# Gulf Golden Tilefish



## CATCH-ALL

I recently moved from SE Florida to Louisiana and I'm looking forward to doing some deepdropping over here. Is anyone running far enough out to regularly target Golden Tiles when they aren't targeting Snowies?



These Tiles sure are pretty fish and damn good eating too.














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## CATCH-ALL

here's a few more
















This one was caught by my friend Rich Littlejohn from my boat off Jupiter. We caught it in 725 feet.














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## sealark

Yes, Golden tiles are offshore starting about 25 miles in about 400 and deeper. The currents are really bad running in many different directions so a heavy weight and big rig are needed.


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## User6882

jesus those are big tilefish


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## Fiver

> *sealark (10/24/2009)*Yes, Golden tiles are offshore starting about 25 miles in about 400 and deeper. The currents are really bad running in many different directions so a heavy weight and big rig are needed.


....pretty sure Catch-All knows how to rig for golden tiles. he's asking whether anyone knows where theright kind of bottom (so they can burrow) is located.


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## surfstryker

Those are some good looking fish.


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## user6993

Catch-ALL We do catch a few golden tiles. Since I drive the boat most times while deep dropping. I notice what few golden tiles are caught on the out side of the spots we are fishing and on the deep side. Also what few times, we have drop in VERY deep water we catch hake in the mud and goldens in the gravel. We don't have a complete understanding of the deep water fish yet. But gave us a little more time and I am sure we will be able to answer your question. With a little more facts. Gene Team Recess


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## Linda

How do tile fish eat ? I heard its great but what is it similar to in flavor and texture(strong ,bland,)


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## recess

> *Linda&Ernie (10/24/2009)*How do tile fish eat ? I heard its great but what is it similar to in flavor and texture(strong ,bland,)


 To me the golden is different then the blueline. The goldenhas a mild taste with a hint of lobster. The blueline has some what of a little oily taste like that of a blue crab. In the six deep water fish we catch I would rate them 1. Yellowedge 2. Snowy 3. Warsaw 4.Golden 5. Barrel 6. Blueline. Gene


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## CATCH-ALL

> *sealark (10/24/2009)* The currents are really bad running in many different directions so a heavy weight and big rig are needed.


How much current are you typically seeing? 

Off Stuart Fla where I used to fish at the local Tiley Town we were smack in the Gulf Stream. Sometimes I was power-drifting into a 4 knot current with a net 2 knot backwards drift. Yet we were still able to hold bottom and fish effectively.

Brad/Fiver - I'm glad you joined the 100FFC. A lot of the guys are drooling over the pics of the bottomfish you posted! :clap

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## CATCH-ALL

> *recess (10/24/2009)*
> 
> 
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> *Linda&Ernie (10/24/2009)*How do tile fish eat ? I heard its great but what is it similar to in flavor and texture(strong ,bland,)
> 
> 
> 
> To me the golden is different then the blueline. The goldenhas a mild taste with a hint of lobster. The blueline has some what of a little oily taste like that of a blue crab. In the six deep water fish we catch I would rate them 1. Yellowedge 2. Snowy 3. Warsaw 4.Golden 5. Barrel 6. Blueline. Gene
Click to expand...

Everyone's tastes & preferences are different. That's why God put such a variety of tasty critters here on Earth so we'd never get jaded & bored with pursuing our favorite eats. :clap

Here's my order of preference: 1) Golden Tilefish 2) Yellowedge Grouper 3) Snowy Grouper 4) Warsaw and DFL) Blueline Tilefish 

I've never caught & eaten Barrelfish so I have no opinion. Everyone I know that catches 'em says they are slimy as hell. If that's the case, then how the hell do you hold onto the darn things when you are filleting 'em? :doh

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## Capt. Delynn

There a lot of goldens around if you fish for them. Our last trip I think we had 15 or so. Have not caught any big ones this year but some in the 15 to 20 lb range. We fish 700 to 900 feet for them. 850 seems to be really good for them. Don't worry about the current, its not bad at all. 2 to 3 1/2 pound weights is our normal. Fished a place a couple weeks ago that was a couple feet short of1200 foot. No tiles on that place but a lot of Rosies and Hacks. Good luck out there.


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## sealark

We use to use 7 Lb weights on one armed bandits with no problems. The currents will come and go with the season. Sometimes no currents sometimes a mile away it would be screaming.


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## CATCH-ALL

Capt DeLynn & Sealark - thanks for the info. 

When I was fishing off Stuart I was usually at 650-725 foot for the local Tiley Town. Get this - we were deepdropping in current up to 5 kts. Even with powerdrifting, we were smokin' north at 3 kts.

Here's what I did for my rig - I used a 7-8 lb bottom wieght on my three-hook chicken rig and a 3-4 lb weight at the top, snapped onto the swivel along with the el cheapo Duralite strobe light. 

We called it a lay-down rig. The idea was to let 'er rip in free-sppol all the way to the bottom, no clicker and barely thumbing the reel to prevent overruns. I kept the boat on "auto-hover" so that the line was coming off the rodtip as vertical as possible. Once the rig hit bottom, it would usually plug itself real good in the clayish marl mud and we'd engage drag on the reel. As the slack (belly or catenary) came out of the line, the rodtip would slowly bow over as if it was slowly rocking up, but then the rodtip would slowly straighten as the rig unplugged from the bottom.

We'd find that the G-Tiles would jump all over our s**t while the rig was laying motionless on the bottom and the rodtip would start bangin' like a labrat hittin the food-pellet bar. We got fewer hits if the rig was dragging along the bottom - my halfassed theory is that the Tiles only come out of their burrows if the prey is relatively motionless. 

There'sa fisheries scientist in our club who runs submersibles and he's observed them at depth - he said in high currentthey swim <U>out </U>of their burrows and swim along the bottom but will NOT swim <U>UP </U>out of their burrows and get swept away by the current. So that's why the lay-down rig is so effective. He also said their burrows sorta look likea prairie dog mound.

Hope this helps.

Best Wishes For Lots Of Fishes,

Catch


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## T2Cenac

Thats a pretty good tip, might have to give is a shot next time I make a drop.


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## CATCH-ALL

T2C - let us know how you do. 

Catch


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## CATCH-ALL

> *BigBrandon (10/24/2009)*jesus those are big tilefish


Brandon - not really. I was holding the fish out towards the camera using the ol' hold-it-out-to-make-it-look-bigger trick. 

Here'sa fewmore pics:



















The second one is my personal best Golden Tile - 17.5 lbs. THe biggest Tile ever caught on my boat was 18 lbs - it was my turn at the reel but I felt sorry for one of my crew who'd never caught a Tile before so I let him take my turn. That's what I get for being a good host, huh?

Out where I used to Tilefish, any G-Tile 15 pounds or bigger was considered a huge fish, with 20 pounds being almost unheard of. The G-Tiles that are off Palm BEach on up to Ft Pierce don't get big because there is a significant commercial Tile fishery there. The commercial bottom longliners go out there and hammer the shit out of the colonies. So none of the Tiles get a chance to get to full maturity. Further south, the Tiles are bigger because they have structure mixed in with the marl mud. THe commercial bottom longliners can't work that kind of area for fear of losing their gear. Thus, the fish get bigger because they aren't pressured as much.

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## CATCH-ALL

Y'all wanna see a really large Golden Tile? Check it out...










It's the pending IGFA All-Tackle WOrld Record. 63 pounds 8 ounces of ornery, pitbull, foaming-at-the-mouth tasty goodness.

It was caught off a party boat off the South Jersey coast acouple months ago. 

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