WheelandDeal for SAILFISH
Sailfish are a strong suit for summer and fall. By Jeff Dennis
L 24
OCATING SAILFISH is all about finding the bait balls that they live to pursue, and pursue to live. Catching one of these
beautiful fish, however, is a bit more complicated, and focuses on rigging dredges to mimic those same bait pods. Fishing naked dink baits on circle hooks using light tackle is a tried-and- true tactic, but in this game anglers will need equal parts skill and good luck to successfully land a feisty sailfish. When it comes to avoiding the hook, these fish hold all the cards.
“People know that the sailfish will be on the bait, and that you need to pay a lot of attention to the depth sounder,” said Captain Pete Loy of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Loy is past chairman of the CCA East Cooper Chapter and owns a 50-foot Post named Lil’ Bit. “Look for a big red ball on your screen, one that is down in the
When a sudden tap or pull is felt, anglers should be ready to drop the bait back for about five seconds to let the fish eat it.
water column, but not on the bottom. Then stick with that area even if the sailfish action is slow because you want to be there when the bait rises to the top. Sailfish will herd the bait into tight bait balls and then drive them right to the surface.” Loy runs a tight ship while fishing, which is no surprise since his father
was a Captain in the U.S. Navy. But no matter who is out fishing with him, he enjoys sharing his fishing knowledge with others. Mate Coy Myers will bait the hooks, but Loy supervises every- thing with an eagle eye from the bridge and is especially decisive when its time to change tactics when sailfish are tar- geted.
“The down sea troll seems to be best when looking for sails, and if there are other boats in the area, then the cap- tains should communicate to coordi- nate their passes,” said Loy. One key is to slow troll at about 5 knots, allowing for the most dredges to be pulled. Loy will experiment by running with one engine out of gear in an effort to clean up the prop wash on one side for the dredge to appear more clearly to the sailfish.
“When we are in a sailfish bite I like for my anglers to have the rod out of
www.joincca.org
TIDE
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64