Working my but off to try and get better at it. Any pro's here to offer some guidance? I'm sure there have been some threads about it - I just can't find em. Fish in the Northeast Canyons area.
I have not written much on this subject and nor has many other people.
It took about 1 1/2 years for me to find my first golden tile fish and to be honest it all happened with one lucky drop.
But once I got that one lucky drop I was able to start putting the puzzle pieces into place.
Trip after trip I would spend time dropping to the bottom and drifting attempting to find a honey hole.
Problem with tile is this.
Do they bite at night? In my opinion NO
Can you catch them well with a drift over 1.25 knots? NO
Are there massive areas of tile fish on the ocean floor? NO
A piece of info I learned this last winter that made me feel bad for catching as many as I did last summer.
A 45lb Golden tilefish is most likely over 35 YEARS OLD!
Remember this when you do find them. They take along time to grow up to be big fish.
Now one reason I believe most people will not speak about Tile Fishing much in the northeast is this. Once you find them you can and will fish your spot out.
Last year we spend hours and hours finding new spots.Reason for this was to be able to have many spots to grab a couple fish from on a trip. Each trip we would attempt to find a new spot. If we had no luck we would hit a old spot to get a couple but we wont fish one spot heavy.
How to find them? I can not speak for canyons above the Spencer. But I have heard the Hudson is loaded with 7 to 15 lb fish.
Why a electric reel is very important in actually finding them! When you drop to the bottom and the rod tip bounces it means you hit sandy bottom. These fish do not live in sand they live in mud. So when you drop down with a 48 once weights you want to see you rod tip drop and not bounce up. Meaning your weight got stuck in the mud.
Now the mud areas you find will not be massive areas they will be small areas along walls. Once you find those areas I highly recommend marking your chart when you hit mud then also marking when you get out of the mud. After drifting this area time and time again you should be able to mark tons of edges of the mud. Now once you have a bunch of spots around a canyon with mud you can look at the drifts and find the best spot to drift that day as some currents may push you over the mud way to fast.
Now you most likely not find mud on areas where the depth is not changing fast. It usually will be on major drops ranging from 450 to 900 feet. If you look at your chart and you have a half inch of 400 then 500 then a inch of 600 and then blah blah blah it’s not my choice of spots. I want to see 450 to 500 to 600 to 800 to 900 with in a small area on my chart.
Bait? Anything ! If its meat and it is fresh these bastards eat.
I will say this if someone offers you the numbers thats cool but the most rewarding part of tile fishing is knowing you found them on your own. Knowing that you can accomplish something allot of people can not accomplish. So the day someone offers you numbers think twice about it as finding your own is one hell of a feeling.
Since I found the fish, I have been accused of following another great tile fishermen around to get my numbers. The funny part was the guy I was accused of following offered me numbers but I wanted to find them on my own and declined the numbers.
Get a electric reel a big weight, spool it with power pro and start dropping. Find fast drops in depth's and drop,,, reel up and move. Keep doing this till you accomplish your goal and you will be out of your mind happy when you fill the ice box with these awesome fish.
I’m tired and need sleep so I really have no clue if what I wrote above makes sence.
That is great info ... thank you vey much. I was using whole squid like for fluking and was getting bit in half everytime....key is either tandem hook rig or just using the heads. I'll keep trying.
Hudson if you are getting bite in half that means you found a school of gray tiles. If you find goldens I don't care if your squid is 3 ft long those bastards will find a way to eat it. With grays just use smaller hooks and smaller baits and you'll catch them.
The grays are generaly found on the flats from where the goldens are. The goldens like deeper water and are right in there burrows. Everytime we caught a gray it was when we were coming out of our drift and were up in shallow water.
You don't really fish for them that differently. Only thing is, is they have smaller mouths so smaller baits and smaller hooks are better for them. The bait is still the same.
John...if you don't mind sharing...what type of rigs do you use? I am a little confused about what leader, hook, and configuration i should use. Thanks!
[COLOR=black]Since I found the fish, I have been accused of following another great tile fishermen around to get my numbers. The funny part was the guy I was accused of following offered me numbers but I wanted to find them on my own and declined the numbers.
Capt John Eppehimer
John,
You can use his name! Even though he won't sign up on here!
Don't forget who got you your first Tile on your boat!
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Originally Posted by Admin
