Golden Tilefish - Deep Dropping for Good Eats

Golden Tilefish

Deep dropping for golden tilefish presents far fewer challenges than what fishermen typically face when targeting other bottom species like snapper and grouper. The reason for this is that tilefish make their homes in a very specific seabed zone. This zone varies in depth depending on where you are located, but the bottom will be the same, making it easier to find and prospect in. I am talking about mud bottom. Look for areas with mud bottom to start prospecting. On your bottom machine, these areas will look very unimpressive! Golden tilefish prefer to stay in the mud, literally. This can make them nearly impossible to mark. To learn more about where to look for tilefish, check out our video Bottom Fishing for Tilefish. It doesn't matter where you are fishing from the northeast waters of Nova Scotia to the Gulf of Mexico, tiles love the mud.

Focusing on what the bottom is telling you is key to finding these gems. Tilefish burrow out small cave like structures in the muddy bottom where they make their home. They will stick very close to the shelter of their burrow, venturing out to grab a bite and darting back into the cover of the burrow. This not only makes them hard to mark on your machine, it also requires your baits stay on or very near the bottom, so you can effectively prospect for productive areas. Not a few feet from the bottom or in the vicinity, but in the mud. So, find the mud and start bouncing bottom with you lead. The vibration of the lead hitting bottom, getting stuck and then pulled out of the mud stirs the tilefishes curiosity. The part that makes this bottom fishing much easier for fishermen is that the is not much to get snagged on in the mud.

Tilefish have remarkable coloration, which is probably why they are often referred to as the clown of the sea. Aside from their brilliant colors, their most distinguishing characteristic is an odd rudder shaped flap of skin just behind the head. Tilefish have a large, toothy mouth with serious crushing power, necessary for subduing the bottom creatures they eat. Tiles gorge on critters like brittle stars, crabs, lobsters and other crustaceans creeping along the bottom. As a result, their meat has an unusual lobster quality. The taste of tilefish is very similar to that of lobster or crab. This is not surprising, given their diet. Tilefish are one of the finest eating fish you will ever try. The flesh of the golden tilefish is snow white with a fine flake.

Deep Dropping for Tilefish

Deep dropping continues to grow in popularity with rapid innovations in rods, reels, tackle, rigs and more specifically precision boat positioning. The technological advances we have seen in transducers has allowed fishermen to see well into deep water. Transducers in the 1kw range of power can provide a glimpse of the bottom at 3,000 feet. You can mark structure, bait, and fish down to 600 feet. The latest 3k chirp transducers allow you to mark bait and fish in 2,000 +/- feet of water. These tech developments have been absolute game changers in advancing deep drop fisheries. Most deep dropping takes place in less than 1,500 feet of water, so you can paint the bottom with the latest high power bottom machines.

Along with the important role electronics has played in the development of deep drop fisheries, braided line has made been a game changer. The narrow diameter of braid, increased breaking strength, based on size, and it's lack of stretch have made plying deep waters much easier. The use of quality braided line means you can feel and see even the most subtle fish hit, where you are hard pressed to do the same with monofilament.

Having the ability to see the bottom and then drop in very strategic ways means fishermen are now able to selectively target species. Deep dropping has become a game of precision. The next challenge for deep water fishermen is how you contend with open ocean currents. Skillful boatmanship is really important. Just because you can located the right type of bottom does not mean you can deliver a bait on target, if your boat is drifting too fast. The boat driver has to be able to hold ground or maneuver the boat deftly, so that you presentation makes it to the spot you are trying to hit hundreds of feet below the surface.

Tilefish are probably the easiest of all the deep water fish you can target. The golden tilefish is most commonly found in the 600–1,200 foot range, depending on the specific depth you find sandy muddy bottom, in your fishing waters. In South Florida, 600-800 feet of water seems to be rather productive. The thing to always keep in mind is that tilefish want their meal on the bottom. Delivering baits to the bottom is not that hard. It is the boat driving that most struggle with. Skilled boat positioning greatly contributes to the angler’s success.

Currents can make any type of fishing more challenging. The trick with tilefishing is that you want to cover ground, so that you can systematically locate colonies of burrows. You are essentially running a controlled drift to cover ground in your search for fish. To present baits, drive into the current slowly to stem the tide, bump the boat in and out gear, as necessary, to keep your lines vertical and avoid tangles. It is easier to see the bite with your line straight up and down. Tilefish won’t chase a bait very far from the safety of their haven. The rig must be right on the bottom to get a bite

Once you hit the mud, let your rig stretch out a bit before it starts to rise off the bottom. The concept is that by dropping, stretching, reeling up a little and then dropping back down creates a lot of vibration. This seems to turn on the bite. Tilefish have very well formed lateral lines and the commotion of repeatedly dropping lead on or near their home appeals to the tilefish’s sense of movement and sound, which lures them out of hiding. Since the fish prefer soft sand and mud bottom, there’s little chance to get snagged.

The idea is to bounce the lead along the bottom, keeping contact as much as possible. If you loose contact with the seabed, reel up and bit and drop again. Do this over and over. The rig must stay on the bottom long enough to slide across a colony of goldens and for the light and bait scent to interest them.

To learn more about what to look for on your bottom machine to find good mud, how to drop and maintain contact with the bottom and some valuable tips on how to manage your boats drift, check out our Bottom Fishing for Tilefish video. You will learn about baits and which baits work best, watch now.

Seth Horne

Chief Creator

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