An "UP-WELLING" is formed when continuous current passes over a large ledge or hole. When this happens I call it the old "Domino Effect." The currents in the open water flow very steady and strong once everything gets "in step." As you know we have a tide change every 6 hours meaning that at the end and turn of every tide there is what is called "some sort of slack current situation." So therefore the first couple of hours of the tide change no matter, which direction it's heading, is the slackest times. Once all current are what I call "in step" the big push of the tide is the strongest. As long as this moving is not detoured all waters/current pretty much roll in the same directions. However, when it comes to moving over a ledge, hole, or intersection your get "differential" in the flow of things. This is when an "up welling" can and normally is formed. Now that this information is out of the way I can get to the meat of this report.
Let's get right to the most important part of the "UP WELLING!" When currents take on a new shape any thing included debris and bait are caught up in this cycle. As all fishermen know, "where you have fish you have fish!" Large as well as smaller fish will stage where they think they are the safest or where they can feed the most. When you find out where any of these "hotspots" are this where you need to fish.
Last week while trolling for king mackerel I found myself being pulled back to the same spot. I didn't realize it at first because it was so rough, but the spot was where an "UP WELLING" was taking place. The reason I didn't notice it right away was because it was so rough making the pattern even more broken. While approaching the spot in which every time I trolled across I got a hit or hookup, it become apparent I had found myself an offshore "Pot of Gold!" A large wave had built right in front of me as I approached the spot and I noticed a lot of "underwater hanging" live Sargasso weed. The reason I emphasized, "live Sargasso weed" was because when it's alive it's floating and it's gold in color. When it's dead, it's dark brown and doesn't really float that much. You can see it, but it's mostly underwater, because the air sacks that help float it have collapsed. The weeds that I was looking at was live, but still under the water. The reason being is that it's was caught up in the "Up WELLING," which was continuously dragging it down-under. I had noticed a Sargasso laced rip pass by, but the surface current quickly pulled it away. However, while it was passing over the ledge, which was producing the "UP WELLING" some clumps of, this weed was sucked down into the water column forming my own personal "TARGET RICH ENVORIMENT!"
Once it became clear to me where the grass was holding down-under I completely avoided pulling across it. I pulled the outskirts, which produced more hits and hooks up. When I was pulling across it I was catching but some of this action was from "hooking up the weeds!" The moral of this fishing report is a simple one: Where weeds are hanging "fish are-a-feeding!" There are those fishermen that just pull lures and then there are those that actually look at there surrounding bringing back that old southern saying "here's your sign!"
Small Baits Big Fish
As I was fishing the other day it dawned on me that there have been more than several occasions when the largest fish of the day hits the smallest bait/lure in my trolling spread. This past week I have been doing a lot of trolling for king mackerel. We have been catching quite a few kings in the 7 to 25 pound range. In fact it has been years since this many kings in this short of time span, have been pulled over my boat gunnels. All fish were caught with the simplest lure on the market. I have been using the ever-popular by the king fish "31/2 Drone Spoon!"
The past week proved to be very interesting in the "Smoker King Mackerel Department!" Keith Davis of Eastman, Georgia hooked a big one for sure! As I was trolling 31/2 Drone spoons at my normal trolling speed of 7 knots a large king mackerel slammed it. I guess I should start from the beginning since it going to be important to this particular story. As we trolled in the morning we had several hard and strong hits. With our drags on our reels almost totally tighten down it is going to take a large fish to get any relief. When Keith's fish hit the lure I thought the reel was going to come apart. At least that's what it sounded like. Most fish that hit a spoon can be reeled in to the planer, leader-ed in, and slung over the gunnels into the cooler. However, there wasn't "any just reeling" in involved with this hooked 50 pound plus king mackerel.
Keith was in the "hard reeling stage," which means he felt like his arm was going to fall off before he landed the fish. As the fish fought line was stripped from the reel more than a few times. I normally don't take the boat out of gear for fear of the hooked fish swimming right off the hook. When a kingfish hit a moving spoon normally a hole is formed where the hook get lodged. The hole gets longer as the reeling in is accomplished. I knew that fish would definitely swim off the hook if Keith or I (boat action) gave the big king any slack in the line. However, the fish was pulling so hard I was afraid that something might give. I selected to pull the boat in and out of gear giving both the fish and the fisherman a chance to get in step with the flow of things! After quite a few minutes Keith's arm, in which he is normally uses a left-handed reel, finally gave out and started cramping. I have to admit I don't think I would have lasted as long as he did using a wrong handled reel for me. He handed the rod to Oscar Mincey. With new blood and the persistence reeling the planer was reeled to the end of the rod. This fish was finally "leadered" to the boat where more action followed. Captain Ali Young, my first mate for over thirty years knew this was big fish. However, she hadn't laid an eye on the fish to make a positive identification when she started bringing the fish to the stern. As soon as she got the less than ½ inch from being a 5-foot long king mackerel to the boat, she screamed I need a gaff now! I was stunned at first, but quickly jumped up and grabbed two gaffs. This way I figured I would be covered in the event I dropped one. With the boat now out of gear, time was crucial, due to the fact the longer the fish stayed in the water the more apt we were to loose it. I looked down as Captain Ali pulled at the unwilling fish. As soon as she brought it up, hand lining 30 feet plus, I made my stab at the fish. Believe me a fish this big isn't hard to hit. Anywhere the gaff lands is where you had best make it stay. I struck the fish and Captain Ali Screamed, "have you got it?" I answered "no," because I knew the fish was still green! We both pulled the fish over the gunnels and we both jumped out of the way as it's final life exploded on the deck!
This was a big king mackerel for sure! It lacked ½ inch from being exactly 5 foot long. It weighted in at about 50 pounds with all of us having a hard to time trying to pick this fish up! After all our adrenaline had stopped by now! The bottom line to this report is a simple one. Firstly, this is just goes to show you that even when doing regular fishing such as this, anything can happen. Secondly, we caught this fish right at high noon. Prior to this landing and after there wasn't any fish that even came close to the size of this Monster King! A large congratulation goes out to Keith Davis!