# Trying something new.



## mrmrezg (Jun 6, 2014)

We are a family of divers. Three of us are divers and my youngest will be certified shortly. We got into boating to have our own dive boat. We bought a 25' dusky and have been spearfishing and bottom fishing with it, it was a great boat, however we wanted something that we could spend a night or two. so, we upgraded our boat, to a 34' sport fisher. 
while the new boat will be used for diving, it is set up for fishing (with outriggers). we would like to get into trolling and fishing for larger game.

what do i need to get started? 
what advice can you give to a rookie? 
What advice do you wish you had been given when you started?


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## Kim (Aug 5, 2008)

It's good you're into diving, congratulations on the boat upgrade and as far as the fishing goes..... you most likely you will spend a lot more money over the next few years buying new gear and upgrading. Best advice is to go to one of your local reputable tackle shops and have a sit down with them, explain what you want to do and they will give you the options available to you (different price ranges economy to high end) and if you have the cash it's best to buy the best gear you can afford especially if you are going to fish a lot and put the bend to it with big fish. Tight line to you all!


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## mrmrezg (Jun 6, 2014)

thank you kim.


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## eddy2419 (Oct 28, 2007)

This would get you started.

http://www.thehulltruth.com/fishing...plete-offshore-blue-water-tackle-package.html


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## etnovass (Jun 8, 2014)

congratulations on your new boat. I have a 99 Phoenix SFX. if you have any questions about it let me know. ill help if i can. (im still learning thing about mine) i think you are going to love the boat. they handle great in rough water.


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## panhandleslim (Jan 11, 2013)

The best thing that I can suggest and that I wish someone had suggested to me when I started was this: 

Spend a few dollars and travel to a place that has a* LOT* of fish very close to shore. You will learn more on a four day or one week trip than you can learn fishing and talking to tackle stores in 20 years around here. 

Some people are going to take exception to what I've just said but just ignore it. I can tell you that the best fishing teams around here do it every year and there are a lot of places close by. Isla Mujeres near Cancun in February, Costa Rica, Panama, Cabo, Guatemala in December, the Dominican Republic, even St. Thomas in June. 

I finally figured it out and went for three days fishing in Venezuela; when I was young. In three days, I caught 16 White Marlin, several Sails and on the third day I caught a Grand Slam-(Blue, White and Sail) and the fishing was considered slow. It was my first Blue and it was inside a Grand Slam. I met people there that I still fish with around the world. Clay Hensley and his sister. He owns and runs Jerry Dunaway's old G&S, 'Hooker' now, in Cape Verde. He was only 18 years old then and fishing on his dad's boat 'Beastmaster'. 

The crews in these places do this day in and day out and have perfected techniques. They have 90 Sailfish days in Guatemala and I think the average day is 12. You can really have fun fishing around here but you can't get that kind of experience that fast around here. 

It's not really that expensive to fly to Cancun, take a ferry over and hire a local boat to take you. They have some awesome days there. We used to believe the season was April and based in Playa Del Carmen but the fishery is further north and is in full force in February. 

Good luck out there.


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## mrmrezg (Jun 6, 2014)

thank you panhandleslim, i will have to try to do a trip like that.


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## Tiretyme (Sep 29, 2014)

Purchased some nice used Rod/Reel combos on this forum & THT. Most guys are easy to work with and take care of their equipment. I've searched around and figure I'm saving 30-50% off new when you include sales tax. Also, many have new braid/mono line which also saves you a few $$.

Be careful though, it can be addictive!! All of a sudden I'm up to about 30 combo's....(WHAT?)....maybe it's like new shoes for a guy!!


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## bigtallluke (Jul 14, 2012)

Another piece of good advice for when you fish locally is to spend the money once a year and subscribe to a chart service whether it be Hilton's, Rip Charts, ect.... Just get one. You will save time, money, and energy by knowing where to fish (when big game fishing) rather than blindly trolling around and hoping that by chance the fish find your spread, of that you stumble upon a good area by accident. Also take someone along who has a good handle on this type of fishing a let them help you for a while untill you get a grasp on the new way to play the game. Good luck and tigh lines


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