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FISHING GUIDE
When, Where & How to Catch
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Tuna, Yellowfin
Bait or Lure:
Whole dead fish (balao), squid, artificial lures (feather lures, offshore trolling lures, cedar plugs)
Method: Trolling chunking and chumming
Location: Offshore ocean waters
Average Weights: 30 - 70 pounds |
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Tuna, Bluefin
Bait or Lure: Artificial lures (cedar plugs, feather lures, spoons), squid, small fish
Method: Trolling, chunking and chumming
Location: Offshore ocean waters
Average Weights: 30 - 70 pounds |
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Wahoo
Bait or Lure: Artificial lures (offshore trolling lures, feather lures, spoons, large plugs), small dead fish (balao)
Method: Trolling
Location: Offshore ocean waters
Average Weights: 20 - 40 pounds |
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Swordfish
Bait or Lure:
Whole dead squid and fish
Method: Fish at night from a drifting boat using natural baits with chemical
lightsticks, with baits weighted to maintain specific depths
Location: Offshore ocean waters
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Tuna, Bigeye
Bait or Lure:
Whole dead fish (balao), squid, artificial lures (feather lures, cedar plugs,
offshore trolling lures)
Method: Trolling
Location: Offshore ocean waters
Average Weights: 100 - 175 pounds |
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Tunny, Little (False Albacore)
Bait or Lure:
Artificial lures (small feather and nylon lures, spoons, cedar plugs), strip
baits
Method: Trolling, can cast small metal lures to schools of fish on surface
Location: Offshore and coastal ocean waters;
Average Weights: 6 - 14 pounds |
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Trout, Speckled
Bait or Lure:
Artificial lures (mirro-sided plugs, bucktails, plastic tail jigs), peeler
crabs, live bait (small spot, mullet); live shrimp
Spring method: peeler crab baits fished near shore of marshy or grassy areas on flooding tides; Fall method: casting artificial lures; also some live bait fishing, trolling and jigging
Average Weights: 2 -4 pounds |
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White Trout
Bait or Lure:
Artificial lures (bucktails, lead jigs with plastic tails, metal jigs), live
bait (spot and small mullet), peeler crab, squid, cut bait
method: Jigging or casting artificial lures to schools of fish on bottom or suspended above the bottom; bottomfishing with live and natural baits from anchored or drifting boat; surfcasting with cut bait or squid
Average Weights: 1 - 8 pounds
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Tautog
Bait or Lure:
Crab (blue, fiddler, green and mole crabs); clams; whelk
Method: Bottomfishing with bait over underwater obstructions (wrecks, reefs, rocks)
Location: Wrecks and reefs in ocean waters off the coast;
Average Weights: 3 - 6 pounds
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Tarpon
Bait or Lure:
Whole dead fish (spot, croaker, menhaden); live bait (spot, croaker, menhaden,
mullet); whole squid; artificial lures (plugs and weighted streamer
flies)
Method: Anchor and fish live bait under floats fish dead bait on the bottom and at various depths; cast artificial lures to rolling fish
Location: Inlets, interior marsh areas,fish deep holes on low tides and shallow areas on high tides
Average Weights: 40 - 80 pounds
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Striped Bass
Bait or Lure:
Artificial lures (spoons, plastic eels, bucktails, surface plugs, swimming
plugs), peeler crab, bloodworms, eels, cut bait, live bait
Method: Cast bucktails and plugs around bridges, piers, jetties and CBBT; peeler crab baits fished in tributary rivers and creeks near shore during summer
Average Weights: 5 - 25 pounds
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Spot
Bait or Lure:
Bloodworms, peeler crab, clam
Method: Bottomfishing with bait; anchored or drifting from boats, also caught from docks, piers, shore and surf; big runs of fish in the fall in lower
Location: All inshore coastal waters
Average Weights: 8 - 12 ounces |
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Spadefish
Bait or Lure:
Pieces of fresh mussels and clams; pieces of jellyfish
Method: Fish visible schools of fish around obstructions (buoys, towers, etc.) with small (#5 or #6) double strength hooks
Location: Coastal ocean waters; Fish consistently found at the Cell, Plantation Light, York Spit Light, and Tiger wreck, 4A-buoy, Light Tower
Average Weights: 3 - 8 pounds |
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Dolphin
Bait or Lure:
Artificial lures (offshore trolling lures), balao, squid, cut bait
Method: Trolling with lures, balao and squid; casting to schools of dolphin around weedlines and floating debris with cut bait (fish or squid) and lures (bucktails, surface plugs, streamer flies)
Location: Offshore ocean waters
Average Weights: 2 - 20 pounds |
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Blue Marlin
Bait or Lure:
Whole dead fish (balao, mullets, spanish mackerel) squid, artificial lures (offshore trolling lures), and live baits (small dolphin, bonito and skipjack tuna)
Method: Trolling
Location: Offshore ocean waters
Average Weights: 150 - 400 pounds
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White Marlin
Bait or Lure:
Whole dead fish (balao, mullet), squid, strip baits, eels, artificial lures (offshore trolling lures) live bait (pilchards, cigar minnows)
Method: Trolling; occasionally casting live baits to marlin "balling" bait or swimming on surface
Location: Offshore ocean waters
Average Weights: 40 -60 pounds |
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Sailfish
Bait or Lure:
Whole dead fish (balao, small mullet), strip baits, squid, artificial lures (small offshore trolling lures, live bait (small fish)
Method: Trolling; also, sailfish seem to be attracted to slow trolled live baits fished in similar method as used to slow troll for king mackerel
Location: Offshore ocean waters
Average Weights: 20 - 40 pounds |
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Cobia
Bait or Lure:
Live Bait (eels, spot, menhaden, mullet); artificial lures (large spoons, white bucktails, plastic eels, swimming plugs); cut bait (menhaden or spot)
Method: Cast, drift or slow troll live baits around buoys, underwater obstructions and schools of fish swimming on the surface; anchor, chum and fish live baits, fresh dead baits and cut bait in chum slick and on bottom;cast and troll lures around buoys, obstructions and to schools of bullfish (rays) or schools, pods or individual cobia swimming on surface
Location: coastal buoys and wrecks;
Average Weights: 20 -50 pounds
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Amberjack
Bait or Lure:
Live Bait (spot, croaker, bluefish, menhaden, small fish); Artificial lures (spoons, surface plugs, diamond jigs, white bucktails, plastic squids)
Method: Drifting and slow trolling live bait over and around obstructions (wrecks, reefs, towers, buoys); casting and trolling artificial lures over and around obstructions
Location: Ocean waters over and around wrecks & underwater obstructions;
Average Weights: 30-60 pounds |
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Black Sea Bass
Bait or Lure:
Squid, crab, cut fish, clam, shrimp
Method: Bottomfishing, generally near and over underwater obstructions (wrecks, reefs, rocks and rough bottom areas)
Location: Ocean waters; species less plentiful (especially large individuals)
Average Weights: 1-3 1/2 pounds |
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Bluefish(large)
Bait or Lure:
Artificial lures (spoons, tube eels, metal squids, surface plugs) cut bait (fresh menhaden, mullet, herring, spot) whole balao or boston mackerel
Method: Trolling, casting or jigging to schools of fish with artificial lures; surfcasting with cut bait or lures; chumming while using cut bait; bluefish can be taken on streamer flies with a fly rod
Location: Offshore and coastal waters;
Average Weights: 8-16 pounds
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Croaker
Bait or Lure:
Peeler crab, bloodworms, cut bait, squid, shrimp
Method: Bottomfishing with bait, anchored or drifting from boats, and also caught from piers, docks, shore and surf
Location: Tributary rivers of the Bay, coastal ocean waters, inlets
Average Weights: 1/2 - 2 pounds |
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Black Drum
Bait or Lure:
Whole clam, peeler crab, whelk, peeler crab/clam "sandwich", bucktail and leadhead jigs
Method: Bottomfishing with bait on "fishfinder" rig; running tides and late afternoons and evenings considered best; occasionally caught on bucktails or metal squids by casting or jigging to a school of fish
Average Weights: 40 -60 pounds |
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Red Drum
Bait or Lure:
Cut bait (fresh mullet, spot, menhaden), peeler crabs, artificial lures (spoons, large plugs, jigs)
Method: Bottomfishing with bait on "fishfinder" rig; trolling and casting spoons, plugs and jigs
Average Weights: 30 - 50 Pounds |
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Flounder
Bait or Lure:
Live bait (minnows and small fish), frozen minnows, fresh strip baits (bluefish, flounder and shark belly, squid), minnow/strip combination, artificial lures (bucktails); big strip baits and live spot or small mullet often used for big fish
Method: Drift fishing with live or dead natural baits fished on the bottom; slow trolling natural baits on bottom; casting from beaches and piers; trolling small bucktails dressed with strip baits
Average Weights: 1-3 pounds
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Kingfish Mackerel
Bait or Lure:
Bloodworms, shrimp, small pieces of cut bait, squid, sand fleas
Method: Bottomfishing with bait
Average Weights: 1/2- 1 1/2 pounds
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Mackerel, Spanish
Bait or Lure:
Small artificial lures (spoons, metal lures, feather and nylon lures), small
live baits (menhaden, mullet)
Method: Trolling; casting to schools of fish
Location: Coastal ocean waters, particularly off inlets, along tidelines, and over coastal wrecks
Average Weights: 1-3 pounds |
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Blue Sharks
Bait or Lure:
Whole dead fish and cut fish; live bait (fish)
Method: Anchor, chum and fish dead and live fish baits in chum slick and on bottom
Location: Offshore and coastal ocean waters, particularly around and over obstructions (wrecks, reefs, towers), ledges and lumps
Average Weights: 50 - 250 pounds
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