Coastal Angler Magazine | September 2023 | Boston Edition

Getting Ready For A Day On The Rips

The morning sun blares at my face and blinds me as I walk up the steep stairs and out of the shaded building with all of our gear. There is so much to do to get ready for a day on the rips while targeting Black Sea bass. Some of the things you have to do to get ready for a day on the water is grab all the jigs and rigs you will need (make sure to bring extra).

Continued on boston page 1

George K. Regan, Jr. Publisher Boston Edition Julie Kahn Executive Vice President/ Strategy, Sports & Media

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This is a hard time of year for most Southern trout anglers. Water temperatures are warm all over, and most of our trout shing has slowed way down or is just plain over for a bit.

Here in East Tennessee, we are currently bringing 5- and 6-weight y rods and dri shing topwater poppers for spotted and smallmouth bass on several local rivers. We are catching some nice sh, and we’re also catching very good numbers, all on top.

It’s like hopper shing, just on the warm-water side of things. e bass are happy and should be looking up for the remainder of the summer through October, depending on water ows and weather.

It’s a nice change of pace for a bit, with many sh being in the 15- to 16-inch range and averaging a pound and a half or two, with shots at larger sh on any given dri . Giant pumpkinseed bream will also come up and hammer a popper on occasion.

If you’re getting into the bassy side of things, I recommend 2x leaders, 5- and 6-weight rods and your favorite color poppers. e occasional pop and twitch is just a way to say hello to let them know it’s there and see who comes up.

If you want to catch some hard- ghting sh and have a fun day on the water, give us a call before it’s over.

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Fall Snook

AND THE MULLET MIGRATION

By Nick Carter

Fall is a ne time to be an angler on the Florida coast. e summer crowds dwindle as the summer heat begins to taper o , and snook season opens Sept. 1 ahead of the mullet run.

Capt. Adam White, of St. Lucie Flats Fishing on Florida’s Treasure Coast, said this time of year o ers good snook and tarpon shing in his area. Whether he’s shing bridges at night or inshore structure during the day, there are a lot of snook to be caught around Fort Pierce and a lot of places to catch them.

“From the beach to the inlet, the bridges at night and the seawalls during the day, there’s a lot

of di erent places to sh for them,” he said. “You’ll only get four or ve bites per spot, and if you don’t get a bite in 10 minutes or so, leave. I don’t let grass grow under my feet.”

Run-and-gun tactics make for fun shing, with spurts of activity between quick boat rides. Capt. White said he can’t guarantee a one- sh-perperson snook limit because the 28- to 32-inch slot is a small window, but he said anglers can expect consistent action from under-slot snook or a shot at a big over-slot sh.

Inshore, White likes light (up to 15-pound)

spinning rigs for pitching live baits to currentswept structure, such as mangrove islands, spoil bars and docks. Snook are strong, and a decent one will take you for a ride on light tackle.

e best shot at a big snook is out in the inlet, where White will anchor up and drop baits to the bottom in hopes of just three or four bites over the course of a trip. e payo might be a snook in the 35- to 38-inch range with an outside shot at a 40-incher. ese sh might weigh 15 to 20-plus pounds.

Live bait is the best bet, and snook will eat whatever is available at the time. Live mullet or croakers are White’s preferred baits, and he doesn’t shy away from using bigger 5- to 8-inch baits, which even small snook will hammer.

Anglers who prefer arti cials will nd good action at night at the bridges. White suggested lipped-plugs like the Bomber Windcheater, which has a good mullet-like pro le in the 4 ½-inch size. Another great lure is the locally made so -plastic umper Shrimp. Rig one on a jig head with enough weight to get it down and work it slowly across the bottom.

As for the annual mullet run, when predators hound millions of mullet pushing south to spawning grounds o south Florida, White said he likes the front end of the migration. O St. Lucie County, the shing is best around the second week of September, when mullet begin trickling into the shery. Once the migration is full-blown, there are so many bait sh in the water that it’s hard to get sh to notice your bait.

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chinook are Running in the Pacific Northwest

By Nick Carter

Right now, there’s a migration gearing up in the Paci c Northwest. Chinook salmon are staged to push up out of the cold Paci c and into the inlets and coastal rivers of Washington, Oregon and Northern California. Just like they do in the famed Alaskan runs, big king salmon are making a nal return to the spawning grounds where they hatched to begin the next generation before they die.

With his father, Trevor Pelland, has shed these runs on the Hoh and Sol Duk rivers of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula since he was 8 or 9 years old. His dad was doing it before him. It’s an annual event with a time window that runs from August through December, depending on the particular drainage along this long stretch of coastline. e allure is large, hard ghting sh that are delicious seared, grilled or smoked. It’s a shing tradition that existed since long before Europeans arrived on the continent.

Fall runs are famous in places like the Columbia, the rivers that feed Tillamook Bay and others. Chinook push into the main stems and larger tributaries of many coastal rivers and as far up them as the water will allow. Pelland said backtrolling plugs tempts these big sh in the rivers. He’s caught 20-, 30- and 40-pound kings,

which proves it works.

In Oregon, District Fish Biologist Robert Bradley has watched these runs dwindle in recent years. He said the sheries are still worthwhile and draw anglers from all over, but that size and numbers of sh have been falling since at least 2015, due to ocean and environmental conditions. He said the projections for this fall are well below average.

“ e draw is the size of the sh,” he said. “Historically, you could see 60- and 70-pounders, but you could still reasonably expect to catch a 20or 30-pound sh. An average is probably 10 to 15 pounds.”

e states have been hatching and releasing chinook salmon smolt for decades to coincide with the natural progression of sh moving out to sea. Bradley said chinook spend one to ve years growing up in the Paci c o British Columbia and Alaska. e hatchery sh and wild sh return with similar survival rates, but not many of the stocked sh spawn with the wild group. He said most hatchery sh return to the hatchery.

e stocking does give anglers something else to sh for. Hatchery reared chinook have clipped adipose ns and don’t count toward a wild sh limit in most sheries. e seasons and regulations can be confusing and vary widely

from place to place and year to year, but one wild chinook per person, per day is the norm. Check the regulations before you go or hire a guide who knows.

e runs ramp up when fall rains spur the sh to push upriver into the current, Bradley said. In some places, the coho salmon and chinook runs coincide. Make plans now, because runs on most rivers peak in mid-October.

For up-to-date information on Oregon’s salmon sheries, go to myodfw.com.

The morning sun blares at my face and blinds me as I walk up the steep stairs and out of the shaded building with all of our gear. There is so much to do to get ready for a day on the rips while targeting Black Sea bass. Some of the things you have to do to get ready for a day on the water is grab all the jigs and rigs you will need (make sure to bring extra). We use the Spro Jigs with a weight of 3-6 oz and they work great for jigging up monster Black Sea Bass.

What we also do to get the

Getting Ready For A Day On The Rips

By Braeden Smaykiewicz

fish more interested in the bait is to put on a tip. A tip is something that you put on the end of the bait which puts out a smell or to make a natural scent that fish are interested in. You can put on something that is artificial like a small Gulp which is what we use or something natural like squid which we also use. We use more artificial than natural because they are easier to handle.

Another step to getting ready is getting all the rods on the boat. Everyone thinks because your jigging that you

have to use a huge rod and huge baits but no. We use 50 Boca spinning reels on a medium fast action Trevala 6 ½ foot rod. We have 6 of those setups in both conventional and spinning reels and absolutely love them for this type of fishing. They are extremely light and easy to handle.

While we are out fishing we catch mostly Sea Bass and some days only Sea Bass, but once in awhile we will pull in the very common Scup or a monster doormat Fluke, even a Weakfish (which is very rare but possible), or a

monster nasty teethed Bluefish.

If you are looking for an action filled day of fishing go to your closest rip or wreck in between 30-60 ft depending on the water temperature, like the ones off Vineyard Sound to pull in some Black Sea Bass.

Overall, Sea Bass fishing is not a terribly hard thing to get ready for. I hope everyone has tight lines this weekend coming up, it is always a blast to do with friends or by yourself.

George K. Regan, Jr. Publisher Boston Edition

Julie Kahn President, Regan Marketing & Media

They say that timing is everything in life, and the same is true with fishing. First, you have to find the time itself—a few hours to cast your rod. Second, you need the right combination of timing, skill, knowledge and luck to have a great day on the water.

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of going fishing with my good friend Jeremy Mattson, general manager of Webster Square Tire & Auto in Worcester, Massachusetts, his son, Jacob, and Captain Mel True of Fishnet Charters. The reason for our trip was for Jeremy and Jacob to get back out on the water again. According to Jeremy, Jacob used to love fishing, but in recent years he hadn’t been able to get out that much. It

EDITORIAL

A Great Time for Father and Son

By Go Fish Dan

their way all the way from Virginia to Maine during the spring and summer, and in Mid July they were right in our wheelhouse.

happens with teenagers, even my own boys, who have so much going on with team sports that they rarely have time for recreational fishing.

Jeremy and Jacob were determined to get out there, however, even if that meant starting at 2 a.m. on a Saturday morning. I met Jeremy at his house and Jacob crawled into the backseat of the Chevy Silverado, promptly curled up into a ball and fell asleep. Two hours later we arrived at Point Judith, Rhode Island, where we dipped the trusty DUSKY 25 with Captain Mel.

Four a.m. may have been an ungodly hour for Jacob but it’s necessary to get to “our location” at just the right time. Each year, striped bass make

I contacted Captain Mel because of his reputation (well earned) for always being on his game, such as the time he led me right to a 52.4-lb. striped bass. Also, hiring Mel for the day was one of the ways I give back to those who support the New England Fishing & Outdoor Expo. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that he’s a gregarious type of guy who enjoys educating people on the finer points of fishing.

On this day, Captain Mel was keen on helping Jacob, who we had already decided was going to bring in the first catch of the day. Sure enough, at 5:10 a.m. he hauled in a 46-lb. striped bass.

After that we had several hook-ups on consecutive drifts, thanks in no small part to our Captain Mel True Signature Series (CMTSS) rods and FinNor Marquesa 12 reels. One by one we brought in keeper size stripers. There was even a moment when father and son DOU-

BLED UP! It was a great moment for the memory banks and real validation for our trip. We released all but two LEGAL size stripers to enjoy later on at the grill. After that we switched it up by going for some sea bass because we knew they’d make delicious table fare as well.

Later, we prepared our fresh catches with our Dexter Knives, enjoyed a great meal, and talked fishing with Captain Mel. It was the perfect end to a perfectly timed adventure for the father and son team of Jeremy and Jacob, myself, and Mel. The best part is that I filmed and produced a three and half minute video clip for my YouTube channel so we can relive the memory any time we want.

If that wasn’t enough, Jeremy was so happy with our day on the water that he gifted me a free oil, lube,filter and tire rotation at Webster Square Tire & Auto!

As they say, timing is everything.

Until Next Time – God Bless & GoFish!

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Hey it’s that time of year again! The end of the summer is near, but the beginning of the False Albacore run is upon us and I love it. Nothing gets my clients more fired up than the long drag screaming runs of Albies on light tackle, fun stuff.

Let’s take a look at some strategies that may help you smile for the camera with a wiggling Albie a little more this season. There is a basic formula to targeting any species and it’s based on four premises. They are; When- WhereHow-What. So let’s break it down in that sequence.

#1: When

Well for most of us we know it’s around the 3rd week of August that we begin to see consistent numbers of False Albacore in our Cape Cod waters. Of course our neighbors to the south in Rhode Island will have a run sooner than we will and I always look for those reports before to get a jump on the run. Yesterday was August 9th and while guiding in Nantucket Sound for Blues we encountered a small pod of Albie’s, or where they Atlantic Bonito, hard to tell they were up and down quick. Anyways, the main timing for our run is the last week in August and the first half of Septem-

EDITORIAL

Albie Strategies-Hard & Soft

By Captain John Curry

ber. The main indicator is two factors, bait and water temp. Right now we have 70-71 degree water temps in Vineyard and Nantucket Sound’s with slightly higher temps in Buzzards Bay. False Albacore like 72-78 degree water temps. Keep that in mind and monitor those on Rutgers.edu/ seasurfacetemps. The second indicator is of course bait. They aren’t here to enjoy our beaches, they are here to feed and fatten up before they turn right and head back down to the Carolinas and Florida for the winter. Right now we have bait and plenty of it! Peanut Bunker, Silver Sides and Bay Anchovies are everywhere on the south side.

#2: Where

Pretty obvious that I’m talking in general terms Buzzards Bay, Nantucket and Vineyard Sounds in regards to locations. However, we need to think of our approach in more specifics if we want to get more hook ups. Sure some days it’s as easy as drop the boat in and fire up the motor and look for birds. Grab a chart of the area you plan to fish and a tide report. Look for contour lines with rips and channel bars where bait will be flushed as the tide moves and plan to fish those areas instead of just heading out with a pair of old binoculars. For our south side Cape waters the rule of thumb most years is the fish will start to really heat up around Craigville Beach then as the run progresses and the days get colder end around Cuttyhunk Island.

#3: How Light tackle that’s how. This isn’t a troller’s game. Put away

the umbrella rigs and head down to Falmouth Bait & Tackle and have Christian and the guys set you up with a light tackle spinning outfit. I use a 7’ medium-fast action Star rod paired with a 3000 series Shimano reel and 15 pound Power Pro braid main line. On the business end use 20 fluorocarbon leader of at least 6’ long. Long casts are the name of the game and you need a high speed reel. Trust me you will cast as long as you can on one side of the boat only to have fish pop up 10 yards away on the other side. A Biologist I once ran into at a bar on the Outer Banks told me that False Albacore swim so fast that they can only see a lure that’s at least 20’ in front of them. This means when you see fish cast way in front of the direction you think they are going and reel like hell.

#4: What

What do you throw at these “funny fish” that one day will smash whatever is on your line and the next day ignore you like a buddy who owes you money? This get’s us to

the subtitle of this article. I like to use two main types of baits, soft plastics and metal or “epoxy” type jigs and surface baits like poppers. In my experience False Albacore will take soft plastic baits like the 6” Hogy in white, pink and green in the early stages of the run. I feel like they are keyed in on Peanut Bunker and the softer baits mimic them more. A new bait on the scene this year is the Hurley Lure Co. “Mini Squidder”. It’s about 4” long and can weigh up to an ounce with a built in hook , should be a killer bait. The 3” Skid Stik by Fishin Magician is also a solid choice in the early to mid part of the run. As the run nears its middle to end stages and the water starts to cool you cannot go wrong with the Hogy Lure Co. Epoxy Jigs. The olive and pink colors are usually what’s on my leader and they cast a mile. Load up on these great local lure companies and you will be very pleased with the results.

Hope you have a great Albie season!

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By Capt. Michael Okruhlik FLOUNDER

September is a new beginning of sorts when it comes to saltwater shing on the Gulf Coast. First, it is somewhat cooler, although some of our visiting northern neighbors might not agree. Many anglers nd themselves torn between other passions and obligations, some of which include school in session, weekend sporting events, dove and deer hunting, and the list goes on. ese activities thin the herd of boats on the water and opens the bays back up for those of us who focus all of our free time on the water.

is is de nitely noticeable at the boat ramp the rst weekend a er Labor Day, and I can’t wait!

Less boat tra c means shing the mouths of bayou drains is wide open. I avoid these areas for safety reasons when there’s heavy boat tra c. I just don’t like boats driving over my lines or waking me, which is what happens if you sh in a boat lane during peak season. I like drains in back lakes this time of the year, because they hold “the big three”: trout, red sh and ounder.

I will speci cally target ounder in these areas in September and early October. Since the spring migration, these tasty morsels have been working their way as far back in the marsh as they could get. With autumn around the corner, they start to congregate in these drains. Outside of the fall run, many anglers do not target these ground huggers. With the pressure light,

the ounder bite can be lights out for those who know where and how to target them. part is you might not see another boat all day!

An outgoing tide is optimal to stake out one of these drains. e tide carries bait out of the deeper bayou and adjacent marsh grass and sends it on a deadly path with hungry ounder fattening up for their winter spawn. When the bite is on, it is not uncommon to see ounder breaking free of the water’s surface chasing a meal. e time I witnessed this years ago, it took me awhile to gure out what was jumping. I will never forget that day!

Paddletail so plastics are my go-to in this situation. I like bright colors such as white lightning, chartreuse with glitter, or pearl with a chartreuse tail in a 4-inch or 3.25-inch bait. Keep the lure twitching along the bottom. Quick jerks with the rod tip pointing down activates the tail vibration and kicks up clouds of mud, which really grabs their attention. A so plastic with a tail rattle adds an extra attractant.

Get a jump start on your ounder x before the rst cold front and the long lines of anglers targeting them during the fall run.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KNOCKIN TAIL LURES®

Capt. Michael Okruhlik is the inventor of Knockin Tail Lures®, and the owner of www.MyCoastOutdoors.com.

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THEY KNOW FALL IS COMING

Tim Barefoot

Fish know fall is coming because of the reduction of daylight minutes in a day. e shorter days make a lot of species start a whole new pattern of activities. For example, the grouper complex will start the process of moving into traditional spawning areas. at migration mirrors the cigar minnows, sardines and squid. I’ve always said this and will say it again: Find the bait, nd the sh!

e cigs and sardines form large schools that attract a number of predators including kings and sail sh on the surface, and the big snappers and grouper will be on them as well. e shortened daylight hours become obvious during the middle of this month, when it triggers the “feed” to fatten up for winter and the spawn. Go to the traditional areas you’ve found bait in the past, and that’s a great place to start shing.

Another thing I’ve said in the past is: don’t go to a Chinese restaurant and order a pizza, meaning don’t drop baits that are foreign to sh that are working a school of cigs and sardines. Always have a couple boxes of frozen cigs and/ or sardines just in case you can’t nd the

bait. At least you’ll have bait that “matches the hatch” of what they normally eat.

I try to stay on the sabiki catching baits while everyone else on the boat is shing with grass grunts, sailors choice, cigs/sardines, etc. If you get on a big knot of cigs or sardines, it might be helpful to have two people on the sabiki lling the livewell. e best bait of all is whatever is there. Just put it right back down.

is is also the time of year to nd squid inshore, mixed in with cigs and sardines. If you have a live squid for bait, its life expectancy is under 10 seconds once it touches the bottom on a jig. It’s an instant bite, just like several other baits mentioned above.

e only problem I have with the live or frozen minnows is everything on the bottom will give them a whack, and you wind up catching a lot more snapper and smaller bass than if you use a larger live bait. We almost always have live pin sh from the marina that eliminate most of the trash bites. If you have a larger pin sh, grass grunt or sailor’s choice on the jig, nothing but larger bass, grouper, jacks and big snapper can put it in their mouth. I like to speci cally target grouper by putting the larger live baits down on the jig that eliminate the undesirable bites. Of course, this is a very attractive bait to the sharks, also. Every now and then you have to pay the “tax man” in a grey suit, but that’s just the chance I take. Check out some of the rigging and shing videos on the website or on youtube to see what I’m talking about.

See more from Tim Barefoot at Barefootcatsandtackle.com.

ALASKA STATE RECORD OUTWEIGHS WORLD RECORD

Alaska’s new state record shortraker rock sh was caught in late July. On uncerti ed scales at a remote shing lodge, it weighed 48 pounds, which would have crushed the existing IGFA world record by about 4 pounds. e angler, charter guide Keith DeGra , however, chose to preserve the meat by bleeding the sh instead of waiting to get an o cial weight on certi ed scales.

Days later, when DeGra nally got a certi ed weight in front of an Alaska Game and Fish representative, the sh weighed 42.4 pounds, which was good enough to set a new Alaska state record.

“It feels like the biggest accomplishment of my shing career,” DeGra said. “ is species takes time and dedication to drop down to such huge depths, and I spent a whole lot of hours and reeled miles of line trying to break this record, and it nally came to fruition.”

DeGra caught the sh from Prince William Sound on July 28 with his ancée and some friends from a rented boat. DeGra was shing 1,000 feet deep with a conventional (non-electric) Avet 2-speed 30/2 reel, a custombuilt Adventurous Custom rod built by Derwood Roberts, 3-pounds of weight, 80-pound braid and a circle hook baited with salmon and herring. e previous Alaska state record shortraker rock sh weighed 39.1 pounds. It was caught by Henry Liebman in 2013. e IGFA all tackle world record weighed 44.1 pounds. It was caught in 2017 by Angelo Sciubba at Cross Sound, Alaska, but it’s not recognized in the Alaska Game and Fish list. For more information, see www.adfg.alaska.gov.

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Designed to integrate with a boat’s existing SeaStar cable steering system, new Xtreme Power Assist (XPA) steering provides smooth, e ortless electric power steering for a range of boats with single outboard motors from 90 to 200 hp. is makes it ideal for smaller ats boats, center consoles, shallow water open ski s and other coastal shing vessels that currently use mechanical steering.

Dometic’s XPA mounts easily to all outboard brands and works with all types of SeaStar mechanical steering (including rack and rotary,

need to replace the existing steering. Installing XPA requires only simple wiring and can be done by DIY boaters in about 30 minutes.

Once XPA is installed, the steering cable only turns the power assist unit—while an advanced electric steering actuator moves the engine load. is eliminates steering torque through the wheel and provides smooth, nearly e ortless steering at any speed.

While an ideal upgrade, this new system is being adopted by top boat builders as a factory standard feature or optional upgrade on new boats.

MOBILE BAY

ARE EASY PICKINGS

right, shrimp, crabs, ounder and more oat to the surface in the shallows, where people just scoop them up.

In one of his weekly columns, David Rainer, with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources explained these uncommon events: e event starts with an incoming tide with very warm, still water, followed by organic load that creates a situation that depletes the oxygen in the water. O en, jubilees follow an a ernoon rain shower and an easterly or northeasterly wind. e Mobile Bay National Estuary Program explains that phytoplankton also contributes to this phenomenon by consuming oxygen near the surface of the water. When the easterly breeze starts blowing, this creates a water current that causes the oxygen-poor water to migrate toward the shore. is has a corralling e ect, herding the bottom-dwelling species into the shallows. ere those species become so lethargic that people can just pick them up. ese events usually lasts two to three hours.

Because they are short lived and rare, jubilees are a source of excitement for some Mobile Bay families who send word out to friends and loved ones to drop what they’re doing and go collect some seafood. However, Rainer warned in his column that a jubilee is not a free-for-all. Normal size and creel limits remain in e ect during the phenomenon. Alabama Marine Resources Division Director Scott Bannon said most species survive to swim or scuttle away when dissolved oxygen levels return to more normal levels.

or most folks, a jubilee is an anniversary celebration, or maybe it’s a ambe dessert made with cherries. For people in the know on the Eastern Shore of Alabama’s Mobile Bay, a jubilee is a natural phenomenon that leads to ridiculously easy seafood. When weather, water and tidal conditions occasionally align just

In case you were wondering whether Mobile Bay’s jubilees are the result of climate change or pollution, know that they have a very long history going back to a time when bells would ring to sound the jubilee because locals were dependent on seafood to feed their families.

“Nowadays, it’s more of an interesting phenomenon that occurs in only two places in the world, Mobile Bay and Tokyo Bay in Japan,” Bannon said.

August and September are the best months to encounter an Alabama jubilee, but it’s not the kind of thing you can predict. You just have to be there and hope to encounter it… or have friends in the know on social media.

For more information, see Rainer’s detailed article on jubilees at www.outdooralabama.com.

ADCNR PHOTOS BY DAVID RAINER

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TYLER WOOLCOTT

If you aren’t familiar with it, a Carolina rig is when you put a bullet weight and then a bead on your line and then tie a swivel to the end. To the swivel, I use about a 2-foot section of leader and then a worm hook to put a bait on. is rig gets deep, and the leader with a weightless bait provides a more subtle presentation than a traditional Texas rig.

Obviously, you want to drag this rig around some sort of cover that bass are attracted to. I use it everywhere from Southern largemouth in deep grass to deep smallmouth on rock up north. With the weight clicking against the bead and the free action of the bait, this old-school rig still dominates a lot of tournaments to this day.

ere are two presentations I go for when choosing a so plastic to Carolina rig. I like either a bait sh or a craw sh. If the available forage is bait sh, I use a uke-style bait in a natural bait sh color. If the bass are eating craw sh, I like a Zoom Speed Craw or a Strike King Menace grub in green pumpkin or some type of brown or orange color. ese two baits have a lot of action and small bodies to keep the bait streamlined while dragging. My go-to hook is a 4/0 Hayabusa WRM956 wide gap.

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eptember is supposed to be the beginning of fall, but the reality— at least in the South—is the month is just a continuation of summer. Bass can be pretty tricky, but there are ways to target sh in cooler, deeper water. Dragging a Carolina rig is one of my favorites.You can play around with the size of the weight and the diameter of your leader line. In shallower 5- to 10-foot depths, a lighter weight can help your bait look more natural. I’d suggest ¼ to ½ ounce in that depth range. If you’re shing deeper water in 15 to 30 feet, shing a heavier ¾ to 1 ounce weight gets you down more quickly and allows you to cover bottom more e ectively.

I like the leader between my swivel and hook to be lighter than my main line because it’s less visible to the sh and allows better bait action. If I’m shing 15-pound mainline, I’ll use a 10- to 12-pound leader.

Carolina Rig Gear:

When using this rig, making long casts to cover water is a must, and being able to hook a sh at the end of a long cast is critical. For these reasons, I use a pretty long rod. My go to is a 13 Fishing 7’6” MH Omen Black Casting rod.

You’ll also need to pick line up fast with the reel to remove slack on the take. I use a 13 Fishing Concept A 8:3:1 reel, which eats up line quickly. Spool this reel with 15-pound Seaguar uorocarbon, and grab a small spool of 10- or 12-pound line for leaders.

Tyler Woolcott is a professional tournament angler and guide. Check out his website at www.tylerwoolcott shing.com.

S

TIPS FROM A PRO

DRAG A CAROLINA RIG

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