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Catch-22 Steve
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Posted: Tue Jul 4th, 2006 08:22 pm |
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The Billfish bite has turned back On , I spoke with several Boats Sunday and Monday that Released multipal Sails and Marlin, I fished Sunday with my daughter laura and After only 1/2 an hour of lines In she caught and released this sailfish,we also released a Stripe Marlin and Boated 4 med. Dorado, All fish are close 5-10 miles 180 deg and 240 deg seam to be the hot spots, still lots of Small to Medium Dorado around 8 miles out...Tight Lines
Steve
Click On link to view
http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sancarlos0701060151yp.jpg
http://img55.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fishingfishskins0114fu.jpg
Last edited on Tue Jul 4th, 2006 10:42 pm by Catch-22 Steve
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kjstm
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Posted: Wed Jul 5th, 2006 02:23 am |
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Nice pics....thanks for sharring Steve.
Ken
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bret m
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Posted: Wed Jul 5th, 2006 03:15 am |
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Sweet, that looks fun!
Bret
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Sea Fox
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Posted: Wed Jul 5th, 2006 06:08 am |
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Good to hear the billfish are biting. Also, thanks for posting photos - they really get the juices flowing!
Steve, when you speak with the other boats do you find out what lure/bait is having the best response? I can't be the only one wondering what was used everytime I hear (or see a photo) of a billfish on the line. 
Brett, were your hook-ups on live bait? I have a large bait tank on my boat but have not really used it in San Carlos. Maybe I should change my tactics, especially if we find something holding fish (a la milk crate).
-Dave
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bret m
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Posted: Wed Jul 5th, 2006 06:45 am |
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Pink and white Moldcraft on the marlin hookup. I got the sail on some custom marlin lure looking deal everyone called a petrolero or petrolano (not sure exactly). The dorados ate everything, literally for awhile I wouldn't have wanted to wiggle a toe or finger in the water. We even caught several on Blue Fox Vibrax salmon spinners I had in the bottom of my box on a lightweight spinning outfit I brought for shore fishing. We slow trolled big live mullets and ballyhoo rigs but never got touched on them. 80% of our dorado's came off floating junk, freelining live bait on circle hooks down into big schools .
Here is a pretty good depiction of what was happening. We would have one or two on ready to release or gaff and keep depending on size (lower left corner) either one or 2 more would be hooked up at the same time fighting and there would be 20-30 more below in sight waiting for bait to be freelined down to them. I can only see 3 in this picture but there were at least 10 I could see right before I snapped the shot, the camera just didn't pick them up that good Yeah, if I had a bait tank on the boat I would try to fill it before I went out if targeting dorado....
Bret M.
Last edited on Wed Jul 5th, 2006 07:02 am by bret m
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Catch-22 Steve
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Posted: Wed Jul 5th, 2006 04:05 pm |
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Sea Fox- Yes Most times I do ask the question, Lure or Bait??,Fore sure this week lures have been most fishermans answer, we however used our Standard Skirted trolling Bally-hoo for our billfish, our lures never got a look..
I Run a 7 line spread, most days I troll 4 baits ,and 3 lures, It does change from day to day, 3 weeks ago the lures I got from Stuart were the only thing I could catch a billfish on ,for the last week they have not got a look,My Game plan on any given day is to try One of everthing I have ,then when something gets hot I put out a lot of it , some days It Moldcraft, some days Pakula,some days Its Stuarts Lures...etc. etc, I do like Dark colors on cloudy Days and bright colors On sunny days ...
tight lines
Steve
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Stuart
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Posted: Wed Jul 5th, 2006 05:48 pm |
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Sounds like that "any given day" thing, Steve. You never know what's going to turn them on until you get out there and start dragging it behind the boat. That's why I carry a little bit of everything anytime I go out. Colors, sizes, shapes -- not uncommon for me to run 20 different lures in the course of the day.
Like you, I tend to run dark colors (mostly purple and black) in the early morning, then change up to bright colors like pinks, petroleros, mex flag, etc. once the sun is high in the sky.
I'll also run a mix of lure sizes -- a couple of 6" for dorado, an 8" or 10" for bigger dorado, tuna or billfish, and a Fish Whistle or larger slant (12") dropped further back in the spread. Gives the illusion of a larger baitfish chasing smaller ones. I generally run only four lines. We'll drop back a ballyhoo or strip bait if we get a billfish in the spread or if we get on some dorado, but we typically don't troll them in the spread.
Glad to hear the bite is on! Now, if I can just get my butt down there again soon!
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Sea Fox
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Posted: Wed Jul 5th, 2006 11:17 pm |
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Thanks for the info guys. I will add the "rule of thumb" regarding lure sizes and colors to my notebook. It is amazing how much I will forget from today until the next time I go fishing!
I had asked this forum previously about the electronic lures sold in the tackle shops for $250 and up, but no responses. The lures look like regular skirted trolling lures with an electronic frequency generator in the body of the lure. Anybody heard any stories on how well they work?
Thanks again Steve, Brett and Stuart.
-Dave
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Stuart
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Posted: Thu Jul 6th, 2006 12:53 am |
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You're talking about Sevenstrand's EAL lures. Some guys swear by them; say they consistently catch billfish. Personally, I haven't tried them yet. $250 is a pricey lure -- you better hope it doesn't get cut off. I've also heard a few guys say the battery life is pretty short in them (Sevenstrand says 8 hours or one day) and that after using them a few times, they don't work right, but again, only hearsay on my part. I've used Sevenstrand's Tuna Clones for years and they are a great lure, but they're not electronic.
My personal thought is that anything electronic that you're dragging through saltwater will have problems! Heck, just keeping the electrical connections on my boat, trailer, etc. free of corrosion and operating correctly is battle enough for me. I certainly don't want to fight the same on my lures. But, if I'm ever rich and famous, I might buy a few of them and throw them out in the spread and see what happens. In the meantime, I'll keep fishing my custom lures.
Last edited on Thu Jul 6th, 2006 12:58 am by Stuart
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Clay
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Posted: Sun Jul 16th, 2006 09:24 am |
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When you say you run 4 bait and 3 lures how does the speed work. If I use a speed to get good lure action the bait skips the top. If I slow down for the bait the lures never see the surface. Do I need to change the way I rigg the bait? I usually just rigg the ballyhoo with the nose wire. Do I need weight? also some of you have mentioned running behind skirts. are they special lures made for that?
thanks Clay
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Catch-22 Steve
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Posted: Sun Jul 16th, 2006 03:28 pm |
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Clay- Yes I do Skirt My Bait,.I troll at seven 7 knots, I can get both the bait and Lures to work well at that speed..I use Islander lures, Pakula lures and Mold craft lures as skirts , Nothing special just a std 5"-6" lures, I also use bullet sinkers in front of the baits , for the same reason
tight lines
Steve
http://www.pakula.com.au/10lurestiny.htm here is the pakula I use
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