Need some info and help

[karlista]

It has been quite some time since I have fished either Hatteras or Oregon Inlet. I have a new Grady White 23 Gulfstream and want to do some offshore fishing in the Outer Banks. Interested in tuna, dolphin, and wahoo. What are you guys using now with regards to tackle?

Thanks

[trex]

Shimano TLD 30's will do you fine for reels. You can load them w/ 50# line and handle 95+% of the creatures you'll encounter. 1 or 2 50's wouldn't hurt to have, but aren't absolutely necessary if your starting from scratch. Get some matching rods to go along with them and you'll be just right. Freshen up on your wire twisting skills if your going to spend very much time down in HI. It'll save you alot of fish! Good luck

[karlista]

Thanks. What about baits and lures? What are the NC guys pulling?

[Reel Fool]

watch the fishing reports, posts about tackle & try a search on tackle, spreads, trolling, seawitch, etc...to find some tips.

mostly, its meat--ballyhoo.

[trex]

I'll second the meat as well. Seawitches in blue/white, black/blue, pink...as well as naked ballyhoos. Green machines and other plastics will catch fish down there, but I think you'll find something w/ a ballyhoo behind it will produce the most consistently. #9 wire for your rigs that you want to pull wire on will be fine. Good gloves are an ABSOLUTE for handling wire on the leader. 100 to 150# leader in 15ft lengths. Go on the heavy side of that if your leadering skills are a bit rusty. More margin for error and it wont really cost you that many bites. Like mentioned earlier do some searching on some of the old threads in the offshore section. Theres some really good info

[wachsmad]

Fished a boat 2 weeks ago out of hatteras. we pulled all sea witches. blue/white, blue/black, black/purple with ballyhoo on all. It was tough fishing but we almost had the largest catch of the day. For as rods and reels this might seem cheap but this is what I have to buy and it gets the job done just as good. Penn 114 senator 50# test and a penn mariner standup rod 5'6 30-80lbs turbo guides. I also have 2 115 senators 80# test. Leader I use the suffix 130# in the slate blue color if I can find it. I run a 7 rod spread. 2 on each out rigger, 2 flats, and one WWB yellow bird with green machine no meat. I prefer the shorter rods to the longer ones. It just seems eaiser to use for standup. You get 475 yards of 50 on the 114 and 450 yards of 80 on the 115. There star drag, easy to use. I would also get some green/yellow seawitches, rig for meat. The dolphing seem to like this color. Also another good color would be pink, pink/blue, and black/red. I have heard alot of people like the ilander salures for tuna also in the various colors probably rigged with meat. It seems every boat I have been out on always runs ballyhoo behind there skirt. learn to rig the Hoo to swim this will probally be the biggest task of all is getting the hoo to swim right. Jimmy K on the sight has alot of good tips on ballyhoo rigging. I think he also has a video you can buy off his sight. Just FYI. Well this is my 2 cents.

[Just Another ANgler]

Lots of good advice above, but for my $.02, personally, I would only invest in lever drag reels for offshore use.

I own several Penn Senators, have used them some offshore in the past, and certainly they are durable and tested through time.

But today with all the good choices available if it is at all possible, I just think you will find lever drags are worth the added cost. Other than maybe using (1) 9/0 reel for a planer rod, I personally would only run lever drags offshore as they allow easy loosening of drag as conditions may dictate, then back to a measured drag settings in strike position.

The TLDs and Penn LD series are fine graphite reels for the $$$, I'm not sure that 2 speeds are always worht the added expense.

[karlista]

Great feedback. Thank you very much :).[grin]

[wachsmad]

I agree about the lever drag reels. Soon as these wear out i will switch over to the lever drags my self or i might just buy me one nice reel every year. I really like the tagra. I forgot to add some things about planers. Last year on occasions if you were not using a downrigger you wasn't catching fish (tuna). I went to the in line planer for this. Be carefull what size you buy because they can put some stress on the boats rod holders. I think the largest I pulled was the size 4 planer. About 4 inches wide and 6 inches long. It put some stress on the rod and my rod holder. I have went back and supported one of my rod holders from underneight the hull to spread the pressure out. I also pull this on a 50-130 rod. I run another 20 to 30 feet of line behind the planer and then my leader/skirt which is probably 12 to 15 feet long. I have heard to paint the planers black to keep any wahoo from mistaking it for some fish and cutting you off. To me the best knowledge is time on the water and keep a record of what the day was like water temp, water color, cloudly or not, colors you ran, cut open one or two of the fish and see what thay have been eating, was the fish on weed lines etc. etc. etc.. Well another $.02....