Blueline Tiles and Black Sea Bass.
Fishing for blueline tiles and Black Sea Bass (BSB) in deep water is a lot like croaker fishing just in deeper water. The hard part is simply finding them and the easier part is catching them. You can mark bluelines but often you will not because they stay right on the bottom. If their are BSB mixed in with the bluelines then you can mark them because sometimes the BSB are not always tight on the bottom. You are looking for a rocky bottom but not huge boulders, more like the rocks you might find in a garden or gravel parking lot. Little crabs and crustaceans live in those rocks and that is what the fish are primarily feeding on. You will see little crabs spit up on the deck or find them in the bellies when you clean them. If you zoom your fish finder to at least 4x you can often tell you are in a rocky bottom as you’ll see the jagged edges on the bottom. Sand will look the same whether zoomed or not and a sand floor is not likely to hold bottom fish unless there is structure there like a wreck.
For Blueline and BSB in shallower waters up to 300 feet I just use a simple double bottom rig 80 lb mono with J hooks. Small loop on the top to attach the swivel from your rod, 2 loops (or more) for your hooks and a larger loop on the bottom for your sinker. 6/0 gamahatsu is about right. They go through an 80 mono leader loop just about right. Don’t make your loops for the hooks too long as they will twist easily from the fish spinning on the way up and you’ll spend too much time untwisting your rig. While you can make fancier rigs with beads and things that glow, I have not found it makes any difference. Any meat or squid will work, just have to be over them. Fresh is always better. Once you feel the bite set the hook hard. Blueline have small mouths that are hard and you have to get the hook set all the way through or the fish will shake off on the way up. The sharper the hook the better. Bluelines can be caught with circles but it is much more fun to set the hook. And I almost never gut hook a blueline with a J hook as long as you set the hook quickly. You can catch both bluelines and BSB with jigs. I like to add a piece of meat to the jig for added enticing. Don’t jig real fast. Just a slow lift and drop is all that is needed.
Often the BSB are mixed in with blueline tile and the good news is they can be caught on the exact same rigs and baits at tile. Just be sure to check the regs on BSB. While tile are open year around, BSB has open and closed seasons. We keep all blueline tile that are caught no matter how small. If you throw back the small ones, most likely they will not survive so you just needlessly killed a fish for no reason. BSB fishing presents more complicated issues when they are deep. First the season has to be open and each BSB has to be 12 1/2 inches to keep. If we are catching BSB in a closed season while deep dropping or catching BSB smaller then 12 1/2 inches in deep water, we will move away from that spot to minimize killing of BSB. The research on venting vs no venting is still no settled. Some scientists say venting does more harm than good. I do believe using a barbless hook to force them back to the bottom may be a better option than venting. Every angler has to try to do what they can to conserve the species without needlessly killing a fish just for sport. This is the main reason there is no release citation program for deep drop species as many fish would die just so an angler can get another citation on their belt.
Now let’s get really deep.
Once you get into deeper water 500-700 feet or more for grouper or golden tile, I upsize my leader to 150-200 lb mono and put them on 3 way swivels. Longer leader on the bottom hook and shorter above it. You can dress things up with glow tube, beads, squid skirt, anything to make things more visible as it is dark that deep. Even adding a light will help. Fresh meat is best, nice long strips. False Albacore, skippies, or even mahi strips from bailing off the balls is good fresh bait. Frozen squid works but not near as good as fresh meat strips. I like larger (8/0 to 10/0 or bigger) circle hooks for the deep water as it’s harder to set a hook with that much line out. Let them eat, count to 3 to 5 seconds, then just reel. I always bring way too much bait in fear of having a great bite and running out. But you can always use fresh cut strips once you start catching. In the deeper waters of the canyons, while fishing for grouper or goldens, you can also catch barrel fish, black belly rose fish, conger eels, hake, and sometimes weird creatures that you’ll have to do a hard google search to figure out what it is. It can be very exciting bringing someone up from the deep and not knowing what is it until it gets to the top. Jigs work too but often you’ll need the large jigs, like 750 grams and some days that won’t hit bottom as the current is too strong.
Weight.
How much weight is needed varies greatly from trip to trip as wind and current and drift speed determines how much is needed to hold bottom. There are days when 16 ounces will hold fine and days that even 40 ounces won’t hold. A like a light south wind that pushes against the Labrador current that runs north to south. If the wind and current are aligned then the drift speed is often too much. Deep dropping on a full moon can be a challenge as the current is often at its strongest.
Reels.
Best reels are those with a fast retrieve ratio as you spend a lot of time cranking up. 65-80 lb braid is about right. My Torium 30s are just about right for most deep dropping. I do have 2 Daiwa Tanacom Bull 1000 electric reels on bend butt rods. An electric reel is great when prospecting new waters. Often once the fish are found using the electrics, anglers will drop manually. Remember, if a fish is caught on an electric reel, you cannot claim a citation, state or world record. I caught a 73 lb snowy grouper using my electric that would have been the world record had I cranked manually. But it still ate good.
Locations.
Deep droppers are very secretive over numbers or even general locations. You have to build your own numbers up over years. Every trip even if a trolling trip do a blind drop for a few minutes. Even at the end of the day when everybody is putting things away to run home, have someone drop to the bottom. If you catch a target species, drop a waypoint. Odds are there are more around in that same general area so work that to find the edges of where fish are and aren’t. Golden tiles are my favorite and they love a nice soft muddy bottom. If you are in 500-700 feet of water and your sinker feels like it is getting stuck in the mud, you are in the right area for goldens. Grouper like the a very rocky bottom usually big rocks on steep slopes is good. Bluelines can be anywhere along 300 feet or so. They like a rocky bottom but I think the bottom is more like a gravel parking lot. And be wary of people who may offer to trade numbers. They might hear you had a good day and ask you for your number(s). And they may offer to give you one of their numbers in trade. Don’t do it. Often you will get a crap number for your good number. And there is not telling how many people will now have access to your numbers and your hole will be fished out next time you try. Yes I had to learn this lesson the hard way.
Regs.
Check your state regs on tile and grouper limits. Virginia has a limit of 7 tiles per person and this includes both golden and bluelines. You can have a mix of golden and blueline but can’t have over 7 per person. Grouper is 1 per person for all grouper species including wreckfish. And in Virginia you have to have a tile/grouper permit. The permit is free and cannot be obtained online. You have to visit one of the MRC license agents to get the permit. The permit expires December 31 every year and must be renewed each year. And for every tile and grouper caught, there is mandatory reporting that goes with the permit. Check the VMRC page for details
Deep Drop Charters in Virginia.
Well since this is my article and my website, I would like to make a plug for my charter. While I just started in the charter business, I have been deep dropping off Virginia for years and have had good success. Give me a call to schedule a deep drop trip. But to be fair, here are my top 5 that have a solid reputation deep dropping that I highly recommend.
Seaduction. Captain Mike 757-329-5137
Capt Cheryl. Captain Joe 757-639-8363
Blind Date. Captain Stan 757-944-0850
Ocean Pearl. Captain Steve 757-237-7517
Matador. Captain Jake 757-749-6008
Get out there and catch em up. Often on a slow trolling day, the day can be saved by bringing home some tasty bottom critters. And trust me, all these are great tasting fish.
