Trojan, we normally troll them rather than trying to cast a lure to them. If i am pretty sure it is holding fish, i will make a few passes then stop and throw some chunk baits overboard, this goes for a large patch of grass or floating debris, as for a well defined long weedline, we just normally troll it. If there is a specific spot where i get covered up, we circle off the weedline and come back across that spot, if we get slammed again in the same spot, we pull in the trolling baits and over go the chunk baits.
hold it, but if there are fish in the area and you are not getting bit, change a few things up, bump the speed up or down, change some baits, etc.
Another good trick around weed lines is the same thing i do when trolling for BFT, take the boat out of gear, let your baits fall, wait 30-45 seconds (MAKE sure you dont drift into the weed line!!!!!) then get back to trolling speed. We get bit alot when those baits are comming back to the surface.
Also, if you have been bailing dolphin around a weedline for a while and they turn sheepish or you are just tired of throwing chunks at them, try a surface popper, they give some spectacular hits.
Also, if you are working the dolphin hard, on the opposite side of the boat from the one you are fishing, put a diamond jig down about 40-60', run it through your rigger and let the boat jig it for you. . . good way to get some wahoo.
I DO THROW A SPINNING ROD AT FLOATING DEBRIS ...LUMBER, REFRIGERATORS, PALM TREES....PLYWOOD AND OH YEAH, THE WEED..........USING OCTOPUS SKIRT WITH A TRAILING PORK RIND...........IF THERE IS A MAHI IN THE AREA , ITS BOXTIME!
I WILL ALSO JIG A DIAMOND JIG UP & DOWN WHILE GETTING CLOSE TO GAFF A FISH
If I see dolphin there and am casting to them, I like to fish the lure real aggressive. I yank the plug threw the water letting it dart and zig zag real fast. I don't really reel it in fast. I just reel in fast enough to pick up the slack line. I also try to keep it up top, even if it is a metal. If that doesn't work I'll let the metal fall down and then jig it like Shark said.
Dolphin also can't resist live baits, like bunker or small tinkers. I use light leaders and a small circle hook. This works well for me and also when they are picky.
Like Shark said, we usually troll the weed line if it is a large area. Don't forget to change speeds or drop back a bait to slow it down. We also change directions of the troll along the weed line and try to fish both sides of it.
Ya may get bonus letters cuz I'm posting from my cell phone
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You'll see me reach fer the gun and the mask then you'll hear a splash. Tournaments in S Florida are startin to outlaw us jumpers. They say ya gotta stay in da boat. What kindocrap izat?
Good morning everyone! New to the board. I've been doing this offshore thing ever since I was 9yrs old. The past 5 or so years I spent on a charter boat in NC. I dont mate now, but I still have the passion for it all!!! In my 5 summers fishing on the boats in Carolina I learned that the most important thing a mate can do besides show up on time and treat the customers like your best buddies was to learn how to effectively bail dolphins. Thats right, not hook a marlin, not tie the prettiest witch on the dock, not rig the prettiest mackeral, but learn how to bail dolphins. With a limit of dolphins on board your day was made even if everything else was slow. That being said theres some ways to go about bailing that can make or break the day. 1st is the tackle and theres 2 different ways you can go about it. 1st is heavier tackle. I mean good ole penn long beach reels loaded w/ 30-50# line. 2nd is the lighter stuff, and that can be what ever you want it to be. To each his own. However one of the most important things when bailing dolphins is to not break them off. Especially that one big gaffer in the bunch that grabs your chunk of squid or ballyhoo. If you break him off the whole school will leave with him! Hooks can be whatever you want them to be as long as they are strong enough not to bend out on you if you get a nice one on or after you've dehooked a few of them. You want to be like a machine when they start snappin. No hold ups, or keep them to a minimum. Of course most folks will find a school of bailers on a weed line or some sort of float. When you do this alot of folks want to just sit still and bail them. You can do it this way, but it's not as effective as bumping the boat in and out of gear as your catching them. Most of the time theres current. The fish will want to be led one way or the other. If you get into them and they bite for a few minutes, but kind of turn off. Switch directions. Take them the other way, which could be up or down current. If they are holding on a particular piece of float you can just work your way in circles around it until you've gotten all you want. The key is to keep hooking them. Whenever one gets hooked his initial reaction is to shake his head and go nuts all the while throwing his lunch everywhere! Whenever he does that he lights up and gets all the others fired up. When they get fired up they go into a frenzy! When that happens you can mommuck them! Dont chum them too much! Dont throw any chum at all if you can help it. All you want is to put meat back there with a hook in it. Otherwise your just feeding them and when they get full it's all over. Even if just a few of them get full. As far as bait goes, if your heading out and you know theres a pretty good chance your gonna run into bailers it's best to have everything ready. That includes a few different kinds of bait if possible. Squid is probably the most popular. Dont cut it into very big chunks. You dont need very much to catch them. Take that block of squid out while it's still frozen and cut it into chunks about a half inch wide then throw it into a plastic container. Your done. 2 minutes. Dont throw all of those washed out ballyhoos away either. Dont keep them all, but keep a few for when they really get to snappin. Keeps you from using all of your squid right away. THROW THE HEAD AND TAIL AWAY! The best bait by far is some fresh false albecore. Nice and bloody! They cant stand it. If they wont bite it. They wont bite. Again remember small chunks. Even the biggest of gaffers will suck one of those little chunks up in a heartbeat. Other things you can use are tuna bellies, which are nice to reduce cost, and the insides of dolphin. Yep the guts. Wanna get them really fired up? Take the row from the inside of some of your already caught bailers and mash it up in your hand. All the while letting some trinkle overboard to create a cloud of fishy, oily gunk. Nothing there to eat except your hooked chunks, but the smell drives them wild and on to your hook they go. Learn how to use a dehooker well. It makes all the difference in the world. Those little ones you can buy at boaters world work, but a small hand gaff is better. Knock the point off of it if you want. Should be one flick and in the box though. If your on a small boat you can be in a little bit of a disadvantage in that you cant fish as many folks in the back as a wider boat but dont worry. As you hook the move forward and let someone else slip in the back. As soon as they hook a fish pull yours up, dehook him, the guy in the back has hopefully hooked one, he moves toward the front, you go to the back and let er eat again. Round robin...dont stop! If you dont have a fish box in the back, dont worry. Let them flop on the deck. It's a mess, and ideally you want to put them in the box to avoid one, but while your bailing isn't the time to worry about it. Usually you have 10-15 minutes per school to catch what your gonna catch and it'll be over. After your finished everyone can pitch in and scrub the boat. Just dont let the blood dry too long or it'll give you a fit. If you got your limit great! If not put the spread out and go to huntin. Sometimes you'll run into a school where they hit your trolled baits, you crank everything up, but they wont bite the bailing stuff. Dont waste too much time. Sometimes thats just the way it is. The object is to find a school thats hungry. If theres enough of them around you'll find one. If the days kinda slow or if you've got a hankerin for some dolphin crank up those flatlines and put out some small nylons. They can be anything from little squid skirts to lil stubby's or whatever. Put them on your flatlines. Pink works good, but whatever you want. Great way to locate and catch some dolphins! Dont be surprised if an ol sailfish slips in there and tries to eat it either. My last little tidbit is DONT SET THE HOOK!!! Nobodys bass fishing. You could very easily rare back and send that hook and sinker flying into one of your crew. DANGEROUS!!! Besides that you'll miss them alot of times. Watch your bait and when he eats just crank down on him.
Anyways, hope this helps someone. It's alot of fun!!! It's an art to it for sure, but with enough practice, and some good team work you can work their arses!!! It wasn't unheard of for us to catch a limit of 60 in 15 minutes when the fishing was right. I love to fish and I've put well over 400 days on the water, but theres always things to learn! If somebody can add to something, or I missed something chime in! Good luck!!! Sorry for the book!
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