One of my favorite types of fishing when I just want to relax and catch some fish for the table without working too hard is bottom fishing for fluke and sea bass, both tasty critters. They are also great fish to catch with children or people not too well versed in saltwater fishing. You can fish for them the old fashioned way using sinkers and bottom rigs, but a friend of mine; Tim Surgent – the owner of the popular fishing website Stripersonline.com – introduced me to an even more fun way to catch them a few years ago. He uses ultra light spinning tackle and bucktail jigs.
I remember the first time he showed up with a little freshwater spinning rod loaded with 6-lb test braided line and a box full of bucktails ranging from ¼ to 1-1/2 ounces. I was wondering just what he was going use them for since we would be anchored over a wreck in 75 feet of water fishing for black sea bass. Once we were anchored I took out what I considered light, a baitcasting outfit with 20-lb test Grand Slam Braid and a high-low bait rig with a 3 ounce sinker. As I was baiting up he slipped a strip of squid on the back of a small bucktail and dropped it straight down. When it hit the wreck he reeled up a foot or two and started wiggling the thing around and wham, the rod bent double as a fat sea bass engulfed the jig. It fought like crazy all the way to the surface, where Tim flipped the 3-pound beauty over the rail and into the cooler it went.
He not only out fished me and caught bigger fish to boot! He was having a ball, but little did he know I was sold and the next trip I would be packing a new 5’ ultra light spinning outfit loaded with 6 lb test Wildfire braid and all the small bucktails I had hanging around my tackle bench in the basement. I’ve been an addict ever since.
Some of the things I’ve learned since switching to the tiny tackle is that the super thin braid allows you to get very light jigs to the bottom and feel every twitch and piece of structure it touches. Use a stouter rod and heavier line and those small jigs would probably never make it that deep and would be difficult to feel. The bigger sea bass are aggressive predators and really go for the bucktails, which resemble baitfish. We definitely catch bigger sea bass, and sometimes bigger fluke, on these diminutive outfits and catching them is way more fun because they fight like crazy on the light rods instead of being overmatched by a more typical saltwater tackle.
If you fish for these tasty bottom fish try bringing along a freshwater ultra light outfit next time, but be sure it is filled with very light, very thin braided line. Four or six pound test Wildfire is perfect!
Caputi’s Blog Tip: Sweeten your bucktails. Bring along some squid cut into strips from 2 to 6 inches long. When using longer strips add a stinger hook to the bucktail so you don’t miss short striking fish. “Assist hooks” available at tackle stores make great stingers.
-Gary Caputi
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