Proper Tackle Box! West Coast! Halibut, Sea Bass, Tuna, Dorado

[Randomact]

I want to get my tackle box up to par with the best tackle setup I can.. I don't want to be in a situation where I wish I had something but didn't. Can someone recommend me the best setup for Charter Boats fishing tuna, and dorado (althoguth most use live bait) and for inshore fishin. I have the list that tube said I should get for the colors.. What manufacture and quantity should I get.. I want to be prepared Thanks so much.
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[tubeN2]

I will make this brief so that you will have a chance to write this down.

Halibut:
Lead Heads and Plastics ( you have the colors)
Taddy 45s and Sumo c2 in 2 in Scrambled egg and 2 All white.

Tuna:
Get some Feathers. All colors. If you live near a Turners Outdoorsman, they are having a blowout on feather kits right now. It has the Blu/wht, Grn/wht, Grn/ylw, Mex flag, Red/wht, Dodo.

Or you can wait a week or two for the BigFishTackle Store in Seal Beach. They are doing a remodle right now and are getting ready to have a nice sidewalk sale to make room for more merchandise.

Dorado: Find the Megabait live jigs in Anchovy, dodo and purple color. I know that Megabait stopped making them so the quantities are limited.

What kind of Sea Bass are you referring to?? The Calico bass, Barred Sand Bass, Spotted Bay Bass, White Sea Bass or Black Sea Bass.

As far as quantities go, you should try to figure out how many times that you are planning to go out and stock up, leaving some at home or just make sure that you have at least 2 of every thing and then purchase whatever gets lost from trip to trip.

There are several types of bags and carriers that you can purchase at the tackle stores or online.

Shimano makes a nice bag just for the jigs. Albakore makes bags for about everything else. You can also get some of the Tackle bags from WFO.

You will definitely need to go to a big tackle supplier to be able to get the most for your money.[cool]
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[Randomact]

perhaps I can meet you up there sometime Make my life easier if you don't mind if you are in the area?? Plus it would be cool to pick your brain Thanks alot man I am noting all this info Much appreciated
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[tubeN2]

I'll let you know by tomorrow evening as to which day or days I might be down there this week. I was down there on Tues, Thursday and Saturday this past week. They were in the process of gutting out the store and told me about the upcoming sale.

I will find out my schedule and I'll send you my Cell# in a PM or email.
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[Randomact]

sounds like a plan my man.. My name is morgan so pm when your out and about I think they will be done with the remodel next week some time. But the best thing would be to clean up on the SALE It would be cool to meet up. Let me know. Thanks alot
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[tubeN2]

No problem bro. I'll even hook you up with a couple of BigFish stickers when we meet down there. I'll also give you a couple of Hook Safes. You can look those up at the gift shop. I have a few extras that I can hand off to you.[cool]
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[Tarpon4me]

If you're fishing tuna, make sure you've got plenty of Cedar Plugs. Any serious Tuna angler carries a few. Alot of times, you'll find the "natural" color to be the most productive. If there are small dorado in the area, match the color accordingly. Dark colors work well too, blue and black or purple and black. I have a large assortment that I carry on board.

Make sure and keep plenty of flourocarbon in your box too. Tuna are one of the most "line shy" species of fish there is. Every lure you rig should be attached to atleast a 4ft piece of quality flourocarbon.

Targeting tuna, you may find yourself in the midst of other game fish, like Wahoo. If you start getting cut off, chances are you're sitting on a school of Wahoo as well. When you get bit off, mark the spot on your GPS with the "man overboard" function. Now it's time to reel in those cedar plugs and live bait and drop down a few black and purple diving lures and pick up the speed a bit. I prefer Braid flash dancers and Yo Zuri Bonito's in black and purple. I'd pick it up to about 8 to 9 knotts, what ever your lures can handle and still track correctly. You can't go too fast for wahoo. Keep hitting the same spot over and over. Wahoo school around structure, and where there's one, chances are there are enough to fill your fish boxes. [cool] Generally speaking, Wahoo like water between 100 to 500 feet. So if you start getting cut off in water deeper than that, then chances are it's not a Wahoo. But if it is, it's a loner, and you're probably not going to catch another one. In that case, there's no telling, Sharks, kings, or what ever other toothy cridder is local to that area.

You can isolate a species based on the area. Like amberjacks for instance. Amberjacks and large grouper like pretty much the same depth and water column. 50-120 ft of water and on or near the bottom. But, amberjacks in our area prefer wrecks, where as grouper prefer rocks and ledges. Water depth is key when targeting most species. Now King Mackerel for instance, are an acception to that rule. They can be found along the beaches in 15 feet of water to offshore in 75 feet of water. All the way from on the surface to near the bottom. So, make sure your tackle selection can cator to all depth and situations.

For your tackle box:
1. Flourocarbon Leader: #25, # 50, #80, # 120
2. 7 Strand wire and crimps: #25, #50, # 150
3. Assortment of 4X Trebble hooks: #6 - 2/0
4. Cedar plugs: 2 of each color
5. Swim lures: Braid flash dancer/ Yo Zuri Bonito
(black and purple, Blue and white, Dorado colors)
6. Deep Divers: Yo Zuri Magnums/ Rapala Stretch
(flashy colors and blue and black or purple and black)
7. Drone spoons: 3 1/2 and 5" 2 silver and 2 gold
8. Planers: 2 #2 and 2 #4
9. Sabiki rigs: 6
10. Tiny swivels: Spro super heavy swivels

Remember, you can never have too much of an assortment. Fishing conditions can change in a matter of minutes, and you need to be able to adjust to those changes. You need tackle to cover the entire water column and fishing conditions. You'd be surprised the difference a change in color or leader size can make. Use tiny swivels like the "spro" heavy swivels. They are really small, but super strong. The smaller and more stealty you can make your rig, no matter what species of fish you are targeting, the better your chances of catching fish. [cool]
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[tubeN2]

Hey Randomact
I will be headed down to Seal Beach on Wed. There a nice outgoing tide around 4:20am. The next incoming is around 10:30am. I will be targetting some Flatties on the incoming and a Shark or 2 on the outgoing.

I'm headed to Santa Barbara on Thursday. There will be a good minus tide around 4:45 through 10:30am. That will be good for the Flatties and then the Pismo Clams.

[Fishhound]

[black][size 3]Tackle box ? From what tubeN2 and Tarpon4me are writing, It sounds like you'll need a couple of foot lockers and a fork lift.[/size][/black]
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[tubeN2]

The forklift is optional. Otherwise we were going to throw in the extra back supporter.[]
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[Tarpon4me]

LMAO [sly], roger on the fork lift. It is alot of stuff though, and some of it is overkill. But, if you really want to be successful offshore, it's best not to take a chance. Something as simple as the color can make a huge difference. I've had days where i've trolled all day and never got a hit. Then, I toss something off the wall on one of the rods and BAM! We spend the last 2 ours filling up the fish boxes. It might be a simple change in color, it might be a change in lure length or style. You never know. Changing speed, anything can be a factor.

I had one trip when I was in Guam. We hadn't got so much as a run all day. It was noon and about 7 beers later, I decided to forget it and pulled the motor back quick to take a swim. As soon as the speed hit a drastic change, two lines took off, a wahoo on both. We got those fish in, and trolled that same spot for the next 2 hours, changing speed from fast to slow and vise versa on a regular basis. We ended up having an amazing afternoon. We didn't change bait or color, or depth...........just irratically shifted speed from time to time. That's what it took to get the fish to start hitting.

As far as ease in carrying all that tackle on board. There's an easy way to do it. There are plenty of companies out there that make "lure bags" to store rigged trolling lures in. Most hold around 8 to 12 and have a seperate compartment for each lure. They fold up and have a carrying handle. Get lure bags for your lures, and keep your tackle in the tackle box. [cool]
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[tubeN2]

You can never have too much tackle!! I always take what I need and a little bit more just in case they decide to go for something else.[cool]
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