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Identify Fish & Bait Down Under
Terry Lacoss
Identifying game fish and baitfish down under the ocean’s surface is the key to saltwater fishing success!
“We hired Captain Rimmer Cuvington, who guides out of Venice, Louisiana, to take us to some of Louisiana’s best summer yellowfin tuna action,” Brandon Blackmon of Amelia Island, Florida said. “We actually fished out of Joel Howard’s 36-foot Yellowfin, powered by triple Mercury 275hp Verado outboards. Joel is a close friend that lives in Stuart, Florida.”
“We had heard that the yellowfin tuna bite is more consistent during the summer, although the larger yellowfin are often caught during the winter fishing season.”
The Joel Howard fishing party fished some 40-70 miles offshore of Venice where they targeted floating oilrigs.
“Captain Cuvington was able to mark the schools of yellowfin holding up current of the oil rigs with our boat’s fish finder before we actually began fishing,” Brandon Blackmon said. “Yellowfin tuna appeared as large boomerangs on the fish finder screen and were holding some 200 feet deep in water depths of 2,000 feet. Obviously all of the oilrigs were not holding yellowfin tuna. Our fishing time was spent catching tuna, thanks to our boat’s fish finder.”
One factor that stands out above all the rest when becoming successful at saltwater fishing is finding and identifying baitfish and game fish down below. It’s no secret, both game fish and baitfish are attracted to a wide variety of saltwater habitats and with a little investigation, saltwater fishermen can often depend on finding great saltwater fishing action, by knocking on their doorstep. Baitfish schools will inevitably school close to bottom structures and like a hamburger restaurant, sooner or later, nearby predators will come in for an easy carry out service!
With this in mind, a main factor in becoming a
successful saltwater fisherman is being able to locate and identify schools of baitfish, down below. Some of the more popular species of southern species of bait fish include pilchards, threadfin, menhaden, cigar minnows, ballyhoo, flying fish, blue runners, mullet, glass minnows, goggle eyes and the list goes on.
And in many cases, you will more than likely be able to find many of these popular southern bait fish species, holding close to, or right in your favorite fishing hole!
Whether fishing in the Florida Keys, or fishing from the Panhandle of Florida, there are certain bottom structures that always hold baitfish schools. More importantly, it doesn’t matter if you are going grouper digging off from the coast of Jacksonville, or live baiting Key West kingfish, during the winter run. Also in many cases, good concentrations of baitfish can be found holding at bridges, creek mouths, flats and buoys, in backwater bays and rivers too. These close by fish havens are good places to begin your bait fish hunt, before entering the ocean for a day of
live bait fishing.
Silver mullet are often plentiful at inlet mouths and can be spotted while they flip right out of the water, or dimple the surface as they swim in a large school, with their noses sticking out of the water. Good concentrations of mullet have also been known to hold deep at creek mouths too. So when you spot a single mullet flipping, it is a good idea to toss your net, allowing the net to sink deep. As several sharp thuds are felt by the net’s rope, you know first hand that you have netted a nice school of mullet.
Lighted bridges can also hold good concentrations of baitfish. Included are threadfin, white bait, mullet and many more. Look for some of the more productive bridges to come close to inlet mouths, where the baitfish schools have easy access to the ocean. Your best opportunity for live bait netting at bridges comes after dark and when the bridge lights are turned on. Simply look for small flips on the surface and throw your net.
And in many cases of saltwater angling, the many species
of bait fish, that congregate at inlet mouths and backwater
estuaries, will attract the appetite of deepwater game fish species as well. Obviously you and your fishing companions will score a home run when securing enough bait fish for a full day of offshore fishing, before making that long run to your targeted fish havens.
If you happen to strike out in the bays and rivers, channel buoys are excellent structures that always hold a wide variety of baitfish. In fact by far, channel buoys are almost a guarantee to hold baitfish, throughout your fishing season. The heavy chains that hold buoys in place attract a variety of marine growths, which in turn, attract nearby baitfish schools. Some of the more popular bait fish species that hold close to channel buoys include threadfin, hardtails, Spanish sardines, cigar minnows and more.
Jetty rocks are also excellent holding areas for baitfish, particularly at the very end and when a good current is flowing. When a good current is flowing, look for schools of menhaden, mullet, white bait, ballyhoo and threadfin to
school nearby. A knockout giveaway for bait fish schools
holding at jetties, is diving birds and surface striking game fish.
Another close to shore structure that often harbors good concentrations of baitfish and often overlooked by the average saltwater angler, is the surf. Just beyond the surf, look for good concentrations of mullet, menhaden, white bait and threadfin to hold in this shallow water structure. Spotting large clouds of dirty water, diving sea birds, dark clouds of water and numerous flips on the surface can identify baitfish schools, which hold close to the surf.
Obviously bottom structures, including man made reefs, sunken wrecks and natural reefs are all excellent areas to look for baitfish as well.
Two successful tactics for both spotting and identifying deep water schools of baitfish are scanning the surface of the ocean with your eyes, or looking down deep with the aid of your fishing finder.
Obviously the first tactic, scanning the surface for flips, dark areas, spotting diving birds, or even explosive surface
strikes from nearby game fish, are the simple methods. To increase your chances of identifying offshore schools of baitfish, have on board a good pair of binoculars, or climb to the highest spot on your fishing boat. Obviously a tuna tower can be a very helpful aid in spotting baitfish schools on the surface. I would also recommend a good pair of polarized sunglasses. Being able to look down deep with your eyes and avoiding the glare of the surface, will help you spot bait fish down deep as well.
A second and more proven method, is using your on board fish finder. When charting for baitfish down deep, I like to choose a fish finder that has a wide, sonar cone. Most sonar cones are around 20 degrees, which are excellent cones for marking game fish and structures down deep. However a 45- degree sonar cone will simply double your odds in marking schools of baitfish. For this one reason, I have one fish finder on board, which is employed to both mark structure, fish and more importantly, bait fish.
When searching for baitfish in deep water, or when a front has just past through and scatters the bait fish schools along the bottom, the “Bottom Lock” feature on your fish finder will zoom in on the bottom and actually expand bottom structure features down below. Baitfish schools simply can not hide from the “Bottom Lock” feature of your fish finder!
You will also need to know what to look for on your fish finder, when identifying baitfish down below. Bait fish schools on a color fish finder, normally show up as a yellow, or a light colored cloud, holding over the structure, or a light colored fuzz along the bottom. Depending on the size of the baitfish and the tightness of their school, the darkness of the color will increase.
Finally if you know that there is baitfish down deep, but you simply can not mark good concentrations of baitfish
schools with your fish finder, they may be simply scattered along the bottom and in small pods. Don’t give up the search! Broaden your search by keeping your fish finder on the bottom lock mode and increase it’s sensitivity. When a small pod of baitfish are located, drop down a series of feathered baitfish hooks to the bottom and with an 8-ounce weight. Getting the bait catcher rig quickly to the bottom and pin pointed it’s arrival can fill up your live bait well, even under the most adverse live bait catching conditions.
Your fish finder’s sonar identifies game fish by marking the air bladder of the game fish. Game fish like king mackerel that have small air bladders, usually show up on your fish finder screen as a narrow mark that looks like a boomerang. Game fish like yellowfin tuna that have a large air bladder will show up on your fishing finder screen as a wider mark that simulates a boomerang as well.
A good working knowledge of your fish finder, and where to find and identify both game fish and baitfish, will increase your saltwater catches, guaranteed!
