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 ( :D ) 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 ;D
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...
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4316/35965318212_04b2f15308_z.jpg)
[url=https://flic.kr/p/WN8EdJ](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4310/35965318642_a130ca0dd9_z.jpg)
[url=https://flic.kr/p/X4dePr](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4314/36135959555_f383aaac0a_z.jpg)
[url=https://flic.kr/p/WN8Eah](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4299/35965318442_3a96de3534_z.jpg)
[url=https://flic.kr/p/VPMb4p](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4310/35327597893_9c38da0dbd_z.jpg)
[url=https://flic.kr/p/X4deRF](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4306/36135959685_702436eb78_z.jpg)
[url=https://flic.kr/p/WN8Ec1](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4329/35965318542_20e177054f_z.jpg)
Thanks for looking.
(https://flic.kr/p/WN8E6j)
Great fishin' Dan...hope you're feelin' alright. 8)
Nice work Bud. Glad it all came together and hope you're felling well. Ya got some good eatin there!!
.............regard's, .. Lou
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.
Great report Don, thanks for sharing.
Enjoy that fish!
Nice work, bud. That's the same US I just rebuilt for Biggie.
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
I'm glad that medical mishap did not hold you back...Look what you would have missed. Great job. Dominick
Dan, I'm envious of your catch! Need to put one of those trips on my list.
(http://www.cool-smileys.com/images/207.gif) (http://cool-smileys.com//clapping-smiley)(http://www.cool-smileys.com/images/207.gif) (http://cool-smileys.com//clapping-smiley)(http://www.cool-smileys.com/images/207.gif) (http://cool-smileys.com//clapping-smiley)
Nice work!
Well done, Dan! I can't imagine the pain you must've been in... glad it's over. Drink more fluids :)
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 ;D
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?
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.
Thanks for the info, Dan.
Quote from: coastal_dan on July 26, 2017, 01:47:10 PM
Also, I'd like to talk to someone about doing a slightly longer handle arm...maybe extending by 1/4" or 1/2".
I cannot agree more with you on the bit longer handle arm for the Baja Special, Adam was offering a handle arm for the Baja on special request
Quote from: Three se7ens on July 13, 2016, 03:30:23 AM
............But there is a downside. Titanium is expensive. So these handles will have to be priced higher than the stainless versions.
The Sal's handle will be $24 each for all of the following fitments: 112H/jigmaster long version, 113H, Newell 200-600, and Penn Baja special/torque 200-300/etc.
The counterbalanced handle will also be available for $34 each for all of the following fitments: 113H, Newell 200-600, and Penn Baja special/torque 200-300/etc.
The long version of the 112H/jigmaster handle is the same length as the 113H handle. I will consider offering any other sizes and designs if there is a demand for it. The Baja special is a new fitment, and I will be adding that as an option to all of my current designs.
If youre interested in purchasing any of these, just reply here with what you want. I have material, but so far Ive only had a few samples cut.
http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=18609.0
we might have to start a list for a prototype of handle arm for a Baja Special, on Ti as its already offered to make it lighter and bit longer.. Im in ;D ;D
by the day, congratulation on the fishing trip looks like you had your reward for the bad expecience on your kidney
my wife still complaint about the time when I was at the hospital for a kidney stone too, for my luck I expulsed it by myself at the hospital after 10 hours under med with no much pain, and I asked the Dr. , amigo I was planing to go fishing tomorrow morning, dont tell me that I have to stay home for 2 days on bed or something like that, the Dr. just told, heck amigo, of course I wont tell you that, once the kidney stone leave your body you are good, just take your medication for the possible infection and you are good to go fishing, well my wife just asked the Dr. 3 times in a row, are you sure Dr? and everytime the answer was a fantastic YES he can!!
next day while fishing my compadres couldnt believe that I was at the hospital with a kidney stone problem haha.
well, I totally understand you on this experience
That's a feat using non electric gear. My hat's off to you Dan.
We fish for them all the time here. All day trolling with nothing in the box is in the past. But...we use electric reels. 600 to 1000' of water.
Hypothetical question: Could a SS beefed-up wide Jigmaster (or Mag 990) cut the mustard mechanically on a tilefish trip? I understand that the most limiting factor is line capacity. What would be a minimum braid test? I've never caught one, but I don't imagine that they fight like tuna :)
Quote from: steelfish on July 26, 2017, 08:32:32 PM
Quote from: coastal_dan on July 26, 2017, 01:47:10 PM
Also, I'd like to talk to someone about doing a slightly longer handle arm...maybe extending by 1/4" or 1/2".
I cannot agree more with you on the bit longer handle arm for the Baja Special, Adam was offering a handle arm for the Baja on special request
Quote from: Three se7ens on July 13, 2016, 03:30:23 AM
............But there is a downside. Titanium is expensive. So these handles will have to be priced higher than the stainless versions.
The Sal's handle will be $24 each for all of the following fitments: 112H/jigmaster long version, 113H, Newell 200-600, and Penn Baja special/torque 200-300/etc.
The counterbalanced handle will also be available for $34 each for all of the following fitments: 113H, Newell 200-600, and Penn Baja special/torque 200-300/etc.
The long version of the 112H/jigmaster handle is the same length as the 113H handle. I will consider offering any other sizes and designs if there is a demand for it. The Baja special is a new fitment, and I will be adding that as an option to all of my current designs.
If youre interested in purchasing any of these, just reply here with what you want. I have material, but so far Ive only had a few samples cut.
http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=18609.0
we might have to start a list for a prototype of handle arm for a Baja Special, on Ti as its already offered to make it lighter and bit longer.. Im in ;D ;D
I dont want to completely derail this thread, but I offer all of my handles to fit the baja special/US senators now. I dont have much in stock, as I havent had much interest. But I can have more made from stainless or titanium at any time, and Im open to suggestions on preferred lengths, etc.
Adam - Sweet! I shot you an email yesterday, but let me do some measuring and discussing with Alex...maybe we can start a new thread in your store on what folks may be looking for. My thoughts are adding a 1/2" to the O.C. dimension between the sleeve and handle mounting hole would be a huge advantage.
Decker - I use 50 lb and 65 lb braid. Anything is possible, here would be my concerns with using a Jiggy (just my opinions!)...
1) It would have to have either an Accurate or Tiburon frame to avoid twisting/racking. Keep in mind you may have to use weights up to and over 4 lbs.
2) Drag #'s...I had my US113N buckled down...so around 20 lbs of drag and there were a few times I wanted a bit more!
3) Narrow vs wide reels - narrow is a whole lot easier to crank up due to less 'rocking' back and forth while putting a lot of muscle into the handle. The narrow is more 'linear' with the rod and the line never goes too far to either side, thus helping with that back and forth motion
4)Line capacity - In a perfect world I'd want a reel that could hold 3x the depth of the water I was fishing. So if I was doing 2 or 2 1/2 day trips out there I'd want about 2500 - 3000 ft of line. But with the 1 and 1 1/2 day trips you should be fine with 1500 ft to 2000' of line. My thought is that you have A) your line never goes straight down, so there is some angle to your line..adding length B) If you break off at 800' deep do you have enough to drop again or do you need to re-spool? (Rarely will your line break at the rod, but what if a guide has an issue and BANG there goes $50 worth of line!? (I always carry an extra 500 yd spool of 50 lb just in case).
Just some random rabbling and thoughts.
Edit: One more thought...handle! It needs to be big and comfortable; I heard numerous guys complaining about hurting and cramped hands...then you look at their reel and it would be a tiny factory knob/paddle...no good...
Thanks very much, Dan. Those details really put it in perspective. I have no concept of fishing so deep. Now I see why many would use an electric reel. You must be putting time in a the gym as part of your preparation. Are you reeling with the rod in a holder?
Good job brother....glad to hear the little hospital episode didnt keep you home. Tilefishing sounds a lot like rock cod fishing in California before the depth restrictions. We used 6/0 or bigger Penns, 80 lb or 50 lb dacron and 3+ lbs of lead with a 7'+ rod, usually with roller tips and strippers. Was always kinda of fun as you retrieved your line (btw 5-10 hook ganyons were the norm) about half way the light would start to get light, then no resistance then up would pop you 5-10 fish suffering from barotrauma 25 yards from the boat....then it was a race to get it aboard before the sharks and pelicans taxed you.....Bill