[TomH]

What's the best way to work the halcos and yummees/frenzy's if you are throwing them?

I tried multiple methods. The most effective seemed to be giving it a 10 count after it hit the water and a medium speed retrieval. I think that will depend heavily on the mood of the tuna at that time, just like color. I caught everything on a pilchard colored halco but I saw almost all colors thrown catch something. The majority had blue of some sort.

 

[TomH]

Tuna are the only creatures moodier than my wife! I think I do better with the tuna. Don't tell my wife.

 

[TomH]

I fished for pinfish there at the docks because others were doing it, I'm not sure if that is encouraged or not. Put them in an aerated bucket and load them into the livewell on board when you get on the boat.

 

[TomH]

Yes, that's pretty much how it works. If you contribute you can use it.

 

[TomH]

Great post, Thanks. Someone who was good at filleting fish could make serious bank I think

Maybe that is what I should do to recover the cost of the trip! I probably couldn't make it as a professional in a Japanese fish market but I'm certainly more competent than anyone I've paid to clean fish for me.

 

[TomH]

You said your casting distance limited you. How far casting are we talking? I took my new setup out today and was throwing it underhand just in case and it seems the top shot is limiting it. I can still get it about 45-50ft with a halco with no hooks. But from what you're saying that may not be enough

I was using an Ugly Stik Tiger Jigging rod with a Penn Battle II 8K. I had 65 lb. braid and a top shot of 65 lb. flouro. The big thing that hurt my distance was the short length of the jigging rod. A longer more flexible rod could have helped with distance. The other thing that hurt was underhand casting. Later in the night I moved up to the bow and I was launching really well with an overhand cast, however it took a heck of a lot more power to sling that rig than a longer popping rod would have. That said, one of the two yellows I lost came from the starboard side of the stern on a short cast. He hit it right at the boat and I got a good look at him before he realized he was hooked and tried to leave the zipcode.

In general the guys up on the bow were using longer 7ft rods and hooking up with yellows much more often than anyone down the starboard side. I probably should have squeezed onto the stern with Oliver ;-) He was definitely on a hot streak back there.

I threw a halco all night with the exception of 30 minutes of jigging and I did every drift on the rail hurling that thing for what it was worth. It was a heck of a work out I tell you. The jigging rod will throw a halco just like a 5 iron can hit a ball off the tee on a par 5. It can do it but may not be the best tool for the job.

 

[TomH]

Another piece of advice for the first timers and newcomers to the forum. If you have a huge pile of tuna and you are looking for another way to use some of it, look up the smoked blackfin recipe posted by fathom. I took mine off the smoker about an hour ago. I'm supposed to take my wife out for our anniversary in about 2 hours and I'm stuffed. I can't stop eating this stuff. Its salty tuna candy and its amazing. Someday I will learn how to post pics. Tomorrow will involve blackfin tartare and smoked blackfin dip while I watch my Giants fail miserably against the Rams. Good tuna will ease the pain.

 

[TomH]

Just click on upload a file below post reply below and add it to your post! Easy peasy...

Thanks Eric!

 

[TomH]

 

[TomH]

I can't believe I didn't read the buttons below. I've been looking for an attachment icon to load a pic into a post. Thanks again Eric!

 

[TomH]

...apologies, hit the post button by accident. I used 300 yrds 50# Power pro with a bottom shot of 150 yrds 40# mono. Braid was connected to a swivel to 100#mono (from the boat, 2 ft long) and a clinch knot to the halco 130. Im old school so I'm really not a fan of connecting braid to mono with a speciality knot. Nonetheless, caught my limit of YFT with no issues whatsoever.

I ran a relatively cheap 65 lb braid (kastking) and used an alberto knot to tie on 10 yes of 65 lb Seagur flouro. I tied the flouro to my halco with a fisherman's knot. Worked great all night until the last drift when a yellow drug me across the anchor, I'll blame that on my reaction time, not the braid.

 

[TomH]

We have been on numerous summer red fish trips with GPB and agree that the cleaners on the pier are independent and the butchers of Pier 21. Stay away!!! We always throw our fish into a few coolers and stop for ice at the Buc-ees on the left if I-45 once we get off the island, I can't remember the exit but just look for the signs. If I remember they sell 20lbs bags for like $0.99 each. You will get better quality cuts doing it yourself and if you have an Asian wife like I do they like to keep the heads and bones for making soups and other dishes. One other point is we always vacuum seal the fish / fillets after cleaning and drop them in the chest freezer.

I guarantee this is a mistake I will never make again. The Butchers of Pier 21 is a great description, no offense to actual professional butchers meant. I will definitely fill and get my small fish and I will loin and pack any any yellows. I'm still fuming about forgetting my knives. I really could have done better with my junk belt knife. Call it a lesson learned.

 

[TomH]

The info is timely. I'm taking my oldest son on a 36 hour trip this weekend. It's been years since I've been on a 12 hour but this is a new adventure. We've got the right spinning reel/rod tackle for YFT ( I think) and we're gonna use the boat gear for the rest. A few things that would help to know. What size bag or number of bags can you take on board per person? I've got a bunch of lures and other stuff for fishing. I'm trying to figure out how to pack and not look like I'm going on a 1.5 day trip with 7 days of stuff. If anyone can direct me to a place on the site or otherwise how best to tie Halcos to my spinning reel/rod with braid, that'd be a bonus. Trying to make this a memorable experience. I was trying to find an all-inclusive guide to rookies like me but there doesn't seem to be one. I promise if there are lots of replies, I'll consolidate the info and put it into a doc for future newbies like me to use. Thank y'all in advance for your reply.

Just to give you an idea what I brought with me:

1 tackle bag with 4 boxes of halcos, jigs, poppers, and terminal tackle
2 milk crates with 4 PVC rod holders each (5 guys sharing these during the trip), I also put spare line, fighting belts, fishing belt, and other assorted necessities in those crates.
1 reel bag with all my reels.
1 overnight bag with spare clothes, sweatshirt, etc.
All of our rods in a bundle.

Immediately after boarding the milk crates, rods, tackle bag and reel bag went upstairs and were strapped to the rail with bungee cords. Overnight stuff went on my bench in the cabin.

Next trip I will add a sleeping bag and pillow to that mix.

I saw several people using the bucket redgarvey posted above. It's a brilliant solution, may consider that over my tackle bag next time.

I have never tied braid to the lure but if you plan to do that then redgarvey's advice to double the line is important. If you take a little time before your trip to practice one of the braid to leader knots you can get it down to a 5 minute process to add a leader to your line.

Good luck on your trip! I hope you and your son have a great time! I'm looking forward to doing this with my boy but he is still in diapers so I have a ways to go.

 

[TomH]

what trip you on? I'm going in November also you can stand next to me and we can both not catch fish together since we don't know what we're doing

One of the guys in our group had never fished before, not even for sunfish in a pond. This was literally his first time holding a fishing rod and he did fine once he learned how to cast. Yall are gonna do just fine!

 

[TomH]

New to the GFB scene and headed out this weekend as well. Like some thought before I drag to much gear. Have 8500 Penn slammer III 65 braid on carnage II heavy boat 7'6" rod. Have 6'6 jigging penn carnage II with a 6500 slammer III with 55 lb braid. Used both theses on sports boats and seemed ok. I have a meat rod with INT30VISW 80 lb braid. Didn't see any of these mentioned. Have some jigs and few halcos but they've been hard to find.

as far as collecting bait fish for the pool what's the recommendation on how to catch it so I can plan on coming down day before. Does the boat offer any tackle hooks etc.

I think rod and reel wise you should be set. I fished my last trip primarily on a Penn Battle 8K and a pair of Penn Fathom LD30's. I spent 90% of the tuna time throwing the 8K.

The boat has pre-made bottom rigs you can use on the way out with weights and hooks supplied. If you decide to do some chunking you can get what you need to setup a line for that from the boat. Halcos seem to be the best go to lure for the tuna. Imitation flyers, poppers, and other swimbaits all work, but if you are unsure and want to add some insurance find more halcos. Not sure if I should say this or not since the secret is really getting out there but the Buckeys in Texas City seems to have a continuous supply of Halco 130's at a great price. Go all the way back to the tackle corner and they are on the wall right up against the bait freezers.

For the bottom fishing portion I would recommend catching some piggies or other baitfish in the morning before you leave and adding them to the livewell. Dropping a live baitfish down during bottom fishing gets you a bite every drop.

If you like jigging for blackfin then be sure to bring some speed jigs along. I fished mostly 250 gram Williamson Benthos jigs, the most important feature of the jig seems to be strong glow in the dark. I was getting a bite every 5th or 6 drop while fishing a blue and silver Benthos, but when I switched to a glow color I was getting hit every drop.

I'm sure I have more to say but I can't think of it now. I'm sure the others have plenty of advice as well.

 

[TomH]

Thanks actually I checked a number of bucees and they were sold out as well. I'll check again. Did the original Halco hooks hold up ok. Seen some posts where people replaced them with something stronger

The originals don't hold up at all. I saw blackfin mangling them. My buddy managed two nice yellows on 1 Halco with standard hooks but it was pure luck that they didn't straighten on him. I used the Owner ST-66 2/0 hooks on all my Halcos and they didn't bend at all. Its not an exaggeration when people say the standard hooks are bad. Do yourself a favor and replace them.

By the end of the night my pilchard color Halco had almost no paint left but it had shiny new looking hooks!

 

[TomH]

I would have to go with live piggy perch or pinfish. They will get the grouper if the red snaps don't hit first. Actually its June so big red snaps aren't a negative. As far as baits that they sell at the dock, I wouldn't invest much. The squid works pretty well for snaps/beeliner and if you want grouper its jigs or live bait. I don't know which grouper are open right now.