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Random Quote: We must be near land, we had just enough gas to make it and we're out of gas!
ok...so spent over 2 hours trying to find bait saturday morning all the way from little river inlet up to holden beach....found very scattered flicks off of holden beach, but couldnt even get 1 pogy in the net.....finally had to go back into OIFC to buy cigar minnows...went out to christinas ledge and pulled dead cigar minnows for 5 hours without 1 strike......finally ended up going to LR offshore reef and bottom fish....
is there a secret to pulling dead cigar minnows, or were the kings just not there? the only thing we saw out there was huge schools of "atlantic spotted dolphin" i believe....hundreds of them.....my only theory is that they possibly scared off the kings and other fish?
we fished sunday the east side offshore of the cabbage and pulled dead cigars had a great day calm seas caught 8 kings 2 20s teenagers and the best of the day was 30.80 took some friends that has never been offshore and the has a blast
I was at the jungle a few days ago and I saw the same pods of dolphin playing all day around my boat. The king fishing was dead as well, I caught a few sharks just before the dolphin showed up. I was pulling dead cigars as well and always get kings on them. At least when they are biting that is. I slow troll the cigars at between 2.8- 3.6 kts with a lead head jig and a stinger hook. Sometimes I put a sliding egg just above the spro swivel. I also thought the presence of the dolphin had something to do with the absence of kings. I had two run offs when I first got to the Jungle but they pulled free after a few minutes. When the dolphin showed around my boat the bite dried up.I might try again this afternoon for a while. ~JJ~
__________________ "Jay"- 04 HydraSport Vector 24 CC 250 Yamaha fourstroke
yeah jay, those damn dolphins were a sight to see and have some great video ill post later, but i definitely think they turned off the bite and scared away some kings....or ate up most of the bait that the kings moved elsewhere for the time being...
let me know how you do if you go out today and do any good...i may try ONE last time this weekend for some kings if the weather holds out....i have an extra box of cigar minnows ill try one more time, or might go pick up some plugs......ive always fished with live bait, so im a little out of my element with cigar minnows....sounds like you troll them just a hair faster than live bait?
I found pogies Sat and Sunday below little river. In front of the Avista at north myrtle... it was a ton of them but they were all in 30 feet of water and after the 12th or so tries with a cast net I gave up.. Always have a plan B.. cigar minnows. so we headed to the Jungle on Sunday and caught a few kings then pushed off to the Hammer and caught a few more. I had my 83 yr old dad and my 6 yr old son with me. Thankfully my 15 yr old was there as well as we had three rods go off at one time. As for pulling them, I have always pulled them around the same speed as pogies and done well. We had a great day.. One I will never forget with my dad and 6 yr old..
lumberman, glad to hear yall did good and had a great time.....honestly this was my first time king fishing without live bait, and although I think I was doing everything right with the cigar minnows, I honestly believe this huge school of atlantic dolphin scared the kings off where we were fishing....I probably should have moved sooner than later....
I just rigged up the cigars like i would a pogy....some "swam" better than others.....couldnt keep a few from twirling here and there, but I figured I could at least get ONE hit from a stupid king...haha...unfortunately no, but it was a beautiful day out.....ran 40+mph to and from christinas ledge and LR offshore reef....havent seen it that flat in awhile....
it was a great day... Get some jig heads and tie one in place of the nose hook. The rest of the rig is the same except for the nose hook. Use naked, with skirts, plastic squid, etc.. Bring the hook up from the bottom and up through the top of the head. They will track good and I just go the same speed but still hear of folks going a bit faster.
sounds good, im going to give saturday a try....i have a leftover box of cigars, so im going ot make some rigs like you said with skirts and squid....also picking up some plugs that some guys down in georgetown, sc swear by...they call them "Clemson Plugs"...but they are rapala MAG18 plugs with a chrome lip...orange 7" plugs that supposedly tear up the kings down there.....plus the red head and white body too....
I look forward to hearing how they will work. I bought some Manns Stretch 30's for the stream when Wahoo fishing and figured I would try them on kings. But I have not figured out how to keep the drag tight enough to pull them, while keeping it loose enough to not pull the hooks when the king strikes. Please let me know how they work for you!..
Get hank brown jig heads in 1/2 oz. in place of the front hook you use on a live bait rig and rig the hook through the chin of the cigar minnow and up out between the eyes. Make sure there is no tension on the back treble or the bait will spin.
Hank brown or any slipper shaped jig heads and as the other guy's have mentioned, up through the slit in the chin and out top between the eyes. I like smoker choker skirts on them myself. And maybe one naked one as well. Are you using a downrigger? Lately most of my knock downs have been on the rigger about halfway down. I plan to go Saturday I did not get out today.~JJ~
__________________ "Jay"- 04 HydraSport Vector 24 CC 250 Yamaha fourstroke
I fish with Jetty Jay all the time, and he may be crazy, but he hit the nail on the head. Slipper style jig heads can make the bait swim great. Also pull out a few baits on the run out and put them in a bucket with a little saltwater in it to thaw them a bit, and also give them a little flexing action before you put them out just to make sure they will swim natural. if you still feel they need just a little something extra we sometimes add a few drops of pogie oil to the thaw out bucket. Make sure when you run the hook through the head you come out as close to dead center between the eyes as you can, that can have a huge effect on the swiming action.
When pulling dead bait, I have become a believer in Pirate Plugs. Never been skunked with them in the water. As far as the live bait goes, we had the same situation in Hatteras the other weekend. A flip here, a flip there, bait was scattered, and near the bottom. You need to have a heavy net, and a lot patience. If you can tell which way the school is moving, try and head it off, put the motors in neutral and wait, then throw on a flip.
Saturday - Cigar Minnows? 
