[Palomarknot]

Capt John fan boy here for sure. 2 rounds of reef fishing, all night fishing floaters, full size bunks, wonderful Captain and crew, you can't beat it for the money.
After doing the private charters since the 90's. Last spring was my first at getting involved in overnight party boat style trips. All I can say is, should have been doing this long ago.
Booked 3 trips last spring, got out on 2 of them with one lost out due to weather.
Have 3 booked for the fall season fixing to kick off.
Oct 24-25
Nov 26-27
Dec 17-18

Have met some good folks and some knuckle heads. As with any offshore adventure, you never know how its going to go down, there's always a surprise i always say. I wouldn't worry about a thing, Capt Jill puts the boat on good fish, the rest is up to the fisherman. Its a great time no doubt.
You will meet very experienced fisherman and some no so experienced. We are all in the same boat together and it all works out. Personally I enjoy helping others given the opportunity.

 

[Palomarknot]

The New Buccaneer benches are a bit more.than 4 ft but each to his own.


Have fun fishing.

Out.....

Have not been on the New Bucc, but certainly have much respect for Capt. Matt and absorb every word he shares. Both boats operate under the same principle and fish the same waters. Think in general you might have more overall experienced fisherman given any trip on the New Buccaneer, as it has its fan Boyz also, plus Capt Matt takes the time to share and post on here. But certainly don't believe in this misnomer that one boat is better than the other, you just hear more about the New Buccaneer and thats because of Capt. Matt on here. Its just a matter of preference.
I'm sure at some point will give the New Bucc a trip to get to fish with Capt Matt.
But honestly I'm more than pleased with fishing the Capt. John.

 

[Palomarknot]

Well palomareknot it looks like we'll both be on the boat Thanksgiving weekend! Thanks for the insight. I think I could continue to research, debate, gear, regear, guess, second guess & lose all my hair trying to be the best prepared I can be & still miss the mark by a mile. Like they say there's no substitute for experience but I'm sure will appreciate everyone's help when the bait hits the water.

Probably passing out 20s to the crew as soon as I step foot onboard would hurt me either. 😁

Lol, save your 20's for the end of the trip when they pass the hat, everyone is treated the same during regardless.

I do sell rigged out Halco's with premium hooks, split rings and solid ring. Just saying.... lol
Anyway, we gonna have fun and certainly get our Bluewater fix and catch damn good fish. Might wanna do some push ups starting weeks before hand, as these Yellowfin are serious business.

 

[Palomarknot]

Never tie directly to a split ring, always use a solid ring on your split ring and tie to it. Myself dont like snaps, that's just more unnatural hardware and something prone to failure.
Certainly ditch that top anemic split ring thats comes with a stock Halco, that's a true weak point. Now the split rings that are holding the hooks that come with a Halco are not all that bad, but it doesn't hurt to upgrade and one should.
I have no business, its just that in the 2 trips ive been out on, ive given away like 6 Halco's to help others. Cause once the Yellowfins start coming over the rail, those Blackfin jigger Boyz get excited and start begging for a Halco if they don't have one.
Illy told me to quit giving away shit, and he's right. So this fall, I'll have them for sell, if one might need 1 or 2 or 5. 😆

 

[Palomarknot]

Let me add, as we roll into the colder months this fall, your opportunity for triple digit fish increases. We all wanna catch that big one, so you definitely want your gear, your hardware to be in check. Nothing more disheartening than fighting what you know is a solid fish and it comes unbuttoned for whatever reason.
My personal favorite is the schoolies like this, to catch, clean and eat

 

[Palomarknot]

Don't over think it, fishing is fishing, its all one in the same. Just in Saltwater fishing, everything is bigger, meaner and they got teeth, dont stick your hand in any mouth. The depths are greater, your tackle is heavier and they fight a whole hell of a lot stronger and longer. You are in good hands, certainly asking all the right questions. It will all come together.
You just gotta dot your i's and cross your t's, any weak points will surely show up. To be successful, you always gotta bring your A game in Saltwater. Certainly gonna lose some fish, that's just part of it, but you wanna do everything you can to keep it at a minimum. You're constantly learning know matter how much you do this. Pelagics are the ultimate, enjoy the ride.

 

[Palomarknot]

Jbrandons, you had some questions about how to go about rigging some of this tackle, im sure by now you have figured this maybe but I took a couple pics just in case.

As you can see the split ring is attached to the top of the jig and the solid ring is connected to the split ring. Your assist hooks are connected to the solid ring, you will also tie to the solid ring only.

When you go to change jigs, you would just detach from the jig with the split ring.

Reason for never tieing to a split ring, is you run high risk of cutting your line on the split rings end.

These Halco's come with a small split ring, myself doesn't trust them. I change them out with a heavier split ring for the better and of course a solid ring to tie to.

Capt Jill, will post dates and make available bookings around the first to middle December for the Spring season 2023.

 

[Palomarknot]

Also on baits such as poppers and other twitch or jerk baits, that have a nice fat rounded smooth eye, I tie a loop Uni. These are how myself goes about this, others my do different, its whatever works best for you.

 

[Palomarknot]

Gots some ball bearing swivels, I see what you're saying. May give it a go. I've got the swivel hardware for bottom fishing, but always open to others ideas 💡

That's a 400g jig, with Owner 7/0 longs assist hooks top and bottom and a SPRO 150lb split ring with Owner 300lb solid.

All the swivels and snaps are really for rigging bottom rigs, but i actually do very little of that. Find much more reward snatching something jigging than bait on a hook.

 

[Palomarknot]

Tactical clips are all you need

View attachment 124297

Stay away from stuff like that, everyone is different, roll as you may

 

[Palomarknot]

I meant these. These seem to be the best type for jigs. They spin great unlike some of the other types of swivels. Even the spro I found are stiff and seem hard to spin. I go swivel - split ring- jig. With the swivel you can just tie once if you want to switch jigs
No clips. That’s just a bad idea. But to each their own
View attachment 124302

Yeah, I caught on to that after posting, looked at some Sampo with solid ring each end this morning. Would guess 300lb would be about right. There's 500lb but those might be excessive

 

[Palomarknot]

Gotcha, perfect...

Ton of people always say, well you're only putting X amount of drag force on your tackle. Will be one to say, for all kinds of reasons, strange things happen, shit fails and it's usually twisting of some sort.

 

[Palomarknot]

The sharks and barracudas will definitely be around, you will no doubt cross path with one or both numerous times.

These floaters are a magnet for all life out there

I pack a couple pre-rigged shark rigs in case things are slow with YFT and BFT

Also carry some 18" pre-rigged wire leaders to have on hand.

As for your tackle, you will get different answers on that, some show up with nothing it seems and others have packed the house. Honestly you can bring a ton but will only use a few of this and that.
I bring the house, leave no stone unturned. Once your out there, thats it, you got what you got and don't what you don't. I take no chance.

 

[Palomarknot]

No need for wire leaders unless you want to specifically target a cuda or shark. OR by chance a wolf pack of wahoo's comes hanging and the boat.

 

[Palomarknot]

You can use a swivel for for chunking if want to.
Myself is just going to connect my braid to about 10 or 15 ft of fluorocarbon leader using a double Uni knot connection, with a circle hook tied on the end.

 

[Palomarknot]

Myself only uses 2 knots for everything, Palomar and Uni. They are simple, highly effective and easy to tie when conditions are rough. All that other fancy stuff is to much trouble under the heat of battle and the boat tossing or low light.

 

[Palomarknot]

Have yet to have leader separation, not one. Personally I have all the confidence i could possibly have. And I have certainly tied into some big fish with drags set so tight I can hardly hold it.

 

[Palomarknot]

If there's that much of a difference in line diameters, just tie a double double Uni.

I run 3 sizes of braid, 65lb, 80lb and 100lb

3 sizes of Fluorocarbon 50lb, 60lb and 80lb

Have yet to even feel the need to tie a double double Uni, with any of those combinations.
Now if I was going to tie 40lb braid to 80lb Fluorocarbon, then I would use a double double Uni in that case.

But again, this is one of those fishing things that what one does maybe not be in mind with what another does. You do what works for you.

I dont get pissed the least bit, certainly not on something that is not the same for all.

Now I do have a lack of patience for ignorance, as some folks just can't be fixed.

 

[Palomarknot]

Oh yeah, will show, its my go to for all, probably tie not even looking.
You got me thinking barrel swivels for jigging and I hate swivels, except for certain few instances.
Maybe I can build you confidence in double Uni or Double Double Uni.

We are always learning in fishing, especially Saltwater fishing.

 

[Palomarknot]

We gonna have a good trip Nov 26-27, think all 3 chiming in today will be on that one. I'm so looking forward to getting out, its crazy, literally think about it daily.