InTheBite

Sailfish 2.0 — Modern Pro Tactics for Florida Sails

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by Dave Ferrell

Capt. Peter B. Wright, a guy that’s caught quite a lot of giant marlin, often says that the best fishing teams aren’t determined by how big a fish they catch…It’s how many they catch that matters. Wright’s logic says that you can’t determine the exact size of the fish that takes your bait, but you can control how many bites you get, and how many fish you successfully capture out of those bites.

Therefore, it is the team that can get a bite, catch a fish and then redeploy the baits quickly to get yet another bite that usually comes out on top in a numbers-based release event. It is for this reason that any team that places in the top five of an east Florida sailfish tournament can probably be plopped down in any of the world’s billfish hot spots and be kicking butt in no time at all. Fishing for sails in Florida is a numbers game. Those who play it seem to be getting faster and more efficient with every passing season.

Change is Good

 While it might not seem like it to those close to the sport, a lot of things have changed over the years for those targeting sails. Not too long ago, it was wire leaders and split-tailed mullet that caught all the sails from West Palm to Key West. These days its dredge fishing, circle hooks, 40-pound fluorocarbon leaders and live-bait kite fishing that dominates the scene. When the bite gets hot, usually during the winter months, double digit days become commonplace and good crews can really rack up the numbers. Catching double digit Florida sails is not as easy as many people think…Atlantic sails can be finicky on the bite and only a tight-lipped white marlin is harder to hook than a petite Palm Beach sail.

Two changes are perhaps the most profound. For one thing, we don’t keep them anymore. That leaves a lot more of them available for you to catch. “The first Miami Billfish Tournament was a one-point-per-pound event. The second year it was a hybrid with points for release and killed fish,” says Capt. Ray Rosher, owner the Miss Britt out of Miami, Florida. “Later on, we all complained bitterly when we were forced to use circle hooks in the tournaments. Now we would pay double to get to use them…sometimes, change is good.” Those two changes alone, the advent of the release ethic and the use of circle hooks, probably contribute as much, or more, to today’s double-digit numbers than any learned technique. Besides knowing how to kite fish, of course.

The practice of fishing live baits on circle hooks, dangling the baits just at, or below the water’s surface, is probably the most effective way to catch good numbers of sailfish, especially if they are concentrated in a certain area or depth. Capt. Bouncer Smith, who charter fishes his Bouncer’s Dusky, out of Miami, is an expert kite fisherman and has seen quite a few innovations in the game. “I had a customer one time that was watching me struggle with some helium balloons on a calm day. He decided he was going to help me out and invent a kite-shaped helium balloon,” said Bouncer. “He tinkered with the idea for a couple of years and tried to come up with a helium-filled kite that measured 36 x 36 x 4 inches. It had a lot of potential, but it never came to fruition.”

Capt. Bouncer Smith has been at the forefront of sailfish innovation for decades.

“Probably the two most notable things I’ve seen recently are the use of Mylar dredges in the kite spread and the use of underwater lights during the daytime,” says Bouncer. “They will take a dredge teaser, fill it with Mylar strips with ballyhoo or some other baitfish imprinted on them, and then hang it under a bullet float in between two kites.” Wave and wind action bobs the loaded dredge up and down and brings fish into sight range of the kite baits. “Guys are also strobing their underwater lights during the day to get fish’s attention as well,” says Bouncer.

“I usually use a sea anchor most of the time so that requires power fishing. This winter I plan on hanging one of those mylar dredges right underneath the center console. I think it will do well underneath the boat,” he says.

Not one to stay comfortable in the way he does things, Bouncer is willing to give anything a go if he thinks it might bring more action. “At one time, we put some underwater speakers out to see if they would attract sails and get them to come to the boat. We played the same noise that scientists use to call sharks [low frequency, pulsed, white noise], but it didn’t seem to work for us,” said Bouncer.

“I’m waiting for the day when a guy pulls his kites in and starts flying his lines out on a pair of drones! Can you imagine that? Not having to worry about the wind? Just two drones sitting out there at the perfect height…not even having to watch them? That would be the cat’s meow,” says Bouncer.

Game Changers

Good numbers only breed more innovation, as crews try to catch just one more fish than the guys in the next slip. Few work harder at trying to catch more fish, quickly and efficiently than Rosher. On top of his charter boat operations, Rosher also owns R&R Tackle – a company that manufactures all manner of innovative tackle and accessories. Most of the products he sells came about by trying to fulfill a need that he encountered on his daily outings.

Even so, he doesn’t make or sell either of his first two picks for recent great sailfish innovations. “One of the big changes,” says Rosher, “is the use of super-fast electric kite reels to retrieve the kites. Consequently, these reels have taught the guys the benefits of speed. We all have a basic understanding of how to take care of our baits, make the proper rigs, set up for a drift correctly etc. Now, it’s become a lot like NASCAR, where the quickest pit crews get the cars around faster. In fishing, the crew that gets the bites, and then redeploys quickly, catches more double and triples…and wins more tournaments,” says Rosher.

Rosher uses Hooker kite reels for several reasons. “I believe they are the fastest kite reels out there,” he says. “I don’t have experience with a lot of the other brands, but these are pretty fast reels. Guys used to be happy just having ANY electric reel, now we have these ultra-fast ones that can clear big marks. This allows you to put four clips on a kite line instead of three, which allows you to fish four lines on each side. And all four clips can fit on one kite reel.”

Rapidly retrieving, deploying and adjusting your kite baits can make all the difference in a tournament sailfish scenario. Rosher uses a Hooker Electric.

Even something so seemingly insignificant as a kite clip can become an item of intense scrutiny in Rosher’s quest for increased speed and efficiency. Rosher’s newly designed M2 clips are a fraction of the weight of traditional clips and excel on day’s with very light winds. “They work in all winds actually, but they really help on calm days. Even if you are using helium assist, kite lines will sag on calm days, and any added weight makes them sag even more. If your kite line is sagging and you get bit, a fish can burn through your other baits in an instant. Elevation is your friend in kite fishing. If your kite isn’t sagging you can lift the other baits out of the water and then get another bite. These clips allow you to fish more clips on very calm days.”

The additional clip also gives you the option of putting more baits out when one gets bit. “If the long gets bit, you can advance the other two baits and add another short. This puts a new bait right back into the spot where you got the first bite and results in a large number of doubles and triples,” says Rosher. “During a recent event we had some pretty tough fishing, but we got a bite on our right long – our shallowest bait. We backed up on it and caught it. I decided to put all of our stuff out a little shallower. By the time we had caught that one fish, all of our baits were up in our little tubes and I was moving an 1/8th of a mile back up in front of the pack. We ended up catching seven of them and doubled the next boat. I’m not trying to be some kind of braggart either, I’m just saying that good team work – speed and efficiency – wins tournaments.”

R and R Tackle makes an assortment of innovative clips for kites and outriggers.

Advancements in kite design also allow you to spend more days on the water. “Kites have improved significantly,” says Rosher. “With both Lewis and SFE putting a lot of emphasis on light and heavy wind models. The ultralights really help if they can keep me from having to blow up a balloon with helium.”

As always, picking the right reel for the job is critical, especially when dealing with the long distances and light tackle commonly used when targeting sails with kites. “All of my reels are designed specifically for live bait sail fishing. Which means they have to have a high speed retrieve and very consistent drags. The reel I use is the Penn Fathom 40 NLDHS (Narrow Lever Drag High Speed). It retails for $249 and that’s very reasonable…I’m currently on my third season with the reels on my boat. There are others that do the same thing, but these are the ones I can talk about because I use them every day.”

Details Make a Difference

Nowhere was it more evident on how far Rosher will go to improve efficiency than when he talked about the design on his new rigging needles for live baits. “We like to bridle our live baits when kite fishing and we use a needle that we made to use with our specific bands,” he says. “Instead of a hole, it has a restrictor that lets you snap a band in place quickly and easily. It’s a synthetic needle [not metal] with soft edges so you can’t snag or damage a band. I tried to make them of metal, but I couldn’t make them as soft as I needed them to be. These are plenty strong enough to do the job, plus I can round the edges and flatten the sides to keep them from rolling around on a flat surface.”

“Our rigging bands come in two sizes, ½-inch and 1 3/8-inch, in either black or clear. They are made to our exact specifications because it’s really hard to get that sweet spot of being strong but not too strong. They need to hold the bait, but then let it go away on the hookup. You don’t want them to stay too well attached. I saw in Australia how those big baits tied on with 130-pound Dacron wouldn’t come off and the fish would come up shaking its head, throwing the whole thing away.”

It’s no secret that boats frequently placing near the top of most sailfish tournaments in south Florida use pen-raised live baits. Rosher, who does quite well in tournaments, is known as a master at raising and keeping live baits. “I put all of our focus on products that I needed…things I couldn’t find out in the marketplace. Our bait pens come with a food tray in them, and we even sell food…wet or dry. Our double fine mesh bait nets allow you to transfer large amounts of live baits very quickly, without damaging the slime layer. They even have a clear plastic bottom that holds water to keep them lubricated, but also fools the baits into swimming straight into the net instead of trying to avoid it.” Rosher even makes small bait tubes for pilchards and goggle eyes that feature adjustable, individual flow controls and that allow you to store bridled baits ready for deployment as soon as the boat stops.

Old School Too

Kite fishing might have inched ahead with more recent sail fishing innovations, and that’s just fine for traditional troll fisherman like Tony Huerta, owner of the Lo Que Sea. Huerta and crew are regular top five finishers in many of the most prestigious marlin and sailfish tournaments in south Florida and the Bahamas. Huerta chuckled when I asked him what, if anything, he’s been doing differently over the last few years that he thought might have improved his odds.

Success in modern sailfishing is a team effort that requires coordinated work, skill and the ability to keep fishing while hooked up.

“We are doing the exact same things. We might pull a bigger dredge on tournament days – triples or even quads, but nothing much is different. We’ve got a blue and white dredge on one side, and a blue and black on the other. We still pull green squids and a blue and white express with a mackerel in it. We prospect one side, all day long, even in sunny conditions. A lot of boats use high speed reels, but we still use TLD 20 two speeds. I think a lot of anglers pull the baits away from the fish with the high speeds. There’s really not much to it…run them over and hang on to the ones you see,” he says.

Oh, if it were just that easy.

Master Baiters: Knowing the Difference in Baits

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InTheBite Archives – Oct/Nov 2016 Issue Vol 15, Ed 7.

by Ric Burnley

“For the most part, the playing field is pretty even,” states pro skipper Captain Andy Kubiak, “the one difference is bait.” Dock talk and the internet spread new techniques and tackle like wildfire; secrets don’t stay secrets for long. Today’s professional crews are seasoned, synchronized and sober. So, victory or defeat are determined by the details. “Having the best bait can be difference between winning and losing,” Kubiak insists.

On the Tournament Trail

Captain Andy Kubiak is one of the original bait snobs; “We fished a lot of rigged mullet back in the seventies,” he recalls. At the time, mullet were prepared by removing the backbone and splitting the tail. “Those baits were good for hooked rigs because they were mostly skin without a lot of meat,” he explains.

When dredges hit the scene, Kubiak didn’t like the split tail mullet he was using. “I wanted something that would move better, so I started cutting my own bait.” To insure he was using the best bait available, he manages every step from the time the bait is pulled from the water until it goes into his spread. “Either I catch the bait myself or I rely on a trusted source,” he says. The bait is handled gently and immediately placed into a brine to preserve color and texture. Kubiak looks for bright colors and strong contrasts. “Mullet should have a dark black tail,” he insists, “and ballyhoo should keep the bright yellow tail.” He looks for all the scales in place and clear eyes. “There shouldn’t be a lot of blood or poop in the bag,” he adds.

When it comes time to thaw the bait, he keeps it in the package that he places in a bucket of saltwater. “Never let the bait touch freshwater,” he stresses. Fresh water will suck any salt out of the bait and leave it mushy and dull. Once the bait is thawed, Kubiak places special attention on how it is rigged. “Be sure that the mullet heads are tied up tight with the mouth shut and the bait secured to the rig.” Properly rigged, a mullet should last all day on a dredge. Crews are rigging 200 to 300 mullet and as many ballyhoo for a weekend tournament. “The true test is when I see a half-dozen billfish on my dredge,” he says.

Keep baits on a bait tray with a liberal coat of kosher salt.

Captain Kevin Paul has been a bait snob since birth; he grew up in a high-end seafood market and came to age on a South Florida charter boat. “I knew what it takes to produce the best-quality seafood,” he recalls, “and I expected the same out of my bait.”

Paul controls all stages of the bait process. “Everything matters,” he insists. That includes where the bait is caught. “I demand our mullet come from sandy bottom not muddy bottom,” he points out. He even tracks what time the fish are eating and how long they eat. “Sometimes they eat all day, sometimes they don’t start to feed until 10 am.” This year, he has personally caught all of the Spanish mackerel that he sells. “I’m real proud of my mackerel,” he says, “you’re not going to find better baits.”

Quality bait should have bright color and whole fins. Look for slightly clouded eyes that are free of blood.

Time of year and water conditions also affect the quality of the bait. He adds, “If it is the mating season and the fish are full of roe that can affect how they perform.” For ballyhoo, he looks at how the fish are caught and handled on the boat. “How are the fish dumped and brined on the boat?” he asks.

While he wouldn’t divulge all of his secrets, Paul did let go his brine recipe. He starts with a 150-quart cooler filled with water and adds 80 pounds of Kosher salt and 10 to 15 pounds of baking soda. “The baking soda preserves the color and locks in the scales,” he explains.

Water temperature also affects the bait quality. “Winter baits are great because the fish don’t eat as much in winter,” he admits, “but a really cold winter and the fish will suffer malnutrition.” This results in skinny baits that don’t swim as well. When it comes to ballyhoo and mackerel, he avoids fish that are eating and spawning. “Those fish are pretty much junk,” he laughs.

“Never let bait touch freshwater,” stresses bait aficionado Capt. Andy Kubiak. Freshwater will suck any salt out of the bait and leave it mushy and dull.

From the boat, the bait is packaged, vacuum sealed and flash frozen. Paul distributes the baits to specialty suppliers and discerning crews. “There are only a few bait shops that have a freezer with low enough temperature to keep the bait,” he adds.

Paul suggests keeping mullet frozen through the dredge rigging process. “Take them out of the package and put them in the bait box,” he starts. Handling the bait will soften it enough for rigging.

Once the bait is rigged, it goes back on the bait tray and out of the sun. “If I’m trolling fast for blue marlin, I salt the be-Jesus out of it,” he says. For a slower troll, he uses less salt. “I sprinkle as much salt as I would use on my mashed potatoes,” he says. If his dredge mullets are in good shape, he will reuse them. “Cover them with salt and store on ice,” he suggests. However, if there is any compromise in the bait, he will replace it. “No matter how much salt you can use, you can’t turn chicken shit into chicken salad,” he jokes.

Keep baits cold, out of the sun, and coated with salt before deploying into the spread.

The Northeast Perspective

 While ballyhoo and mullet are just beginning to hit the docks along the Northeast, New England anglers have taken prepping chunk baits to an art form. The center of the action is J and B Bait and Tackle in Niantic, Connecticut where owner Kyle Douton is a bait snob since birth. “When I was in elementary school my dad and I would drive to the distributors and load the pick up with bait,” he reminisces.

Bait snobs know, success depends on the best bait.

Now, Douton gets his bait delivered to the shop, but he’s been known to go the extra mile. During a hot tuna bite last year, a butterfish shortage had him on the road. “We would drive to Manhattan and buy food-quality butterfish,” he says.

When Douton picks up a flat of bunker he looks for bright colors, intact fins, clear eyes and a light coating of frost. On spring tuna trips, he’ll take two or three flats, but by the early fall he’s up to 10 flats of bait. “The water temperature is higher and the night is longer,” he explains, “so we need more bait.” If the day-time chunking bite is hot, he’ll take more flats. He warns, “Some guys are getting bait directly from draggers, but if it isn’t flash frozen it will turn out mushy.” Recently, he’s been adding herring and even sardines to his chunk menu.

When it comes to squid, Douton says the best bet is to catch fresh squid on the fishing grounds. “Use a squid jig or a long-handled, fine-meshed squid net to catch squid that come to the light,” he suggests. Adding a little stream of menhaden chum will bring more squid to the lights. Douton says some crews have even figured out how to catch squid and keep it alive between trips. For swordfish baits, he looks for nine-inch squid that are flash frozen and vacuum-sealed. “Keep the squid frozen until you’re ready to fish,” he suggests, “squid thaws fast because it freezes at a lower temperature.”

The night before the trip, Douton will stack flats of bait on the boat to thaw. “I pull a few of the best looking baits off the top of each flat to rig for hook baits,” he explains. Those premium baits are placed in a freezer bag with a good coating of kosher salt. “I’ve even started keeping the rigged baits in a salty brine to toughen them up,” he adds. From there, the baits go on a bait tray over ice. He stresses, “You want to treat these baits right because you will be handling them.”

The rest of the bait is prepared for chunking. He says that some guys have invested in a meat-grade band saw to cut the frozen flats into manageable sizes. Otherwise, he recommends cutting the 1.5-inch chunks with a mandolin knife. “If I’m fishing for big bluefin, I’ll make bigger chunks and baits,” he adds. He says that it is important that the chunks match the size of the bait, especially when yo-yoing with unweighted chunks.

To distribute the chunks, he recommends a motorized Chum Chucker. “It keeps a steady stream going even when the crew is busy or asleep,” he explains. Other crews use a scoop to launch chunks upstream from the boat. Frozen chunks don’t sink. “I want the chunks to sink at the same rate as the baits,” he explains.

Douton admits handling and prepping bait for chunking is pretty simple. “But it is a big part of the game,” he adds, “so you have to consider how you will store and handle it.” He points out that the best local skippers make the best bait a priority.

Not much debate…

When it comes to bait, only the best will do. Bait snobs know that the best preparation and the most expensive gear won’t make up for bad bait at the end of the line. Captain Kevin Paul puts it this way: “If the bait is right, the crew did their work, and the boss opened his wallet, then there is no excuse for a bad day except bad luck.”

 

The Costa Rica Sea Mounts with Maverick Sportfishing

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VIDEO: Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the Costa Rica sea mounts with Will Drost, and our friends at Maverick Sportfishing Costa Rica.

Grab the latest Oct/Nov issue for a story about one of the best fisheries in the world out of Los Sueños Resort & Marina.