Haulover Small Boat Report

[GrandSlam]

ADVERTISE HERE

I have not been able to get out in over five weeks. Small Craft advisory almost every day. I fish the weekends out of Haulover and have a small boat. I have only been fishing for two years now.

I just installed a fish finder on the boat and I have been listening to the radio channel 8 to find out what depth people are catching the fish at.

I think my trolling presentation is wrong. I had three lines out. Balyhoo (rigged on wire) with skirts. One on top. One about two feet below the surface and the other about 10 feet. I fished about 120 feet of water in front of Haulover and caught nothing. I marked several fish at about 50 to 30 feet.

I was convinced that my presentation is not good. So I have re-tooled my trolling gear. Unfortunately, I have not been able to get out to try out my new scheme.

The new scheme begins with a teaser, about a foot long with mirrors all around it. The rest of it is green. I am going to drag this behind the boat on about 70 feet of 100# test tied onto the cleat. Next, I purchased a blue/white Ilander about 7" long. I am going to rig this with balyhoo without the wire. Next I purchased a 7" Yo-zuri, sinking, Trolling lure. It is designed to go about 15 feet below the surface. finally I am going to put a line out with a rubber skirt on the surface.

I hope the weather changes soon so I can get out.

[EMTAE]

Welcome to SFC......First With your boat you got to pick your days fishing out of Haulover that cut can be tuff.Try this 20 to 30 lb class outfit,35 to 50 lb snap swevil.Get you a spool of 30 or 50 lb YO-ZURI H.D.PINK FLO.MAKE UP 4 15FT LEADERS PUT OUT A 3 1/2IN DRONE SPOON ON YOUR DOWN RIGGER AT ABOUT 45 FT IF YOU IN 120 FT OF WATER GO ABOUT 65FT.ON YOU LONG LINE PUT IT BACK ABOUT 75 TO 100 YDS BACK. ON YOUR 3RD LINE FISH IT CLOSE TO THE BOAT 15 TO 20FT BACK WITH YOUR 7"YO-ZURI.Hope this helps..........Fish on.

[jrlsail]

Grandslam,

I understand the frustration completely. I started a few years ago and get out often, but have had great and horrible days.

I would recommend a couple of key things:

1) learn to rig your own ballyhoo single hook pin rigs
#7 wire with 7/0 or 8/0 needle-eye mustad and springs
2) learn to brine your ballyhoo the night before
3) keep the terminal tackle simple on your trolling gear
20-30 pound. double line (spider hitch) to off-shore swivel to
a snap-swivel
4) build 20 foot 100-200 # leaders with snap/swivel ends
for anything pulled underwater

Colors I use:

blue/white
purple/black
red/black
green/yellow
pink/white

Favorite Lures:

Islander and Islander Tracker
Billy Bait Rattle and Troll
Moldcraft chugger or hooker
Boone Dolphin Candy

Hope this helps.

jrlsail

[GrandSlam]

Saturday April 7th. Went out fishing. Wind from the North 10 knots. Seas 1 to 2 feet with about a 6 ft. Swell. Water Temperature 72/73 degrees.

I had the teaser out 50 feet. Long line out 300 feet balyhoo. Short line in the prop wash and a third line about 60ft. on a planer.

Nothing really happening on the fish finder. I heard on the radio some people were out at 380ft range. I went out there and marked a few fish. To be honest the whole trolling thing is not working out for me. I think it should always be a plan "B". Now that I have a fish finder and GPS. I can mark the spots where fish regularly show up or find the fish first. I think catching live bait and setting up shop somewhere is the best bet.

[GrandSlam]

Bye the way thank you guys for your advise. It was in the back of my mind the whole day.

Last Friday I returned from Aruba on business. Flying over Biscayne Bay I called the marina the minute the plane hit the gate; "Launch the boat" I am going fishing.

Two hours later I am at the marnia and I figured out that I had lost my key. The only key. I lost the original and the spare. Long story short I never found the key.

I went to Lauderdale Marina, they have a parts department. They are located on the East end of 15th street from US1. Yamaha has about 150 keys and they have them all. The guy that works there let me borrow the entire set of keys and when I found the one that matched my boat come back. (I left my credit card as a collateral). Sure enough one of the keys fit and I bought two replacements. I have the guy 10 extra dollars becuase he did not have to give me the key chains but he did.

There are several people out there who are not willing to offer help or advise. Lauderdale Marina is a great place with good people. If you are in a jam, maybe these guys can help you too.

[reel fishy]

Some good advice so far. Here is mine. Definately learn to rig your own ballyhoo. Depending on the fish you are trying to catch, leader size does make a difference in the specific area you are fishing. You fish an area that sees a lot of pressure on a daily basis. Get good at rigging and make your ballyhoo swim like champs. I prefer single hook ballyhoo over double as it makes the bait swim more natural. Everyone has their own little trick to rigging bait so find someone good at it and learn.

Some days the fish bite better on 60lb leader, sometimes you can use 150lb. Common used hook is a 3407SS in the 7/0 to 8/0 size. Learn the Bimini Twist (Spider works in 30lb test or less) to double your mainline before attaching it to your snap swivel. You can make your leaders any length you want, but somewhere between 6'-15' is good. Just remember the longer you make the leader, the more you must pull the fish in by hand when close to the boat. Sometimes it sucks to have 15' of leader on the floor to snag on everything in the boat when your sail decides to get his second wind. When creating leaders use double barrel crimps and anti-chafe gear. I create the loops at the head of each leader using Jinkai loop protector cut to length and then crimp. No swivel to swivel connections! At the hook you can do the pin rig or copper wire wraps to connect ballyhoo, they all work.

You are going to lose a few fish to cut-offs from toothy critters but that is the price to pay to get more bites. Keep your spread simple if you don't have outriggers, 3-4 lines is a good spread. Not going to tell you how far to put your baits out because it depends on each boat/bait. I will say if the bite is tough drop your long line back a good distance. If the wind is heavy add 1/4-1oz of weight to your rigs to keep them down. Everyone has a favorite lure/bally or skirt/bally combo so experiment to find your favorite. Blue/White, Pink/White, Blue/Silver or dorado colors are a good start. On my downrigger rod I prefer to pull a Yo-Zuri bonita or chrome bullet rigged on a short piece of wire.

If you can catch live bait or your wallet can handle the prices this is a good way to catch sails. Prepare to lose a lot to kingfish but that is the price you pay. Gov. Cut holds a good amount of bait as does Bug Light and other markers in the area.

Finding a productive spot to fish is going to take a little looking. Look for weedlines or other productive structure. Sometimes the bite is good in 140' out of Hillsboro at the same time it is good in 320' off Conch. Radio fishing can be good or bad, sometimes the callers are full of BS. If you just go out drop lines and fish without looking around you could be wasting a lot of time.

Take the time to learn from someone who has been fishing a while. Tell them you are new to the game and are in need of help. Offer to take them out for free and watch everything they do. Some guys/gals are free with info while others will just do everything with out teaching. Find someone who is a teacher.

[GrandSlam]

Friday April 13th; water temperature 77 degrees fished from 2pm until 5pm. Fished out of Haulover north of the inlet. Wind 10 mph.

I went to the bait shop to get live bait, but not expecting it. They did not have any and I settled for some sardines and a bag a chum.

Out of the inlet I decided to use the fish finder and find the fish first. There was a wreck in about 100 feet of water. The current was quick because the water pushing against the wreck was making a ripple in the water. I drifted about four times over the wreck All times the fish finder marked some very nice fish.

As the day progresses it appeared as though a large school of fish was passing through. I would guess Tuna. I tried to adjust my drift into the Tuna but did not have any luck. I really want a tuna. I think it was the lack of live bait.

Later I noticed the seagulls were diving in some areas so I set up a new drift to intercept the seagulls. Success, I hooked I nice dolphin in 88 feet of water at about 4 pm. I bought the dolphin in and looked to see if he brought the rest of the school in. I had two other lines in the water and no luck. I landed the dolphin.

I am glad I was successful today, but most importantly. The sky was blue, the ocean was kind and I had the day off. Nothing could be better. Tonight I a cooking Mahi Mahi for the wife.

[EMTAE]

Nice...........

[GrandSlam]

Today I told the guy at the bait shop about what I leaned on line and he said it sounds like I have been getting some good advise. He then went on to tell me his knowledge on rigging ballyhoo.

I made it to the local tackle shop with a list of things to get. I got a 3 ½ inch yellow spoon, 60 lb. fluorocarbon leader, 7/0 hooks, crimper, springs, wrap, wire and a key chain that floats. When I got home, I went through each response to make sure I had all the basis covered.

The bimini twist. I went on the internet to learn the bimini twist. I found a website I could follow along with the instructions and practiced on a spool of line. I finally got it. Now each rod it ready with double line, snap swivel and a bimini twist.

Today, I bought frozen ballyhoo. I checked the packaging to make sure it was fresh; clear eyes, good color etc. I also bought some kosher salt and some baking soda for brine. I plan to go out Tuesday morning so I will thaw the bait out monday afternoon in the refrigerator and rig the bait in the evening. I am going to cut off the pictorial fins and use a single hook with copper wire behind the gill plates and through the eye sockets and around the beak. I think I will then use the springs over the beak to secure it tight and snap off the excess beak. My goal is to hold the fish by the leader and pull the ballyhoo by the tail if it is strait it should swim strait. Next, I was told the pinch the vertebra of the ballyhoo along the spine to make it stand up strait and move better. I was also told to cut a quarter inch of the belly of the fish at the hook barb to keep the pressure off the hook and it will swim strait. Someone mentioned to cut a slit at the anal opening and squeeze out the guts and air. I sure hope this works. I will use the crimper on all the connections.

Not sure about the brine. I bought some kosher salt and some baking soda. Salt is good because it makes the water more dense. Remember osmosis from high school biology? Areas of a higher concentration will escape to areas of a lesser concentration until both sides are equal. In other words the water in the fish’s flesh will pass through the membrane of the fish and replace the higher density salt water. Even more simply the ballyhoo meat will become tougher and will withstand more abuse.

On Tuesday I will get live bait if I can. If I am out before sunrise I will use a sabiki and catch it myself and or buy from the bait shop. Next, I am going to run out to the far edge of the fish sanctuary and on the way keep an eye on the fish finder and eye out for debris, plywood, sea turtles, etc. If this is the case I will snap on some 10 foot fluorocarbon leaders and try live bait.

Trolling the ballyhoo will be the next step. I will use the planer with the yellow drone spoon out 60 feet and 25 feet deep. Teaser tied to the other cleat. On the long line ballyhoo with a skirt, another ballyhoo mid range and another short. I will go over the back side if the sanctuary.

I think my chances are much better now then few weeks ago. I used to buy ballyhoo pre-rigged and take them frozen then throw them onto a line and troll.

Thank you everyone for your advice and tips. They truly were noted and appreciated. I can always take more. Nothing would make me happier then to come back to the marina with fish blood all over the boat.

[EMTAE]

Way to go slam...........I have a feeling that it will happen.at less a king or two on the planer,a sail on the long line and a fin or 3 on the flat lines.if you find a tide line fish it.Good luck.