# wahoo plus some deep dropping



## MSViking (Oct 11, 2007)

Spent Saturday trying to wrestle up a couple wahoo and do a little deep dropping. Started trollling an assortment of wahoo lures in 250' of water headed towards the elbow and after a couple hours we caught a nice wahoo on a Mann's Stretch. We had left one of our trolling reels back at the barn so we had one lure out on a Penn Torque jigging rod with braid that looks like something you would go bass fishing for, well wouldnt you know it the hoo hit that rig. The rig showed its power though and we were able to catch the hoo. Things settled down after that so we jigged up some bait and deep dropped for awhile, catching 10 golden tiles (number we told ourselves we would quit on), 1 Hake and one nice yellow edge. Trolled till sunset and lost another wahoo before running in. 

Herby and the Hoo










One of the better golden tiles









The nice suprise Golden Edge


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## JoeyWelch (Sep 25, 2009)

Great fish. What are you looking for when targeting the tiles as for the bottom? Are you just drifting a flat area? Depth? That yellow edge is pretty.


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## Realtor (Oct 1, 2007)

Every time I see a post like this, I wonder why I don't put the boat in the water every day! NICE WahOOOOOOOO


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## MSViking (Oct 11, 2007)

jlw: with tile fish since they burrow in the bottom you are really just looking for nice flat bottom in 6-750', so unlike just about everything else you are not looking for nice rocky or bumpy bottom. We fish in the vicinity of the elbow and catch them everytime. It really is not hard but for buying the equipment, thats the hard part!


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## whome (Oct 2, 2007)

Very Nice Yellowedge!


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## chris a (May 21, 2008)

That wahoos mouth looks a little weird.


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## superchicken (Jan 9, 2010)

That was a heck of a pull with that rod for sure Robert, When I put that new stretch on that morning I told myself that would be the reel that got smoked!!!Another great day on the yellowfin and pretty nice box of fish the deep dropping is awesome and a great way to break up the day. beautiful weather right now and I am looking forward to the next trip.


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## JoeyWelch (Sep 25, 2009)

Thank's for the info YellowFin.


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## cobe killer (Apr 13, 2008)

Nice hoo and very nice yellowedge. Sounds and looks like a good day.


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## Pinksnappertrapper (Dec 7, 2007)

It looks like a wahoo/king mix. Congrats on a good box of fish.


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## Kim (Aug 5, 2008)

Looks like a great day on the water there.


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## old school (Nov 16, 2007)

*bait*

what biat were you using for thr Tile and the Grouper?


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## MSViking (Oct 11, 2007)

I have found that just about anything works for bait for deep dropping. We dropped a butterfly jig on an edge (just about any old edge will work) and jigged up a few misc fish which we cut up into strips about 1 1/2 wide by 3" and ran the hook thru the tough skin. Not totally sure what the laws/rules are about using certain fish as bait so I will remain silent on what they were but anything will work. Nice thing about tile fish is they have such large mouths that they do not nibble at the bait and a single piece of fish thru the skin will last all day as they do not tear it off.


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## superchicken (Jan 9, 2010)

I found a new use for the hake...Use it as bait! Chris was right Robert
A little too soft and not much taste. The tile and grouper were awesome though. One of you deep droppers tell me what I done wrong as far as cooking it, pan fried in bread crumbs is what I did.... Forgot to mention the ride in at 56 miles an hour was pretty sweet. Love the ride Robert.


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## superchicken (Jan 9, 2010)

Done wrong??? Really? Yall know what I meant


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## Aqua Therapy (Jul 25, 2010)

Very nice yellow edge. What is the limit in the gulf on tiles? I know on the east coast it was 1 per person. I have noticed the golden tiles in the gulf don't seem to run as big on average as they do in the atlantic. What was the average size of your tiles? Average fish in the Atlantic was 7-15 lb. I have been seeing a lot of 2-5 lb fish here in the gulf.


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Good job Robert but please read my PM


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Hall Pass said:


> Very nice yellow edge. What is the limit in the gulf on tiles? I know on the east coast it was 1 per person. I have noticed the golden tiles in the gulf don't seem to run as big on average as they do in the atlantic. What was the average size of your tiles? Average fish in the Atlantic was 7-15 lb. I have been seeing a lot of 2-5 lb fish here in the gulf.


The limit is entirely too many and that is why we have set a boat limit of 12 on Betty B regardless of how many people are on board. Most of our spots hold fish in the 5-12lb range but we have caught them up to 40lbs and every trip we usually get at least a couple around 20lbs or so. We usually make a note on our spots as far as sizes of fish caught there so we can make our fish count. Generally we have found that if our first drop on a spot yields 2-5lb tiles, than thats about the size the fish will run there.


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## MSViking (Oct 11, 2007)

Forum's like this are a giant benefit to us all, sharing information etc... but as Chris V has said and we practice, we all need to be mindful of not killing a good thing by over fishing the tiles. I don't think this is happening now, but it might with the tight limits on snapper, people will just gravitate out to where they can keep more. The tiles are easy to catch and the limits are generous, too generous, so let's all not be too greedy and enjoy the resource in moderation. :thumbsup:


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

superchicken said:


> I found a new use for the hake...Use it as bait! Chris was right Robert
> A little too soft and not much taste. The tile and grouper were awesome though. One of you deep droppers tell me what I done wrong as far as cooking it, pan fried in bread crumbs is what I did.... Forgot to mention the ride in at 56 miles an hour was pretty sweet. Love the ride Robert.


You didn't do anything wrong, its like eating semi-solid air. Zero flavor and the consistency of mud.


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## Island24 (May 12, 2008)

Thanks for the information. I am new to deep dropping and we have also found that when you get into a certain size tile they all seem to be about that size in that area. Maybe the big ones will eat the smaller ones. Did you have wire on the stretch for the hoo or did you use mono for the leader?


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## Island24 (May 12, 2008)

"The limit is entirely too many and that is why we have set a boat limit of 12 on Betty B regardless of how many people are on board. Most of our spots hold fish in the 5-12lb range but we have caught them up to 40lbs and every trip we usually get at least a couple around 20lbs or so. We usually make a note on our spots as far as sizes of fish caught there so we can make our fish count. Generally we have found that if our first drop on a spot yields 2-5lb tiles, than thats about the size the fish will run there."

There is an article this month in the Florida Sportsman about a plan to limit deep dropping species on the Atlantic side - pg 52


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## MSViking (Oct 11, 2007)

Island24: I used to use wire on all my wahoo lures, but has switched to 150-250 lb mono. Wire (except twisted harnesses) are just a pain to work with and I have yet to lose a hoo on the larger mono.


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## HateCheese (Oct 2, 2007)

Overall, one of the best posts I've seen all year. Great day of fishing, cool photos, and lots of info shared. One of the reasons I still come back to this forum. 

Although I've never done that type of fishing at all, it makes it hard not to daydream about it for a while.


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## Tom Pace (Jun 4, 2008)

Nice catch...


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## 82montauk (Nov 5, 2007)

We tried some deep dropping a few weeks ago out by 131. No one on the boat new what we were doing - we just wanted to try the new Diawas out. Caught one tile in two or three drops. If anyone would like to share some more info I would love to listen.


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