About Deep Sea Fishing

Basically there are 2 types of deep sea fishing, trolling and bottom fishing.

Bottom fishing is fishing on the bottom for fish that typically feed on the bottom, such as grouper, snapper, triggerfish, grunts and amberjack. Various bait is useful in this type of fishing. Most frequently used is squid, but sometimes Spanish sardines, ballyhoo, cigar minnows and other types of bait are employed. Bottom fishing is accomplished by lowering a weighted line with baited hooks into the water until the hooks reach bottom or near bottom. Bottom fishing can be done from most types of boats, including sportfishing boats. More typically bottom fishing is done from the deck of a "HeadBoat", or "Party Boat". These are bigger boats which can accommodate many more passengers, usually depart on a published schedule and sell tickets on a per "head" or individual basis, hence the name "HeadBoat". HeadBoats may also be "chartered" privately for large groups.

Trolling, known also as sportfishing or gamefishing, involves pulling bait or an artificial lure on a line from the back of a boat. The bait or lure is positioned so that it glides thru the water on the surface or just below the surface. Typically, the boat is under minimal power moving at a speed of only a few knots. The fish sought with this method are usually predator fish, such as King Mackerel, wahoo, cobia, marlin, sailfish and dolphin (a fish, known sometimes as "MahiMahi" from the Polynesian term, NOT the bottle nose dolphin mammal, like Flipper). The boats used for sportfishing are typically 6 passengers maximum. Some sportfishing boats up to 12 passengers.

Sportfishing boats usually depart on a "private charter" basis. A "private charter" means someone or a group has chartered an entire boat for a specific date and time and trip and paid a charter rate for the boat for the trip. As sportfishing charters are relatively more costly, the charter fee is prohibitively expensive when there are only 1, 2, or 3 persons wishing to go. In order to make sporfishing available to individuals who don't have 6 people in a group to split the cost of a charter, Capt Dick's offers sportfishing on an individually ticketed basis. With this program, Capt Dick's can "make up" a sportfishing trip by matching up individuals to go on a "sportfishing charter", selling tickets individually. Ask a reservationist about this if you are interested in more detail.

There are variations on the two basic methods of deep sea fishing. One is drift fishing which involves trailing a line over the side of a boat while the boat drifts with the current. This method can be employed for predators, like mackerel, or for fish which are more inclined to be bottom feeders, like black sea bass, or sea bream or grunts.

At the risk of oversimplification, we have kept this brief. Any of Capt Dick's reservationists will be happy to provide additional information.

Deep Sea Fishing ~ Game Fish Trolling ~ Shark Fishing