High-speed, low-speed trolling are great techniques for wahoo
For anglers looking to do a little more than wrangle with a bream this time of year, plenty of action awaits them off the coast of Murrells Inlet. The wahoo are ready and willing to do battle with anyone willing to venture offshore a little ways, and luckily, anglers don’t have to go all the way to the Gulf Stream to find them.
“You’ll find them in likely areas such as the Winyah Scarp, and similar places in between here and the Gulf Stream, and we’ve been catching them on a number of different lures. We start off high-speed trolling with a spread of different lures. On some days, that’s all we need to do in order to get our share of wahoo,” said Capt. Ned Campbell of Murrells Inlet Outpost (843-651-6602).
When high-speed trolling, Campbell said typical trolling lures like Iland Lures, Bluewater Candy, and Jugheads are all working well, and he said Yo-Zuri Bonitas are an added plus when trolled closer to the boat in the prop wash.
“It’s really wide open on lures. They are biting just about any of the typical trolling lures, and you’ll know pretty quick if they are hitting them. We usually high-speed troll for about an hour, and when we’re doing that, we’re looking around at our electronics and at the ocean in general. If we don’t get bit very much in that hour, we slow down and drop the meat in,” said Campbell.
“Dropping the meat” means adding ballyhoo to the lures and changing from high-speed trolling to low-speed trolling. Campbell does that by adjusting his speed from about 7 miles-per-hour to about 2 miles-per-hour.
“During that hour of high-speed trolling and looking around, I am really just looking for signs of life. Whether it’s seeing schools of bait on my electronics, dolphins swimming, flying fish, or sea turtles, I’m looking for life, or for something different like weed lines. If I’m not picking up my share of wahoo while high-speed trolling, I will go back to the areas I saw those things, and I’ll low-speed troll,” said Campbell.
The size of wahoo have been ranging anywhere from 30 pounds to over 60 pounds, and Campbell expects the bite to stay hot for some time, and he said other fish like blackfin tuna and mahi should start biting in the same areas shortly.
Drop by the Murrells Inlet Outpost for all your inshore and offshore tackle needs, bait, and most importantly, solid fishing advice from the crew that works there. And if you want them to do all the work, they will be glad to take you out on the ocean for a day. They also have a great selection of fishing apparel, including high performance fishing shirts from local company Hooked Soul.
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