Bottom Fishing
For those of you who are not too familiar with the sport of fishing, here is some additional information.
Bottom Fishing is still fishing or on anchor (boat does not move) usually on wrecks, artificial reefs or live bottom. Water depths for bottom fishing are usually 60-130 feet. Fish typically caught include Grouper, Red Snapper, Porgys, TriggerFish and many more.
Bottom fishing is a fun way to spend a few hours out on the ocean. Although some people would disagree, and say that holding a line going down about 90 feet with a 2 pound weight tied to the end is too much work! This maybe true but what you get in return is well worth it. Another thing about bottom fishing is that you never know what you might pull up next. The best thing about it is that instead of spending a good deal of money that you would at a restaurant you can have fresh fish for dinner!
Bottom fishing is probably one of the easiest methods of all to learn if you are new to salt water fishing and want to catch fish. The objective is the same for all the different rigs, to take your bait to the bottom and present it to the fish that live there in an appetizing manner. Now what you and I might consider appetizing is probably different than what a grouper considers appetizing.
Here are three basic rules for bottom fishing that have served us well for many years.
- When using a conventional reel (not a spinner), keep your thumb on the spool to avoid tangles as you let you line to the bottom. (All these fish live and eat on the bottom, and that's why we call it "bottom fishing".)
- When you feel a nibble, raise the rod tip high and reel like crazy.
- If everyone around you is catching fish and you don't feel any nibbles, reel up and check to see if you have any bait. You must have bait in order to catch a fish. If you are not catching fish, you will hear our Captain "Gordo" saying, "No bait, no fish."
We provide all of the equipment for bottom fishing and you have a choice of using a spinning reel or a spool. The spool is the local way of fishing where you actually hold the line in your hand and pull the line up when you get a catch. It is a lot of fun and many people have asked us to rig them spools to take back with them so they can show their friends the Mayan way of fishing.
