Okay, so I'm just curious about the tactics used, and the percentage rate of them? What I'm talking about is jigging, popping, chunking, flyers and Halcos. If you only had one choice and chance, which would it be?
Love ya square bucket with mods to hold those lure you should post a pic..I'm always casting off the bow, really depends on what they want. Some nights they want to chase(a heru skipjack) skipped across the surface with a high rod tip. Other nights they'll want a pop and wait. I have a bucket of lures with me and I swap out every 20-30 min depending on interest.
I'll usually start off with a halco 190, heavier than the 130, casts further and is louder. Also depends on surface activity for any given night.
After getting tired of casting or a lack of bites, I'll move to chunking. I rarely jig but always bring setups just in case that's what they want.
96 out of 100 days
LIVE BAIT will be #1
3 out of 100 days
Dead Bait/Chunks will be #1
1 out of 100 days
Some form of lure, jig, popper, halco, etc will be #1
To catch BIG
you need to think BIG
Bait Is Great
BIG
TP
Love this!☝ Haha!96 out of 100 days
LIVE BAIT will be #1
3 out of 100 days
Dead Bait/Chunks will be #1
1 out of 100 days
Some form of lure, jig, popper, halco, etc will be #1
To catch BIG
you need to think BIG
Bait Is Great
BIG
TP
I'm sorry but I don't really agree with any of that.96 out of 100 days
LIVE BAIT will be #1
3 out of 100 days
Dead Bait/Chunks will be #1
1 out of 100 days
Some form of lure, jig, popper, halco, etc will be #1
To catch BIG
you need to think BIG
Bait Is Great
BIG
TP
Cap. Matt:I have seen it too may times where the YFT want a tiny chunk. If they are keyed on small baits they will not touch a live flyer or hardtail.
I don’t feel like you can group all the lures into the same category as they can be fished completely different.
I’d say it’s a pretty even split on topwaters and chunks if you looked at the yearly catches. Some nights the Yummee’s/Frenzy’s really shine but I’d probably have to say we catch the most yellowfin on Halcos over anything else. Poppers have their moments as well.
I see the least amount of yellows caught on jigs but they have times where they produce also, mainly if the topwater bite is dead but we are marking fish deep and if there are any BigEye around.
Live bait is great but can be difficult and time consuming to get and if the Barracudas are there then it’s almost a waste of time.
It is also pretty common to see the bite change throughout the night, mainly around moon rise or moon set. It is a good idea to be ready to change tactics according to how the fish are acting.
Thank you! I always lean towards Capt Matt's advice whenever I'm on the boat with him, and wAfter wading through responses ranging from tall tales about fishing the oceans of the world to conspiracy theories, with the help and persistence of The Professional,
we were able to find the answer to your question. Hopefully, you can put it to good use.
The Professional would still suggest using bait,
because not all fishermen can cast for hour after hour,
not all fishermen can work a lure properly, these are all assumptions being made when a lure is being suggested. If an angler cannot accomplish the duration, skill and distance required with casting, then bait, live, then chunk is the choice. BIG. Think BIG to win BIG.
TP
I just want to say "thanks" to Capt. Matt and others for the responses. My son and I will be going with him on October 22nd, and will take his advice first, as we always do...but was just curious about people's strategies? Anybody else on the 10/22 trip?Okay, so I'm just curious about the tactics used, and the percentage rate of them? What I'm talking about is jigging, popping, chunking, flyers and Halcos. If you only had one choice and chance, which would it be?
Awesome stuff man! Thanks!My prior post included pictures of 4 YFT, all caught on Chunk with GPB.
I tried to make this as simple as possible to follow, its a lot, but results speak for themselves (and this was taught to me, I am just paying it forward).
My Chunking set up: Penn Squall 30 Conventional Reel with roughly 600 yards of 65 lb braid. I prefer to tie the braid to a barrel swivel that connects to 80 lb Fluorocarbon (I like a 4ft Fluro leader). Fluro leader is tied to a vermilion snapper hook (yes it is a small hook, yes some will complain it will straighten out, but I run 14-18 lbs of drag on my reel (set with a hand held scale at 10 feet of line post rod tip) and have no issues with this hook. This small hook is easy to hide in the bait and allows the bait to sink/drift at the proper pace).
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Steps to Chunking (at least what works for me)
1. Use Jig to catch BFT
2. BFT becomes the Chunk bait. Note: below all pieces of Chunk should include the Skin of the BFT.
3. One piece of chunk cut to roughly 3x3 inches (smaller if no bites, but that is later in this message), then cut four smaller pieces of chunk (roughly half the size of the 3x3 piece)
4. The larger piece (3x3) needs a small hole cut completely through it (running parallel to the skin, not through the skin). The hook is inserted through the cut hole in the bait. Twist the hook slightly and lodge it inside the chunk. The goal is to completely hide the hook (ask a deck hand and they will show you how to do it). If the hook is visible you will not catch anything.
5. Pull roughly 10 yards of line off the reel and hold it in your hand.
6. Toss the Hooked Chunk (and the 10 yards of line) and the 4 smaller pieces overboard together.
7. Watch the smaller pieces drift/sink, the goal is to have the free floating pieces and the hooked piece drift/sink together at the same speed.
8. With the rod in the rod holder, and the reel set to free spool, with the clicker on (using a conventional reel), use your hand to pull the line off from the rod tip allowing the hooked bait to drift/sink as the same speed as the free floating pieces. Learn the speed you need to pull line off the reel prior to all of the pieces drifting out of sight.
9. Though you can no longer see the baits, continue to pull line off the rod tip at the same pace as when you could see the bait (same constant cadence) as this will keep the baits mostly together as they drift further from you. Do this until the hooked bait is roughly 100-150 yards away from the boat.
10. Always leave the reel in free spool with the clicker on (even when not letting line out)
11. It will take half of the drift to accomplish this process. I then let the bait soak through the rest of the drift.
12. If at any point you get a bite, let the fish run for a 3-4 seconds, the loud clicking of the reel will excite everyone, then simply engage the reel. Once the reel engages there will be tension on the rod and reel (no need to set the hook) just hang on and raise the rod tip. If possible have a buddy reach over and turn off your clicker (if not a deck hand will do it, or do it yourself). If you get a bite while letting the line out, follow the same process.
13. Reel in fish, have deck hand gaff it, give the deck hand your tag number and take your picture.
14. Repeat
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If no bite after several attempts there are several changes to try.
1. listen to the Capt and Deck Hands, if fish are holding deep you may need to add small weights to the line to get the bait down to the proper depths
2. You may need to adjust the size of the hooked chunk. I would go smaller first. 2x2 or 1x1
3. Try changing leader length, may need to go to 6ft, 8 ft, etc up to 20ft (if you go to 20ft you will have to remove the swivel and tie braid to flruo - knot choices is up to you)
4. You may have to drop do to 65lb fluro leader or even 50lb. I have never had issues with 80lb fluro, but many are convinced it is too heavy and the fish see it. I have used the leader material on the large spool on the back of the Buccaneer and it has worked well for me also. Its your call.
There are many changes you can attempt. If others are catching YFT on chunk the easiest change is to copy them.
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Lastly, I tend to have a buddy or two on these trips with me, while one of us is chunking the other tends to cast Halco's, Jig Vortex's or float other baits. Once we figure out the feeding patterns of the night we switch to that method. On GPB there are 38 fishermen on the boat. Find out what the majority are doing to put YFT on the boat and do that.
Don't be afraid to take a break from YFT finishing to switch over to catching BFT. You can always go back to YFT fishing later in the trip. Have fun, that's the entire purpose of the trip.