capttommy
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Here's an offshore story from an inshore guy!
Fished yesterday with Tommy Hines from Fishbites out of Cedar Key. I bought the trip at the Gainesville Offshore Fishing Club auction and took along Billy McDaniel from BillyStiX Rods. We'd been wanting to try his new SpiralStiX rods on something heavier than reds and trout and knew Tommy was our man!
Left the ramp at about 0900 and headed to 50'. Anchored up on some nice rocks and Tommy slugged a Gag of about 10# right away. Billy ("Mr. Too-Light Tackle") hooked up to something pretty big (a Jewfish?) and managed to break him off (20# line!!!) as well as lose several other nice fish! We fished Clam Fishbites Chunks as well as some Sardines and I found that the ratio of Fishbites to Sardines was one chunk to a half-box! Those suckers really stay on the hook! They also allow the Grunts and Black Sea Bass to peck away and attract the bigger fish while staying intact. There's also NO apparent difference in how well the Sardines attract fish versus the Fishbites! I've used it on some inshore charters to get the Trout working, but never really put it to the "acid test" like we did yesterday. I'm sold on this stuff!
Anyway, we got 5 nice keepers and tried a few more spots before Billy and I convinced Tommy to troll a few plugs over some rocky spots we'd seen earlier. We wanted to see how the spiral rods (SpiralStiX) trolled and figured there would be a few more keepers around that might be interested in our Stretch 30 Louds.
As the Furuno marked the first rockpile, Tommy told me to get ready. Almost immediately I had a strike and boated a 19.9# Gag! We made another pass at the same rockpile and I boated a 20.6# Gag. This one made a run for the rocks and we had to work the line by hand to get him free, but it was worth the trouble--Back-to-Back, BIG GAGS! On our third pass, Billy's luck changed and he got a nice 12# fish, then broke off a large fish that got under a rock. We managed another nice pair of smaller Gags on plugs before quitting for the day. There's a chance that my 20.6 pounder will beat Tommy Hines' 19+ entry in the GOFC's Grouper category--won't that be a hoot!--a mere mortal inshore peasant overtakes the immortal offshore guys!!! We'll see.
Anyway, a great trip with a really talented guy (actually two, because Billy makes some pretty nice rods!). I was really impressed with Tommy's skills and learned lots of new tricks that I'm sure I'll put to use on my once or twice yearly offshore trips. I also gained a lot more confidence in FishBites and got a chance to use them under extreme junk-fish conditions--sardines don't cut it when the Grunts and Black Sea Bass are out!
I also came away more impressed than ever with Billy's new SpiralStiX. I designed his website and have been writing about them for a while and have a couple of inshore casting rods with the spiral guides, but hadn't really felt a big fish on them. What a difference--I'm considering having him re-fit my Tarpon casting rods soon.
In ending this monologue, I can only say that if you ever get a chance to fish with Tommy Hines, don't be the low bidder!!!!
