Red, White, and Blue (12/2)

[Latimeria]

So I have my new electric reel courtesy of my work.  Long story, but they actually paid for 3/4 of it through SPARKS points.  I ordered a new rod also, since I need a lighter action rod over the BFT beefstick I'm using at the moment.

Plan were back and forth, but since there no takers, I just decided to wing it.  I was going to drift for swords for a few hours for a hail mary, but really just get used to this reel and see what it has to offer.

Jeremy the night before said it looks rough out there according to the Windy App. I was seeing much nicer conditions on the NOAA charts, but that just meant it probably would be rough.  Looks like the Windy App was pretty spot on as it was pretty windy and rough out there.  For some reason, I was getting hit with swell and waves from the West AND EAST!  Unless it's wave reflection off the coast, how the hell was 5 footers rolling from the land out to sea and well as the same size rolling from the West to the coast!?!?!

As you could see in the background, it was pretty friggin windy in the morning when I was heading out.



In any case, my only experience with electric reels were the Hookers I've used on the sword boat, so I was excited to see what it was capable of.

Only bummer was my Lowrance HDS only went to 1000'.  It would give me a correct depth, but the screen was not capable of metering deeper.



I saw on my finder that I was in 1425'.  I was skeptical it could read that depth, but when I dropped to the bottom, it was pretty spot on (Minus the minimal scope)!



The squid kept coming up chewed to sh!t which looked an aweful like squid eating my squid to me.  If it wasn't that, it was this line snot that was almost impossible to get off the terminal tackle.



After 3 hours, I decided to just look for something to catch and fill the sack. 

I dropped at some 1200 spots for black cod or blackgill for nothing. 

I dropped at 800' on some structure that looked like was rocks, but every drop was big dabs.... EVERY DROP...

I moved to 550' and caught a few Bosco and green blotched mixed in with MORE dabs.

I kepy moving around looking to get away from Dab City, and then I saw something magical on the sonar.  I found a spot that had clouds of boomerangs, so dropped a 300 gram jig down to see if it was what I was hoping to see.

It was.....



All quality fish!



I even got a big old Salmon Grouper.



I switched up to my bass stick and I have to say, dropping a 300 gram jig on a big bass stick really deep was a bit of a chore, but spotlock had me locked into the spot, so there was no rush.  It was a lot of fun!



Somehow I even got a big Po' Man's Yellowtail on it!  The picture is hard to tell, but it was probably 3 or 4 pounds.



I got my limits and tried to get something unique after that.





The place was littered with big reds, so I used the electric reel as the descending device.





It was really cool to watch on the sonar.  I could see the fish go down to about 250' and I would just leave it there.  The fish would decompress, and I would see head shakes on the rod, and then see a second line on the FF with the fish swimming the rest of the way down and never saw a floater.

In any case, I didn't want to subject any more fish to this, so decided to pack up and head to the barn.  It was a hell of a lot nicer out by 1:00 and the ride in was smooth and beautiful.



That was it.  The greatest takeaway I had was I REALLY love this electric reel.  It alarms at 30', 20', and stops at 16' so it doesn't rip in through the guides.  I might adjust it a little bit, but it's also a really smooth  hand reel also.  I'm sold!  It's going to work great for some BFT applications next spring.

Thanks for reading and until next tide!

[jrodda]

5' from the west AND east, woof. Well you learned a few spots that DON'T work which seems to be half the battle with the deep dropping. That line snot is nasty, I'm glad I've only dealt with it once. Really nice quality fish!

[sasquatch]

Kinda seems like I was better moving sh!t.
Glad the reel worked out.

[Tim524]

I am on the fence about electric reels   After reeling big fish from 500' last trip, I can see where they would make things easier, but then again it's kind of like BBQing with wood and charcoal Vs Pellet grills, not fully committed yet I guess   The arms and joints will appreciate the technology for sure Nice haul of groceries, the Whitefish is a hefty one 

[jrodda]

I am on the fence about electric reels   After reeling big fish from 500' last trip, I can see where they would make things easier, but then again it's kind of like BBQing with wood and charcoal Vs Pellet grills, not fully committed yet I guess   The arms and joints will appreciate the technology for sure Nice haul of groceries, the Whitefish is a hefty one 

Sounds like it's only a matter of time for you...

[KogaHead]

Electric reels are for pu$$y's and old farts.

[Latimeria]

Electric reels are for pu$$y's and old farts.

Well, you're half right.  I'm not sporting the liver spot tan that you have, but on my way.

[Chris]

Looks like a lot of taco meat and kite fishing in your future!

I have no shame using mine to haul up rockfish. They don't fight and I can fill the bag in a couple hours while being able to pick and chose fish without worrying about the next drop.
I also use a hook to descend them but I put it below my bottom hook on a double dropper then tie 2ft of mono off that to the weight. Descend the fish with the baits and just stop it 100ft off the bottom, reel up 10ft to get them off and then drop the baits to the bottom.