7/20/17 - 7/22/17 Tilefish Trip

coastal_dan · July 24, 2017, 04:49:56 PM

This years annual Tilefish trip started out with a bang thats for sure...

On Wednesday I had to get a sideways, infected stone removed from the ureter between my left side kidney and bladder...after 12 hours in the hospital and some laser tag (

) I went home and had to really think about if I was going to do this trip that left Thursday night. The doctors ended up saying go, "it's better than sitting at the office or at home"...so go I went

Great trip, had my limit by 9:30 am, so then had some nice time to rest, go through tackle, re-tie a few knots/connections and talk to some knowledgable folks for the next few hours.

My US113HN was great, added Tom's bridge and Ted's eccentric lever.

Tackle was pretty basic Top and Bottom Rig / Glow Squids / 12/0 Circle hooks / 80 Lb Leader to a 225 Lb ball-bearing swivel..then to a 30 ft top shot of 60 lb mono...FG knot to 65 lb JB solid. I stayed consistent with my lead at 40 oz...I could have dropped down to 32 oz later in the morning though, but didn't.

Depths varied from 375 ft to 820 ft, conditions in the AM were perfect, nice breeze and good current...great for covering a lot of ground.

At some point I'll post some more but for now a few photos...

[url=https://flic.kr/p/WN8EdJ]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/X4dePr]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/WN8Eah]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/VPMb4p]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/X4deRF]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/WN8Ec1]

Thanks for looking.

mo65 · July 24, 2017, 04:54:34 PM

Great fishin' Dan...hope you're feelin' alright.

STRIPER LOU · July 24, 2017, 05:00:43 PM

Nice work Bud. Glad it all came together and hope you're felling well. Ya got some good eatin there!!

.............regard's, .. Lou

Steve-O · July 24, 2017, 05:26:25 PM

Primo trip for sure!

Tile fish is the poor man's lobster and known in NC offshore as " the money fish!"

Congrats and thanks for sharing.

Alto Mare · July 24, 2017, 05:28:36 PM

Great report Don, thanks for sharing.
Enjoy that fish!

thorhammer · July 24, 2017, 07:27:50 PM

Nice work, bud. That's the same US I just rebuilt for Biggie.

conchydong · July 25, 2017, 01:15:33 AM

Great job Dan. Glad you were able to make the trip. We are only allowed 1 Tile per person in the South Atlantic so at least with your limits it makes it worthwhile. I didn't realize you also caught Bluelines (Grays)that far north.

Scott

Dominick · July 25, 2017, 01:31:37 AM

I'm glad that medical mishap did not hold you back...Look what you would have missed. Great job. Dominick

Decker · July 25, 2017, 02:48:50 PM

Dan, I'm envious of your catch! Need to put one of those trips on my list.

Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B · July 25, 2017, 11:19:26 PM

Tightlines667 · July 26, 2017, 12:21:11 AM

Nice work!

sdlehr · July 26, 2017, 04:50:39 AM

Well done, Dan! I can't imagine the pain you must've been in... glad it's over. Drink more fluids

coastal_dan · July 26, 2017, 01:47:10 PM

Thanks for the comments and well wishes guys.

I would say this about Tilefishing...(to me) it's all about the reel. I still haven't found the perfect reel / reel set-up (in my price range)...Maxel and Jigging Master are the leaders right now but I get concerned about parts availability down the road for the Maxel and the Jigging Master PE8 is around $750. Both of these reels need a full pre-service as I've read/heard that there is basically no grease on them. The Maxel is 4.5:1 and the Jigging Master is 4:1 with a 4" O.C. arm.

I fish the US113N (With Teds Eccentric, Tom's Bridge, Alans 5/0 Handle) and for the price it is great, the 4.3:1 is a nice ratio for this, but a 4:1 would be even better. Also, I'd like to talk to someone about doing a slightly longer handle arm...maybe extending by 1/4" or 1/2". I use Alan's handle and love the feel, but it is a hair on the heavy side. Some of these things may not seem like much of a difference, but at 350 ft - 1000 ft depths every little thing counts.

I've been very happy with the inexpensive Shakespeare rods, I have the old BWB as well as the newer version and @ $70 they are great. I've seen too many full graphite sticks break near the tip section, so having a glass/graphite rod is important to me. I also really like the new S.S. turbo guides they are using, welded in S.S. eyes...no inserts to pop out. I witnessed seeing a $400 custom rod lose two inserts on the trip...made me cringe.

I can say, I love this type of fishing...it's not for everyone, but it is fun

Decker · July 26, 2017, 02:13:56 PM

Quote from: coastal_dan on July 26, 2017, 01:47:10 PM
I fish the US113N (With Teds Eccentric, Tom's Bridge, Alans 5/0 Handle) and for the price it is great, the 4.3:1 is a nice ratio for this, but a 4:1 would be even better. Also, I'd like to talk to someone about doing a slightly longer handle arm...maybe extending by 1/4" or 1/2". I use Alan's handle and love the feel, but it is a hair on the heavy side. Some of these things may not seem like much of a difference, but at 350 ft - 1000 ft depths every little thing counts.

Dan, what does an upgraded bridge do for the reel? Upgrade is brass to stainless steel?

Would one of these handles work?

coastal_dan · July 26, 2017, 04:06:18 PM

The upgraded bridge includes a SS gear sleeve, SS Dogs and a redesign for ease of disassembly / reassembly. It is an overall much stronger design on the dog wear and tear...Alex/Tom did a heck of a job.

The handle upgrade still needs to be somewhat compact so that you can crank OVER the rail and not hit it each time. So i'm thinking just 1/4" to a 1/2" lengthening of a factory style arm will be perfect.

Those Rock Cod handles are interesting thats for sure, I've never fished one.