The summer time is a great time for bottom and wreck fishing. Calm seas with light winds, and light North currents are ideal conditions for getting baits down on the deep wrecks. Armed with the new spectra lines, we can place baits and fish aggressively where just a few years ago we needed heavy mono or wire line.
The key to success is not to just bottom fish, you must think big! We routinely drop live small bonitos, whole dead bonitos, live snappers, pinfish, and big Blue Runners to coax the larger fish off the wreck and onto our line. A live one pound Vermillion snapper will get attention placed just up current of a wreck. You will want to use as heavy a leader as you can get away with, although the lighter the leader the more bites you will get. It is a delicate balancing act deciding between light leader and more opportunities, or heavy leader and just waiting for the one bite of a life time.
Just this past week we fished a wreck in 650' and caught a 21 pound Golden Tile fish. Light currents, spectra line, a large bait and a little luck were the elements needed for our success. This past week we saw some of our best bottom fishing. Another highlight was an Amber Jack that pushed the scales past 90 pounds. That fish was caught on a live Vermillion Snapper fished in about 250'. Although the star catch was a Warsaw Grouper that weighed in at about 80 pounds. This fish was caught on a 5lb dead bonito fished close to wreck in about 350'. So, don't be afraid to fish big baits. You never know what will pull back on the other end of your line.
