Spring Fishing Tips

Looking to target Sailfish?There’s plenty around right now. The best way to catch them for release is by fishing off the drop of the reef. It is best from 80 to 200 feet using live ballyhoo, threadfin herring, blue runners, and goggle eyes.

If you prefer to get something for the table:

The dolophin are just beginning to show up. The best way to target the dolphin is to troll naked ballyhoo or ballyhoo combos anywhere from 200 to 600 feet. Look for the frigate birds or any kind of weedline or debris.

Common Fishing Terms Explained

Catch and Release – A conservation motion that happens most often right before the local Fish and Game officer pulls over a boat that has caught more than it’s limit.

Hook: (1) A curved piece of metal used to catch fish. (2) A clever advertisement to entice a fisherman to spend his life savings on a new rod and reel. (3) The punch administered by said fisherman’s wife after he spends their life savings (see also Right Hook, Left Hook)

Line: Something you give your co-workers when they ask on Monday now your fishing went the past weekend.

Lure: An object that is semi-enticing to fish, but will drive an angler into such a frenzy that he will charge his credit card to the limit before exiting the tackle shop.

Reel: A weighted object that causes a rod to sink quickly when dropped overboard.

Rod: An attractively painted length of fiberglass that keeps an angler from ever getting too close to a fish.

School: A grouping in which fish are taught to avoid your $29.99 lures and hold out for spam instead.

Tackle: What your last catch did to you as you reeled him in, but just before he wrestled free and jumped back overboard.

Tackle Box: A box that is shaped alarmingly like your comprehensive first aid kit. Only a tackle box contains many sharp objects, so that when you reach in the wrong box blindly to get a Band Aid, you soon find that you need more than one.

Common Fishing Terms Explained compliments of Sailfish Magazine Spring 2007