FILTERS
Captain Vlad Moldoveanu marking a spot on his Simrad chart plotter while reading reef structure off Alabama

Reading Bottom Structure to Predict Where Species Hold

Why does a ledge hold scamp while flat rock holds red porgy? Survey data and In The Spread captains explain how bottom structure sorts reef fish through relief, hole size, current and edges, and how to pick the depth, bottom type and spot for your target species.

Fall mullet run off Sebastian Inlet beach at sunrise with a tarpon rolling along the edge of the bait school.

Fishing the Sebastian Inlet Mullet Run for Snook and Tarpon

The fall mullet run stacks snook, tarpon, and jacks against the beach and jetties at Sebastian Inlet. This breakdown covers when the run peaks, how to read a feeding school, where each fish sets up, and the live baits and lures that earn strikes from mid-September through October.

Angler holding a yellowfin tuna caught trolling a skirted marlin lure offshore in Kona Hawaii with Shawn Rotella.

Running Tuna Trolling Lures That Raise Fish

Most anglers obsess over which lure to buy and ignore what actually gets bit. This is the trolling breakdown: the plugs, feathers, cedar plugs, and spreader bars that raise yellowfin, blackfin, and bluefin, and the speed, position, and color calls that make any of them work.

Six trolling planers in three sizes laid out on a boat covering board for kingfish, wahoo, and tuna fishing

Planer Fishing for Kingfish, Wahoo, and Tuna

Summer heat drives kingfish, wahoo, and tuna below the surface, and a trolling planer is how you follow them down. What the size numbers mean, how deep they run, wire and bait choices, and the staggered two-line spread that comes through every turn without a tangle.

whole squid rigged with double hooks for swordfish bait

Rigging Baits for Daytime Swordfishing

A swordfish bait fails in three ways. It spins, it collapses on the drop, or it tears apart on the first bill strike. Get those three right and the rest of the daytime program has a chance. Squid, belly baits, whole fish, hooks, crimps and floss, rigged the way working crews actually do it.