Teach me offshore fishing.
 

I am looking to get into offshore fishing over the next few years. I grew up speck and red fishing. I would like to get into offshore in the next few years but don't have much experience on how to rig the tackle and just general offshore information. Is there any books or reading material that y'all suggest on how to rig and general ideas about baits and things like that to help me get started? I'd like to start fishing close rigs going after grouper, snapper, Cobia, AJ, etc. then eventually possibly start going farther out for tuna and mahi. Any suggestions that you guys can point me to so I can at least have a good reference base of at least rigging my poles and tackle

Time, money, and more time.
The more you spend offshore the better at it you'll get. Learn your knots, uni-to-uni, basic uni, Palamar, bimini twist etc.
Snapper ling will eat anything in front of them. Grouper takes a learning curve to constantly catch them. AJ is closed but you can put a piece of cut bait down 200 feet and hook them.

Everything is bigger which cost more so know that offshore isn't cheap.

Find a buddy who does it often and ask him to bring you along. 90% learning fishing is hands on.

Good luck

btw you can catch mahi pretty close in! I'm no offshore expert. I've only been a handful of times with friends, and its basically inshore fishing on steroids. You can have fun catching smaller mahi on speck baits btw

you can catch cobia and bigger mahi on big swimbaits. Tons of fun!

snapper, just think bream fishing but deeper and bigger baits. lol

Just go out and do it. You will learn something every time you go.
Weeds and trash floating in blue water are usually worth a quick look and a cast or 2.
Sharks suck.
I feel that the one thing that is a must is a good bottom machine and transducer. If you are not marking bait and fish it us usually not worth fishing. Watch all the youtube videos about the unit you have and go out and play with it until you know how to tune it and what you are looking at.

Thanks for all the tips so far. I really have no idea about how to even rig the poles. Keep the tips coming. Any help is appreciated

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efRfbuB0fk8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yab4-61Hp8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myMSMYy_iYU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ4IEr5_gr4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYAPQDDmKs4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_ftAGkewfE

Practice tying these with small diameter para cord. Gives you something to do while sitting watching tv.

These guys also do a great job with their tips.
Into the blue
https://www.youtube.com/user/IntotheBlueFishing
Saltwater experience
https://www.youtube.com/user/SaltwaterExperience

Thanks so much!!

Snell, Uni and double Uni (line to leader) are all the knots you need to get started. I use these for trout, tuna and everything in between.

Always stop and fish the shrimp boats that are anchored up. They are usually loaded with Bonita and sometimes ling. Bonita make for some of the best cutbait you'll find offshore and will pretty much catch anything. Good luck!

Check out some videos from www.inthespread.com . Capt Josh Howard made some of the videos out of Venice, La. There are some great tips in the videos.

Thanks for that tip. Picked up my first offshore setup today with some gift cards I been saving up. Got a shimano tekota 700LC on a shimano trevala 5'8" extra extra heavy rod. Can't wait to put some fight in the other end.

How far is the minimum you must go out to catch grouper, Cobia, snapper, triggers? I know you can catch all the above farther out but we use my parents boat out of grand isle/fourchon most often. It's a small 20ft skeeter bay that we will run to the close rigs on a decently calm day. Can you catch any of these at those close in rigs? The ones that are like 2-5 miles offshore visible from land. I've caught some nice reds out there but never anything different except sharks. But I wasn't really targeting anything specific. Is it likely to catch any of these at the close in rigs?

U can catch cobia and some mangrove possibly that close

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What are yalls favorite jigs, bucktail jigs, and colors?

Our Flat Fall Jigs will put some fish on your boat. All colors work

What weights are best?

We fish them fairly often out of Cameron and you need to be in 50? or more of water. Usually 25-40 miles out. Can catch trout at the closer rigs


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We have found that a min of 100’ of water is the magic number to catch quality fish.

250’ plus you start catching bigger and different species.

The 170's are the most versatile and most commonly used. However when the fish are deep or the current is a little strong the 250's come in handy.

All you need is an unlimited pile of money.

Do you have a favorite color? What?s some deciding factors on color to use?


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