I’ve been inshore and offshore, bottom fishing and drifting, and this has happened to me more than once. For a long time I thought it might be something I did wrong. But, there are good reasons for the fish to apparently quit biting. I say apparently, because in some cases, they didn’t quit – you did!
On a trip a number of years ago, we were offshore fishing a set of numbers over an old shrimp boat in about 100 feet of water. When we arrived, we headed upwind, dropped the anchor and backed down on the wreck. Almost immediately, we began catching vermilion snapper (B-liners) and sea bass.
As we continued fishing over the next thirty minutes, the bite stopped. It was as I said above – like someone simply turned off the faucet. Something was wrong.
A lot of anglers will sit and wonder with baits on the bottom, why the fish quit biting. In reality, the fish didn’t quit biting; the boat drifted off the spot! Wind and tidal current can play tricks on an angler offshore. Your boat can imperceptibly move a hundred feet or more off the spot you are fishing, and you will not realize it.
The fish that are over and around a wreck will not venture far from that wreck, and if your baits have moved away, the chances are good that the fish won’t follow them. To the uneducated angler, it seems as if the fish quit biting!
Offshore Tactics
There are a couple of things a captain can do to keep the boat on the fish. One way is to use a marker buoy. There are several on the market along with the homemade, milk jug variety. A heavy weight, enough strong line to reach the bottom, and a jug or marker that can be seen from a distance are all that’s needed.- When you come up on your GPS numbers and identify the wreck or good bottom with your fish finder, simply toss the marker over and let the weight go to the bottom. The jug will be your point of reference while you fish.
Some words of warning are warranted here. Never pitch your marker directly over the wreck. Many perfectly good weights have been lost after being tangled in the wreck 100 feet below. Move to one side of the wreck to drop the marker, and when it settles, circle it several times to set the relative reference in your mind.
- Now, when you anchor, you can judge your position and know whether you are moving off the targeted bottom. Another word of warning – some markers, particularly the home made variety, tend to drift and drag the bottom weight. A heavy sea or strong current will slowly take your marker away from its original position.
But, hark, there is a fix for that as well, and that fix is drift fishing. Rather than fight the current or wind, simply join it and use it to your advantage.
