# Deep Drop & Edge



## fish construction (Sep 3, 2009)

We Decided to do some deep dropping and trolling with the nice weather window. we headed south west to tile town with crew Billy,Brian,Dave and captain Robert. we hit the spot thinking the tile would move deeper due to the extreme heat but that was not the case the were in the same place we left them last visit. lots of Ribbon fish and 2 foot Thresher sharks all over the place. brian caught a brotula fish, dropped back. a 2 foot thresher ate him and then a 12' mako ate the 2 foot thresher it was like watching shark week up close. never did troll water was green and no rips just some small fresh water weeds holding some chicken dolphin and banded rudder fish. we finished up the day with some scamp and mingo fishing. it was a great day fishing we managed to catch 13 tile around 8# each 1 nice Bft on the bottom at 650ft , 1 22" scamp and 3 mingos. I did not know that shade weighed so much the boat leaned all day on the shady side.I was wondering if any body knows if the lack of current causes tile to quit biting?


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## Ocean Master (May 20, 2008)

That's a very nice Tile..! I was out there SW a few days ago and the freshwater vegetation was everywhere. It looks like a type of wild water lilly's. I assume from the Mississippi river. The Tile's we caught were all smaller that your's. What's your secret..?
We were in 500' to 250' of water around the Pipeline.


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## fish construction (Sep 3, 2009)

628-670ft

join the 100 fathom fishing club secrets are answered! but no spots are given out


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Nice tiles. The little threshers must have been cool, any pics of them?

Current helps play a huge role with tiles since drifting is the best tactic. Covering ground and working colony after colony is what will keep the rod bent. Some of my best golden tile days required as much as 10lbs of lead to hold bottom because of the extreme currents. I always mark where we get bites or hook up, even if that means the screen looks like a red X'd nightmare at the days end. You will learn the sizes of specific colonies as well as which direction they run. Once you get these areas dialed in, you can stay on top of hot spots without the need to cover area in search of fish which helps keep the action on those days without current.

I almost never drop for tiles inside of 650ft and prefer much deeper. Stay outside of 700ft if you want to keep a better size average. On our last 2 trips out for golden's we had a 18lb average and almost always bring home at least a couple over 30lbs with a fish just under 50lbs being my personal best.


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## sail7seas (Oct 2, 2007)

nice report billy. sounds like a great day with the tiles.


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## Naby (Jan 18, 2009)

How deep do you have to be to start catching tiles? My bottom machine doesn't show anything much over 300 feet (I can still see a faint trace of the bottom) so I think I would have trouble finding the deeper spots anyways.


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

I was wondering the same thing. Do you have to change some settings? Ours stopped reading the bottom at about 600 ft. I can see the faint line of the bottom, but picking up any structure or relief is out of the question.


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## Ocean Master (May 20, 2008)

Thanks Chris..


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## Naby (Jan 18, 2009)

My machine, which is an old color vacuum tube Si-Tex, has settings for different power levels, etc. It was on the boat when I bought it so I don't know its history. I believe it was sold with two different options for the transducer, a shallow water version and a deep water version. I think I must have the shallow water version as the machine is able to read in water well over 1000 feet according to the manual (I don't remember the exact number right off hand) yet it stops giving me depth readings below 300 feet. 

What kind of machine do you have? Maybe somebody else has the same one or a similar model and can help you set it up for deep water.


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

Naby said:


> My machine, which is an old color vacuum tube Si-Tex, has settings for different power levels, etc. It was on the boat when I bought it so I don't know its history. I believe it was sold with two different options for the transducer, a shallow water version and a deep water version. I think I must have the shallow water version as the machine is able to read in water well over 1000 feet according to the manual (I don't remember the exact number right off hand) yet it stops giving me depth readings below 300 feet.
> 
> What kind of machine do you have? Maybe somebody else has the same one or a similar model and can help you set it up for deep water.


Garmins, 5012 and 5212


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## FenderBender (Oct 2, 2007)

It's the transducer primarily, not the bottom machine, that will enable you to read in deeper water. You will need a 1000 watt tranducer to read effectively over 300 ft. Anything 700 ft or more is good for tiles.


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## RMS (Dec 9, 2008)

Thanks for posting the report, Billy, wish we had taken a pic of the BFT, it was a beast.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge Chris, I look forward to your posts, as you always provide excellent info.

Jamie, the worst part of the trip saturday was how dirty green the water was, and the fact that freshwater vegetation was 50 miles offshore.

As far as bottom machines go, there are many variables in head units and transducers that affect depth capability. If you have multiple frequencies, the lower frequency should extend your bottom finding range considerably, while losing structure detail. The higher frequency generally provides better detail with less range. There is a wealth of information readily available online. 

I would also mention that proper transducer installation is a critical factor.

Some of the latest head units use much improved technology, allowing more depth range with economically priced transducers. Our Lowrance HDS display is coupled to a transom mounted Airmar P66 dual frequency 200/50kHz 600watt transducer, (which can be had for around $110). The 200kHz has no trouble reading bottom at 1000ft, and easily showed a school of BFT at 600ft saturday. I have no idea how deep the 50kHz will read, haven't been in deeper water with it. That's a lot of bang for the buck.:thumbsup:


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## Naby (Jan 18, 2009)

MrFish said:


> Garmins, 5012 and 5212


Do you know what transducer(s) you have? It looks like there are a bunch of options. I would think your machines are fairly common so you should be able to learn a lot about them from other people. Plus they're higher end machines and while not always true I would think they would be great in deep water.


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## Triton228 (Jun 12, 2011)

*Swimming pool*

The water is so calm, looks like you are fishing on a giant swmming pool. Btw, nice catch!


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## fish construction (Sep 3, 2009)

you don't need much of a bottom finder to catch tile just the depth. the finder just looks like a flat line with no structure. a good way tell if you are in the right area is when the weight hits bottom and sticks in the mud real good you are on the right track. let the weight bumb bottom and drift along. be patient it takes a while to find the town

thanks, chris good info.

jamie, let us know if you want to do some fishing theres always a spot open for you.


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

fish construction said:


> you don't need much of a bottom finder to catch tile just the depth. the finder just looks like a flat line with no structure. a good way tell if you are in the right area is when the weight hits bottom and sticks in the mud real good you are on the right track. let the weight bumb bottom and drift along. be patient it takes a while to find the town
> 
> thanks, chris good info.
> 
> jamie, let us know if you want to do some fishing theres always a spot open for you.


Good deal. I had a line, I didn't know if ya'll were looking for structure or relief. Thanks for the info.


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## cobe killer (Apr 13, 2008)

thats a beautiful pic of the golden!!!:thumbup:


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## Ocean Master (May 20, 2008)

We drift as ChrisV has mentioned. With a good bottom machine you will see a light fuzz on the flat red bottom. This is when I tell the guy's a bite is coming. Tiles like the flat no structure muddy bottom. When they are not moving around they burrow up in the mud with their heads out just waiting for your bait to drift by.


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## reelsmooth19 (Nov 27, 2007)

i wont to get one of those!! nice job


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