17 hour Deep Drop Trip Dec 28th - Space Available

[chex]

What are the gear ratio on your rods?

My Avet SX 6/4 is H: 6.3:1 (36" per crank), L: 3.8:1 (21" per crank) [2-speed]

[toyomo]

Quick question if anyone has an answer...Im getting ready to pre tie some leaders per the advice of Tufnik, and im wondering if there is an allowable number of hooks? I know MD is 2 but this is VA and i cant seem to find an answer in any of the regs im finding online. Ive read about triple headers so this leads me to believe the number is 3 or more.

[tufnik]

Quick question if anyone has an answer...Im getting ready to pre tie some leaders per the advice of Tufnik, and im wondering if there is allowable number of hooks? I know MD is 2 but this is VA and i cant seem to find an answer in any of the regs im finding online. Ive read about triple headers so this leads me to believe the number is 3 or more.

Yep, that's how I caught my triple tiles. I think DE and MD allows only two.

I just finished tying a couple 3-hook rigs too. I just put new 65# braid on my reel, over 500 yds.

[toyomo]

Nice. I guess i will tie a few 3 hook rigs in addition to the 2 hook ones. That would definitely be exciting to pull a triple header up from the depths. So is 3 the limit or is there no limit on hooks? Not that i would get too crazy but im just wondering.

[MetroMan]

Weather looks great for Saturday so far...

[ronaultmtd]

Go get em guys- hope you catch a bunch-

[moc]

I have been eyeing the weather too.... so far so good!

[Shawn L]

This is my first Sea Bass trip can someone give me a description of the rigs used ie "doubles" and "triples" and how to make them. I'd love to rig some up prior to the trip. Thanks.

[MetroMan]

This is my first Sea Bass trip can someone give me a description of the rigs used ie "doubles" and "triples" and how to make them. I'd love to rig some up prior to the trip. Thanks.

Give "dropper loop rig" a look on google.

[tufnik]

You guys may already know this, and I don't mean to insult your fishing smarts, but here's.....

More tufnik Tips:

- You may want to bring lures. I saw a guy bring bkds and caught a big blue. Another guy was jigging with metal......not sure what he caught. And another guy caught flounder. You'll have bait, but sea bass will also hit plastic such as white twister tails.
- Some guys bring ice in their coolers. I've seen many big coolers half filled with ice. I like to bring about 10 lbs.
- Hope you guys are pumping iron. It's easy to crank up several hundred feet of line, especially during the morning hours. Ever try doing it dozens of times? In the afternoon, your arm will be tired.
- The boat will provide everything, but I suggest bringing gear/tackle such as pliers, grips, ruler, etc. You can tell who the experienced anglers are. They are prepared. They don't wait around for help, take care of issues right away, and go straight back to fishing. They are the ones that have fuller coolers.
- If you get a big fish, don't lift it out of the water. Let the mate net it for you.
- If you get hung up, and you've tried to jostle it free, don't break it off yet. You may want to let the mate try first. Those guys have pretty good technique in getting rigs free.
- I use about a 3-foot leader with 3 evenly spaced droppers. Half the time I use only 2 droppers because it's easier to work with fewer hooks. If you have too many hooks, the other fish may get in the way of landing a hooked big fish (e.g., golden tile). On the other hand, you can pull up more sea bass.

You will not be fishing for about 11-12 hrs because that's travel time. That means you have about 5-6 hrs to fish. Remember, time-in-water (TIW) increases your chance of catching fish and catching big tiles. The less time you're waiting around or futting with the gear, the greater your TIW and the better your chance of catching big fish like tile or grouper.

I'd like to suggest a strategy for MKF guys. Try to "reserve" a couple of seats when you board. When you check in, they will give you a number. You get to board when they randomly call your number. Go in and place belongings on a couple seats. That way all of us can have a seat, especially for sleeping.

[moc]

I second Tufnik's article. He is correct about the seating. Table seats are at a premium. The boat use's a lottery system to let you board, one at a time. Tufnik is correct that the first guy two guys on the boat should immediately go inside an hold two tables by placing their stuff on the table and seats and await the other members to board. Each table holds four adults, so two tables would give us enough seating for 8 MKF members. The boat is wider than the ones that leave out of OC and DE, so the tables are too. You will be glad that we got a seat at a table on the trip out and back, so please, go for the tables first. As a group it seems like this is who is going:

Myself (MOC)
Harmat
Tufnik
Shady
Chexone
Metroman
Toyomo
Shawn L and Son

That would be 9 of us exactly out of a crew of 30. We are 30% of the Anglers....LOL. We may need more seating...

[chex]

I'm bringing several heavy metal jigs, including this 5 oz squid jig

image.jpg

[tufnik]

I'm bringing several heavy metal jigs, including this 5 oz squid jig

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That looks deadly. Tiles prefer squid, and the big ones are going to inhale that thing.

[toyomo]

Man im excited about this trip. I didnt wanna mention the weather cuz i didnt wanna jinx it or anything but since metroman broke the ice...i dont know if anyone else noticed the winds were initially forecast much higher, then changed for the better. Ive also been looking around at different styles of jigs and doing some random googling while at work and one thing ive been wondering is in terms of jig weight, is it safe to assume a 6-8 oz jig will at least feel bottom? Some of these much heavier jigs are pretty expensive so i dont wanna waste 20 bucks on a jig that isnt heavy enough but too heavy for any of the local fishing i do. I wish i could find a tackle shop that sells some of shimanos jigs that go along with their jigging system thats what that jig reminds me of. They have a few that look really nice but too late to do any online ordering.

[moc]

I am no expert on the jigs, but I think 5 ounce may be too light for the deep waters and currents. I am wondering if your jig, once it hits bottom will have a higher chance of tangling other anglers lines? Just a thought.