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New to the Gulf!! Looking for just some rigging tips!!
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New to the Gulf!! Looking for just some rigging tips!!
I am new to the Gulf!! I live in North Alabama but have aquired a house in Gulf Shores and have no idea what I am doing other than drifting Cigs for kings!! All the locals are catching a mess of fish but I am drawing nothing special except Kings and Spanish. I have a 23ft Sea Swirl Striper with a 225 Yammer on it! I love the lil boat but eventually will end up getting a bigger CC capable of higher speeds and longer range!! Anyone got any rigging or techniques for Amberjack/Grouper or Trolling Techniques they would like to share!! I am a Smallmouth fisherman on the Tenn River so this Saltwater stuff is entirely new to me!!
I am going to be down in October hopefully with some new wrecks to explore!! I am looking at a 1998 28ft Fountain with 2x250Optis Its in weathered shape but with some serisous buffing and stripper the gelcoat should be decent shape
Tater, I am from N Alabama and have been going out of F Morgan some over the last year. For bottom fishing I use 113 and 114 penns with 40lb and 60 lb mono with a heavier flouracarbon leader rigged basically carolina style using cut cigs or squid for bait. The weight size depends on current. We have been having no problems getting a limit (2ea) of snapper and some grouper but i have not been targeting AJ's. When i am on a hole which I think holds bigger fish I will drop down a live hard tail. These can be caught off oil rigs using sebiki rigs. As far as where to go you need to buy a chip for your bottom machine from Hiltons that will give you all of the public sites for your area. Good luck, I hope this helps a little.
For grouper and AJ you will need bottom or jigging gear. we use penn 330gti's and they work fine, although not ideal, but cheap and they get the job done. 40lb or 50lb mono.
For grouper, like pig said, carolina rig with 4 to 5 ft of 60 to 80lb floro leader. grouper will hit cut bait but most of our success has been with live. Pins, hardtails, etc. You can catch theses at the jetties on the way out of OB, or the rigs out of ft morgan. Bigger bait=bigger fish.
In my experience you'll find most of your larger grouper on natural bottom/rocks.
AJ's hold alittle higher in the column. You can carolina rig as well. We always keep a cig on a drift line and usually pick up a few kings. I'm not much on jigging but it seems to work for some people. If you want to wear yourself out trying to figure it out, just do a search in the sportfishing section on jigging.
I'm no expert but this is what has worked for us.
__________________ 2007 Century 2600 w/ Twin 200's
Pm me next time you come down. I will help you out with some spots. I fish out of fort Morgan most weekends. It really sucked releasing 4 snapper over 10 lb and 2 over 15 lb because we already had limit last Friday. We will be targeting grouper and AJs as soon as the water lays down a little.
You think that sucked I went out last sat in the horrible weather and ran to one of the Gas Rigs and had one about 28lbs on a live Elwy!! I almost threw up when the fish surfaced!! My Dad was like keep it and I said nope let her go make babies for next year!! Yeah I have a Lowrance Gps Sonar Unit!! Its an excellent unit I love its very accurate!! I went to Top Gun Tackle and asked some questions and the owner was a total disappointment!! I ended up going to J&M and Bought a Penn 340 and a Tyrnos!! I bought some cheap boat rods and they worked great!! What part of North Alabama are you from??
I am new to the Gulf!! I live in North Alabama but have aquired a house in Gulf Shores and have no idea what I am doing other than drifting Cigs for kings!! All the locals are catching a mess of fish but I am drawing nothing special except Kings and Spanish. I have a 23ft Sea Swirl Striper with a 225 Yammer on it! I love the lil boat but eventually will end up getting a bigger CC capable of higher speeds and longer range!! Anyone got any rigging or techniques for Amberjack/Grouper or Trolling Techniques they would like to share!! I am a Smallmouth fisherman on the Tenn River so this Saltwater stuff is entirely new to me!!
God Bless!!
Use a Caroilina rig for ajs and grouper. I use from 80# to 150# leader of 4' to 6' in length. I use big circle hooks 8/0 and bigger and big live bait. I also love to jig for both grouper and ajs as well. You can go to Shimano.com and look at their butterfly jigging video and see how it is done. However look at all the options for rods and reels for jigging before you buy. If you need more assistance you can always pm me and we can chat.
Yeah I butterfly jig in freshwater for deep bass!! I am going to get out again in October!! Prob run out to some deeper wrecks and try to get away from all the Red Snapper we have been catching!! I have always wanted to catch a big amberjack or grouper so I am goin to go give it a try!! Any tips on how to catch elwy and hardtail?? I know gold hooks and sabiki rigs but where do you go to catch the bait??
tater, I live in Gulf Shores so I am always close. There are several rigs that always hold bait, some times you just need to circle a few times to find the schools on your bottom machine.
I run Lowrance Chartplotter/Depth finder with an external antenna!! I have the navionics Hotmap for the gulf!! I love the setup but will be getting the HD-10 before long with the side scan upgrade!!
tater, I am from Huntsville. I have been freshwater fishing for years but now I have been bitten by the salt bug. We are trying to buy a place in Ft. Morgan so life will be a little easier and I will have a place to keep my boat instead of towing. I am just starting to learn the ropes a little bit but I still have a long ways to go.
We have a house forsale and a condo for sale in orange beach if you are interested!! The house is off canal road and can park a boat easily with a TTOP on it!! Also the condo is right by the state ramp in Orange Beach!! Email me if you are interested!! I will get you prices and such!! The Condo is only 4yrs old I think and it comes with Boat Parking and gated security!!
New to the Gulf!! Looking for just some rigging tips!! 
