Can't find the triggers

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akasephiroth
Posts: 70
Joined: September 17th, 2009, 11:40 am
Location: Cairo, GA

Can't find the triggers

Post by akasephiroth »

Just bought a new boat, with old boat I was use to St. Marks area. Last few years without a boat I've hit up Panama City boat rentals and found several nice triggerfish holes, but with new boat I'm hitting up carribelle area pretty regularly and coming up empty handed on the triggerfish. So what am I doing wrong? Using double hook rigs with cut squid turned up snapper, cut sand perch got the snapper churning, shrimp got the snapper...I can't make snapper sandwiches just yet still got a few months for them in the meantime how do I avoid these beautiful monsters and find some triggers for the grease?
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bbb
Posts: 1117
Joined: May 16th, 2007, 3:31 pm
Location: Bainbridge/Tallahassee

Re: Can't find the triggers

Post by bbb »

Out of Mexico Beach, we always encountered triggers on the drop, not on the bottom. So I would say try suspending your bait halfway or 3/4 to the bottom, not on the bottom.

Also put out a chum slick. Triggers will come right to the surface.

Flipper won’t eat a trigger so they are more willing to take the risk of coming up.
Steve Stinson
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Posts: 1816
Joined: December 26th, 2001, 8:00 pm
Location: Tallahassee

Re: Can't find the triggers

Post by Steve Stinson »

Isn't there a ban on keeping trigger fish right now or did that get lifted? Seems like I caught several late last fall and had to put them back because there was a ban in place.
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bbb
Posts: 1117
Joined: May 16th, 2007, 3:31 pm
Location: Bainbridge/Tallahassee

Can't find the triggers

Post by bbb »

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Right now its open though I expect the season will close May 2nd due to “Recreational Quota has been met”.
Last edited by bbb on March 24th, 2020, 9:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
Steve Stinson
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Posts: 1816
Joined: December 26th, 2001, 8:00 pm
Location: Tallahassee

Re: Can't find the triggers

Post by Steve Stinson »

:thumbup:
EddieJoe
Posts: 861
Joined: December 11th, 2001, 8:00 pm

Re: Can't find the triggers

Post by EddieJoe »

Good posts. Wouldn’t take an offshore trip for one trigger, even assuming you could catch one >15”. Kind of like a 36” AJ.
GC88
Posts: 23
Joined: December 11th, 2016, 10:27 pm

Re: Can't find the triggers

Post by GC88 »

I seem to find them to the SW in around 90 feet. I also look at a large ball on the sonar up about 30ft or so.
akasephiroth
Posts: 70
Joined: September 17th, 2009, 11:40 am
Location: Cairo, GA

Re: Can't find the triggers

Post by akasephiroth »

I always have 4-5 people onboard fishing, really looking for a hole I can put the family on catching triggers and porgies maybe I'm not going deep enough I'm hitting 70 feet holes.
StMarksAngler
Posts: 167
Joined: August 16th, 2017, 8:29 pm

Re: Can't find the triggers

Post by StMarksAngler »

I don't ever target them, but frequently get triggers as by-catch on sabiki rigs over the shallow artificial reefs in the bay.
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