4/15,17,21 South Report
 

Fishing has been slow slow slow. Opening day we fished out of Breezy and got skunked. Went back out on Monday the 17th and fished around the cove point area. Lost a nice fish right at the back of the boat but did manage to catch a throwback at the end of the day. Friday we put a nice 40"er in the box at 8:30 and thought it was game On as the day and water seemed prefect. But the fishing gods thought different. Trolled till 2:30 with only one more short strike. Wish I had better info but fishing has been ruff for me starting off this season. Talked with Marty and told him I feel like a rookie as I keep changing my spread around after every trip trying to figure out what the deal is.

Pretty sure it's not you or your spread.

Don't feel badly:D The day I ran 20 miles south to the Power Plant/Gas Docks area, Bruce and I were VERY fortunate to catch 4 fish (2 shorts, 2 keepers).
Everyone adjusts their spread constantly (or should).
When I start the day, I pick an arbitrary number of bars back behind the boards (hint 6 bars has been good to me). So I may set lines 8,7,7,6,6,5,4 off the boards. If I catch (or get knockdowns) again off 7 and 6 bars, when I check for jellies, I may reset at 7,7,6,6,6,5,4.
I'm always thinking that later in the morning/early afternoon; I may have to reset to compensate for the overhead sun. The fish SHOULD come up on a nice sunny day to get to the warmer water near the top. If I see bait flipping on the surface, I may pull in the last three lines on each side to reset as low as 4,3,3.

My board lines don't get "adjusted" (maybe two or three times) as often as my boat rods. These are the easiest to adjust. If I am "marking" bait/fish deeper than usual, I can let each rod out two additional bars. If I am seeing bait on the surface, I can bring in each rod two bars.

Best of all; if you are catching with any consistency, you can adjust your lines to resemble what you are catching on. However, so few fish have come over the side, that it's difficult to see any pattern right now.

There are several guys on this board who can consistantly out fish me. I hold my own and I will post a photo of my spread when I STARTED the year. Remember, my board lines have already been shortened up:D:D
Additionally, you will see two umbrellas off the stern with no weight designated to them. I do weight these umbrellas with additional weight. It's not in the diagram because it changes each day:eek: I usually have between 6-10 ounces attached to the umbrella.
Finally, my deep umbrellas (hip rods) have also been lightened up a hair as the season progressed. I am now running 16 oz on starboard side and 20 oz on port side. The water temps have increased significantly, so I am bringing everything up as the season progresses.

Mark, Bruce, Jeff, Lolo, Greg, Jason, and others, please chime in with your thoughts.

Remember; this is just a starting point. We ALL overthink this; but hey, that's part of the fun:)
5th

I generally start with 12 bars out on the closest to the board and shorten a bar on each rod working back to the boat. I do odd number of bars on one side of the boat and even on the other. I run 2 spreader bars with 28oz on my 2 "hip rods" and an Umbrella with 28oz in the center under the prop wash. These 3 boat rods I run 25'-40' back.

With all the debris and jellies, I figured it would make a pain in the ass day a little easier if each side was the same bars back. Friday, based on some Charter Intel, I ran 6 bars on 1 side and 4.5 bars on other. After talking to another charter who had a few I moved 6 bars to 3 bars. Got 5 knockdowns and a 41" but everything come off 4.5 side. 3 and 6 bars never even caught a stick.
So Sat, what do you think I'm gonna do, run south and fish everything at 4.5 bars and set the world on fire!! NOT! Nothing all day and just burned more fuel. Should have stayed up at the triples with No Ragrets.

Based on info gleaned from other boats, namely Backdraft and the Wild Goose, we have shortened up our board lines. None out more than 7 bars, none shorter than 2 1/2 bars and most between 3-5 bars (Penn GT330's with 250 lbs braid).

In the spring, we only run two boat rods. Both with 28oz inline, large umbrellas out between 3-4 bars, also on Penn 330's.

Not that we have been setting the world on fire but we are catching the Deale fleet average. Tough to catch fish that aren't here.