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Saltwater Fishing Techniques
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2022, Planer Fishing with In-Line Planers
Mastering techniques for reaching fish suspended down in the water column by using in-line planers. If there is on fishing technique you should learn it is how to fish planers. For reef fishing, wreck fishing and targeting suspended mackerel, wahoo, tuna, snapper, amberjacks, sailfish there may be no better method than using planers. While there is the "old school" way of running planers, which requires leadering a healthy length of line, there is the more innovative in-line planer fishing method. Learn the ease and more productive way to run fishing planers by incorporating an in-line bridle. Well known Miami Captain Chad Raney will share his depth of knowledge with you, so you can be catching fish in the hot months when other fishermen are catcing zilch. Chad will show you the wind-on leader, rigs, baits, planers, necessary boat driving skills, all the tackle and a few secrets. This planer fishing video gives you the know-how to target fish down deep with your baits while trolling. If you aren't running you baits down where the fish are, you will not catch much. Fish smarter now.
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2022, Fishing Planers - Trolling Nearshore
Planer fishing and your ability to fish various water columns efficiently is damn near a requirement for any fisherman endeavoring to catch fish on reefs and structure along the east coast of Florida and well past Virginia. In the heat of the summer and even the winter, wahoo, kingfish, tuna, dolphin and even sailfish will suspend at depth, with the only way to reach them being a boat trolled where these pelagics are holding. Why are they holding down deeper? Because, that is where they find the food. Planers allow you to troll baits and lures at a variety of water depths, depending on the size of the planer, so you can get your presentation down where the bait is holding. There are a couple of well established ways to troll planers. You can either run your fishing planers in-line or bridled. Both ways are super effective. In this In The Spread fishing video, Capt. Chad Raney shares basic "old skool" Planer Fishing techniques. Capt. Chad is a lifelong fisherman of the south Florida waters around Miami and owner of Old Hat Sport Fishing. With a lifetime of experience trolling nearshore reefs and other structure, Capt. Chad Raney exudes a subtle confidence in the way he transfers his knowledge to you on how to fish with planers. Chad is well versed in running in-line and bridled planers. Bridling your planers allows you to reel the fish all the way to the boat, where the in-line system requires reeling the planer to the rod tip and hand leadering the fish to the boat. The planer fishing system Chad shares is simple and if followed, will fine tune another skill set for your quiver. His ability to make it look so easy rises from a source of knowledge grounded in the confidence of having spent countless hours catching fish in south Florida's nearshore waters and doing so with lots of success. Chad dives right in talking about the absolute need to get bait and lure presentations down deep where the bait is, at specific times during the year. His mantra is as distilled as it gets. Find the bait, find the fish. He starts trolling on the reef and works his way down the coast, as he demonstrates every aspect of running in-line fishing planers.
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2020, Planer Fishing With Downriggers
The art of planer fishing with downriggers is something we should all study. There will be times when the big fish or even schools of fish will suspend down deep. Why are they there? A variety of reasons. The thing to focus on is how to get baits down where the fish are and to stop dragging baits over their heads. Now the planers you pull on a downrigger are substantially larger than those typically trolled from rods. We are talking No. 12 or even No. 24 sized planers. The are large and the dig hard. We are talking max tension on your gear. The downrigger affords you the benefit of keeping a hand line off the deck and the ease of cranking in the line instead of pulling it by hand. In this video, we are going to show you how everything you need to know to get you planer attached to your shock cord. We cover the high vis dacron, swivel boom tip, the small lead that keeps the ball bearing swivel at the end of the line from getting reeled through the tip. Once you have all this down, you are ready to fish. When fishing with planers or trolling baits in general, there is always the fear of your line twisting. When you are running double line leaders, the risk is even more extreme. Ball bearing swivels rectify this. You will see several in-line swivels where the shock cord attaches to the planer. Always use good swivels. From here, we will demonstrate how to drop the planer back from the set position. Boom! You are fishing. Yeah, it is pretty easy. If you want to trip the planer to bring it in or need to reset it, we will show you how to do this with the spool. Just be deliberate when trying this under tow. There are some high level fishing tips being shared in this video that will have you well on your way to nailing fish that are just out of reach of most planers.
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2020, Fishing Trolling Planers - Sea Witches and Water Color
Nothing is more critical to how well your planer fishing rigs fish than the sea witches used to rigged them. The make a huge difference. This video dissects the sea witches and what colors to use for various water colors to the Nth degree. You will learn about color combinations for both blue water and green water. Blue water is clean and green water is dirty. Which colors you fish are to a large extent determined by the color of the water. Now, this is where things get a tad esoteric. Just because the water looks green, it may in fact be blue a few feet down. This is something that you really need to determine. You can this by looking at your prop wash or by experimenting with sea witch colors until you dial in a bite pattern. The one thing you need to understand is the water and the anatomy of your planer fishing rig. This video will show you several sea witch colors that work well in either color water and the combinations of those colors that will put fish in your boat. You will also learn about the tendencies for both king mackerel and wahoo. What color water they like and what to do if the reef or structure you are fishing is covered over with green water. Should you move offshore until you find blue water or is that nonsense. We will discuss the best times of day to fish for king mackerel, in what depth and how the fish move as the day heats up. When you finish with just this one video on planer fishing, you will know way more than the average guy. This is the type of information that cuts you learning curve way down and helps put you on fish.
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2020, Planer Fishing Bait Rigs
Planer fishing rigs are fundamental to you success fishing nearshore waters in the summer. As the air temperature rises so does sea surface temperature. When this happens, the fish that you most after, like wahoo, mackerel and tuna, move deeper. If you are trolling baits on the surface, you are not catching as much as you could if your baits were running deeper. The planer allows you to get baits down in the water column where game fish are suspending. Knowing where the fish are means you need to know how to get baits down where they are. We are going to show you how planer fishing rigs are made. You will learn about the hooks, sea witches, fluorocarbon bite section, monofilament shock cord, in-line snap swivels and the actual planer. Just knowing how critical having several good quality snap swivels in your rig will save you plenty of time and frustration. You can throw money into that equation, also. In S. Florida, if you are fishing in 300 feet of water or shallower and not using planers, you are not doing much catching. Get down where the fish are with planers. There is a load of good fishing knowledge being shared in this short planer fishing video. We hope you can add some more value to your fishing program and head out with more confidence the next go around. Fish Smarter, Catch More.
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2020, Planer Fishing Rods and Reels
If you are just getting started planer fishing, one of the first questions you may have is what tackle will be required. What we do with this fishing video is provide a few well thought out suggestion for the rods and reels that will serve your planer fishing endeavors well. The fishing rods and reels we discuss can easily be used for other types of fishing. Our approach with the information shared is to assume you are just getting started and do not have tackle that is suitable for planer fishing. Pulling planers and cranking in fish from the rod holder puts a lot of pressure on your gear. So, the tackle we feature can handle all the beating you are going to give it. You will learn about why medium action rods with good flexibility in the tip is ideal. We will share insights on the type of line guides you find on rods and why some are better than others. Even something like the type of reel seat you should consider for your planer rod is so important. Like the fishing rods, there are a a pile of good reels on the market, but we wanted to stick with our premise of recommending something that will serve you well across multiple types of fishing. We focus on durability and how much life you can get out of the reel. Obviously, how well you take care of your gear determines how long it works well. For planer fishing, you don't need a high speed reel. You need one that will crank in fish over and over again. Remember, what we discuss are basic setups. There are so many different rod and reel manufacturers out there and we like many of them. For this video, we discuss tackle that you will find in our everyday gear. We discuss these outfits because we fish with them and know how well they stand the test of planer fishing and time.
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2020, Trolling Planers for Big Boat Driving
When trolling with planers behind a big boat or sport yacht, you really need to understand the relationship between your speed over ground, what the current does to your speed and how best to manage your planers when making a turn to get back on a school of fish. Let's say you are trolling with the current when you start getting good sounder markings or you get a bite. What is the best course for turning back to cover that patch of water again? Your first thought has to be how do you accommodate the long planer. You also have to consider the fact that as you make a turn into the current, your relative boat speed will slow. You may need to bump up your rpm level to maintain that same speed. How fast where you going when you got that bite? How deep are the fish you are marking? These are important considerations for the boat driver when trolling with planers. So, if you mark fish and need to turn back, be sure that you keep the long planer on the outside of your turn. The interesting insights shared in this planer fishing video are good food for thought. You really need to think about what is discussed here and try and apply it as you start your day trolling with planers. Everyday is different. One day the fish may be more triggered to bite a bait moving a little faster and the next it may be at a slightly slower speed. The fish will not always be at the same depth, so you don't want to drag baits over their heads. Use your electronics to measure where the fish and get baits down to them, at the speed required to trigger bites. Fish smarter and catch more.
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2020, Trolling Planers - Driving Center Consoles
One of the more important fishing skills to master for trolling with planers is how to drive the boat while hooked up to a fish. If your boat driver does not handle the boat in the right way, your chances of losing a fish are greatly increased. The first fundamental principle to master is to never take the boat out of gear. You need to continue moving your boat forward, at all times. This helps keep pressure on the fish. Many of the toothy fish you will encounter while trolling with planers, like wahoo and mackerel, have a strong proclivity to race towards the boat upon hook up. If you slow the boat, you could get cut off. So, just keep the boat in gear. You can even bump the throttles up, if that helps you to keep pulling the fish. Another key principle is how you turn the boat as you reel the fish in. The driver needs to focus on not tangling the line hooked to the fish with the other planer line. Keep in mind, you do not want to reel in the other planer. You want to leave that planer out, in hopes of catching another fish. Once the fish you have hooked is coming in, you will want to turn the boat to create a clean water lane. This is a very gradual turn. We will show you how to do this in the video. When the planer comes up, you will want to start a slow turn in the opposite direction. Which way should you turn and how fast is very important. You will see precisely what to do in this short video. Driving a center console while trolling with planers does not have to be difficult. Executed the right way, you will be catching loads more fish with unbelievable ease. Take your time and make sure the boat driver is handling the boat correctly. Be methodical and communicate. Mastering the fundamentals of boat driving is super easy. Enjoy and put these tips for trolling with planers to good use.
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2020, Saltwater Trolling Planers for Big Boats
Learning fishing techniques for saltwater trolling planers from fishermen that run them all the time is a boon to your fishing skills. This planer fishing video covers some basic concepts for running planers behind a big boat. South Florida fishing great, Capt. Mark Danley, shares some key pointers on how to drop lines back without getting them tangled, how to know if they are running the correct way, how to easily engage planers, the proper use of drag and a few additional salient points. Mark goes into a lot of detail on engaging planers and how to recognize the bite. Since planers require a lot of drag to keep them in place, the rod will be bent over the entire time. Knowing when you get a bite and how that looks is key to you success. One of the more valuable bits of information deals with how to drop back your short line without tangling it up with your long. This is where many fishermen run afoul and end up having a very frustrating day. There are important considerations for driving the boat to be learned. Watch this video and you will eliminate many of the headaches that can come along with running saltwater trolling planers. We try to make this easy for you, so you can concentrate on catching fish and not messing with your gear. Good luck.
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2020, Saltwater Trolling Planers for Small Boats
When it comes to fishing from a small boat or a center console, which the vast majority of fishermen fish from, being able to efficiently utilize saltwater fishing planers is a must. When trolling nearshore waters, planer fishing can be the difference between catching and driving around, especially during the hot summer months. Learn the basics of planer fishing with this powerful instructional video. Well known south Florida fishermen RJ Boyle spent years running planers behind the boats he was fishing. His technique is refined and simple to implement. He will show you exactly what you need to know for a small boat planer fishing setup. Learn about the importance of having a clutter free boat and the gear you will need handy prior to fishing. Gaffs, de-hookers, gloves and your bait box with strip baits should be positioned and ready to access. See what size planers you should run for your long lines and your short lines. You will get detailed information on planer fishing rigs, bait, leaders and all connections. Knowing which line you should deploy first and why is critical. One area where fishermen struggle is with engaging and disengaging the fishing planers. RJ will show you a few simple techniques for doing this that will make your fishing go a heck of a lot smoother. Once you see how to put out the first line, you will learn key factors in putting out the second. This is where things can go wrong, if you don't follow very important steps. Your long line always goes out first. Once it is out, you need to steer the boat in the opposite direction as the second rod. This will ensure you do not tangle your lines. Knowing the basics of setting up your spread of saltwater trolling planers is a valuable bit of fishing knowledge. Master this and you will be catching when others aren't.
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2019, How to Make FADs for Triple Tail Fish
Triple tail fish are one of the finest eating fish in the sea and one of the more elusive. Couple that with the amount of saltwater fishing pressure they receive when they show up, trying to stack a few in your cooler becomes a real challenge. There is a solution. Make you own FADs and attract triple tail fish to your own private fishing spot. Triple tail fish or blackfish are very structure oriented. That is why you always find them around channel markets, pilings, crab trap lines and buoys. So, if you can make your own FADs and place them adjacent to other known tripletail holding areas, you can attract your own fish. This makes fishing so mush easier. Capt. William Toney will show you how to make FADs for triple tail fish with readily available rope, blocks, crab buoys and biodegradable ingredients. This is easy and works well. At the end of the migration, you just pull the blocks up, so as not to leave anything in the ocean.
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2018, Dredge Fishing for Billfish
Dredge fishing is the standard among elite tournament sailfish and marlin teams around the world. If you are not running dredges, you are out of the competition. Squid teasers, mudflaps, rigged ballyhoo, rigged mullet or a variety of other baits are used with dredges. This is just a great way to attract billfish to your spread. LEARN why this fishing technique is so lethal and how to incorporate it into your offshore fishing. You will see the components that you need to run dredges, how to rig them with deab baits or teasers. Knowing where to position your dredge us key. Find out now. Get precise explanations on how to fish your baits, how to operate the dredge, when to reel it in and how to fight billfish with dredges in the water. This is a super in-depth fishing video with loads of fishing tips for offshore fishing. It is always best to learn from really accomplished fishermen, so you hit the water with the best intel. Fish smarter and catch more.
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2018, Planer Fishing Fundamentals
When the air temperatures of summer start to rise heating up the water near the oceans surface, what do fish do? They move down in the water column. How do you reach them? For saltwater fishing applications, one of the best ways to get baits down to where the fish are is with a fishing planer. In coastal waters where the reefs exist, if you are trolling baits on or near the surface and not getting bites, it's time to try other fishing techniques. Planers open up another realm. What we do in this In The Spread fishing video is give you fishing planer setups for bit boats and small boats. We will cove the tackle, rods, reels, fishing rigs, tactics and related fishing techniques to run planers. You will learn why planer fishing can make your day. Our instructors, RJ Boyle and Mark Danley, will share their knowledge and experience on how to catch fish with planers. You will learn about the various sizes of planers, how to make the rig, the hooks you need, squid skirts and sea witches used to cover your bait. One of the best baits you can use for this type of fishing is a strip bait. We will cover bonito, mullet, squid and plastic strips. You will learn how to hook strip baits with both single and double hook rigs. The mechanics of how planers perform underwater and the proper way to set up your spread will be shown to you. We will cover the planer fishing rig in detail and then demonstrate how to deploy them for optimal performance. You will learn how to stagger you planers, so they do not tangle when you make a turn in your boat. These fishing tips will give you a huge head start. When it comes to a fishing planer, you can use them to target kingfish, grouper, wahoo and even sailfish. Commercial kingfish operations have been using them with great success for years. Learn why you should use them, how to use them and all the tackle you need to make it happen. You will always fish smarter when you have the right knowledge.
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