluewater fishing. A recent interaction with an old friend taught me just how much. We were trolling over a rockpile in 180 feet of water and the blackfins were chewing. They were biting to the extent that we would ignore the first hookup and wait until we had two or three hooked up, to slow down and do battle.

It was great to hear my old friend Brad Reed calling me on the VHF. He had moved to Wyoming several years ago, and I was more than happy to make room for him on the rockpile. After an hour of fruitless trolling, Brad was ready to pull his hair out, while I had brought all the tuna rods in, and was leaving to try and find some mahi. Brad was a great bluewater fisherman. I caught my first blue marlin on his boat, and he brought the first swordie ever to hit the docks in Northeast Florida. The problem was he was pulling the same Ilanders and horse ballyhoo he had pulled many years ago. He could have pulled through those tunas for a month, and he may not have gotten a strike. Before I left the area, I tossed my tuna baits to Brad, and improved his day immensely.

Whereas I love catching tuna, I decided a few years ago we only really need one per crew member. Our blackfins often weigh over 25 pounds and I just can’t see killing more than one per person. So many anglers think “Big Bait, Big Fish” without ever considering what the fish feed on. Blackfins have little mouths and spend most of their lives eating tiny baits. That’s why when we are tuna fishing it’s small-lipped divers, small-sized cedar plugs and small feathers on long 40-pound fluorocarbon leaders.

Once we have our tunas, the little baits come in, and out go the medium ballyhoo and bonito strips. All the baits are adorned with sea witches or tiny Mold Craft plungers. I’m sure the dressings probably add to my strikes, but the reason I cover my bait’s head is so I can speed up a little and cover a lot more territory, without washing out my baits. I will also pull a big strip and feather on a deep line with a wire leader for the stray wahoo, that may be with the mahi.

Wahoo fishing has changed a ton over the years. The old planer with a strip behind it can’t begin to catch as many wahoo as the boats pulling dedicated wahoo lures at speeds up to 20 knots. Bent-butt rods and 50-wide reels are not my thing, but there’s no disputing their effectiveness.

If you are like me, and you’re addicted to targeting sailfish on the troll, the O ring rig is impossible to beat. Sailfish have no teeth, and must turn a bait around and swallow it head first. That’s why the best method of hooking them is rigging the hook outside of the bait itself. The guys that make a living fishing sailfish tournaments can make every bait swim in an upright position that looks so real that you will actually see baitfish come up and swim alongside.

Your speed will be slower to keep the baits swimming naturally. Besides that, it’s so much easier to leave the rigs on the rods, and just put the hook through the O-ring when it’s time for a new bait.

Now you will have wahoo cut off your mono leaders. You will miss mahi bites on wire leader that you would have caught on mono. Targeting one species at a time is far from perfect. One of the greatest things about offshore fishing is the unknown of what will strike next. I like to think I know the fastest way to catch a few tuna, then maybe a half dozen mahi, and break out the O-ring rig to finish up our day.

I, for one, am done catching a full box of tuna or any other species for that matter. If I go home with a few fat tunas, a few mahi, and a sail release or two, my day has been perfect.

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• This article was featured in the November issue of Florida Sportsman magazine. Click to subscribe.

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