Heading down to Fl next week. Talked to my skipper and he wants to do some trolling off the coast. Anyone on here have some tips on gear, lures, rigs, etc to take down? I have few tuna lures and I don't own rods to pull anything of size to the boat. Also lookin to do hit up some local spots once we pull in. Any advise would be appreciated

I grew up fishing out of Jupiter inlet and Lake Worth inlet...Palm beach area...where are you heading ?.....Big thing down in that area right now would be the beginning of the sailfish run...Live Goggle Eye and Blue runners are the ticket.....But again...depends on where your going....Bob

When I head out on research cruises for work, I usually take a trolling rod rigged up with 50lb test and a couple of spinning rods set up in case I find any floating debris, logs, sargassum, etc, that will have dolphin around. I usually take a wide assortment of trolling lures and casting lures. Personally I have had a lot of luck with flukers feathered tuna skirts. Almost everything hits them, tuna, dolphin, wahoo, spanish mackeral. Check around the deck at night and you usually can find flying fish that accidently "flew" onboard. If you get them while their still fresh they make excellant bait to add to your trolling lures. Rig them just like you would ballyhoo. In the past I have bought frozen ballyhoo and brought it along onboard but it is usually a pain since you have to thaw a whole package to get to one or two fish.

For casting for dolphin I have used everything but seemed to have the most luck with spoons and diamond jigs. With a nice 4 or 6 oz diamond jig you can get some nice casts and they really reflect in blue water.

Couple of other things you may consider:

1. A gaff, depending how high you sit out of the water you want to consider making one on a rope. On some cruises we are doing opps off the fantail and so I have to bring any fish up over the side and we may be 15' out of the water. To remedy this, we made a gaff using a sharpened grapling hook with three prongs attached to a heavy line. Takes some practise but it works. If you are able to use the fantail then a nice long gaff will do, we usually use one on a 8' pole.

2. Improvised rod holder. We use cut PVC pipe and attach it to railings or whatever on the fantail. You also may want to attach a safety line to your rod in case it gets pulled out.

3. A fighting belt.

4. If you can, bring a chair for sitting on the fantail while you are trolling. We usually bring those cheap white rubbermaid chairs you can get from the dollar store. Don't know if you can do this on a navy vessel.

5. Squid jig. If you are doing night opps, check around the light reflection in the water. you can usually catch some squid which make great bait.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

Pete

We're headed to Port Everglades area. I picked up some more lures yesterday. Taking 4 trolling rods and some casting gear. I like the idea with the graplin hook. I was wondering how I was gonna get the fish up the 20' without breaking off. We don't run any lights at night. Don't have the option of bringing anything live with me. Don't really have a way to keep any frozen stuff either.