Go deep for big bottom fish
Kevin Sneed, a 14-year guide from Holden Beach, learned several years ago his fishing waters needed to grow.
A saltwater guide since 2008, he once carried anglers an hour or two offshore to find suitably large fish.
But those days are gone.
Today he points the bow of his 35-foot Contender, powered by three 300-horsepower Mercury outboards, southeast from Lockwood Folly Inlet to find offshore bottomfish that may weigh 30, 40, 50, 60 pounds — and more. And that means sinking rod-and-reel baits to groupers and other sportfish in once-impossible-to-fish territories.
“I’ve learned to fish the past few years in deeper water,” said the Guilford County native. “Today I fish from 135 to 500 feet, wherever I find bottom structure that holds fish and where they’re not beat to death (by other anglers).”
With the current inflated cost of fuel, few recreational anglers want to foot a $600 bill for a 10-hour round-trip tour to grouper grounds.
But Sneed, the owner of Rigged&Ready Fishing Charters near Varnamtown (910-448-3474, www.riggedandreadycharters.com), noticed he rarely saw commercial grouper boats plying their trade in less than 100 feet of water.
Soon he understood the reason — those depths had been pounded so hard, large groupers no longer rule the roosts.
“You can bottom fish that deep, but you’ll catch smaller fish,” he said. “You have to go deeper to catch big ones.”
Sneed once took fishing parties to blue water in a 31-foot-long Pro Kat catamaran. But after winning the November 2018 Kingfish Cup all-time cash prize ($127,755), he upgraded to a 35 Contender with a 70 mph top speed (for paid trips he cruises 35-40 mph).
Good electronics help
Two experienced guides, Capt. Joe Harrington and Capt. Jonathan Phillips, joined R&R Charters in the last 10 years and pilot anglers on 33-foot Onslow Bay and 31-foot Contender fishing platforms.
“Most recreational guys run the bottom from the (Frying Pan) Tower to the Navy Wreck. But all the commercial guys are out deeper,” Sneed said. “I learned deep fishing from them because of the big fish they caught.”
A regular at the Brunswick coast with his family since he was 2-years-old, Sneed learned inshore and offshore tactics from his father Rodney Sneed and Holden Beach grandfather Bill Sneed.
When he takes four anglers to spots marked on his GPS unit, he’s in at least 165 feet of water, which is a two-hour haul from the beach. Farther out, it’s a 10-hour round trip.
Sneed’s able to see bottoms structures — patch reefs, rocks and 10-foot ledges — with a new pair of dash-mounted Garmin 16-inch colorized screens.
“It’s like looking at two TVs,” he said. “They’re high-definition ‘chirps.’ The images are clear; you can see individual fish.”
Commercial fishermen also taught Sneed the efficacy of extra-long leaders.
He places two rods in holders at the bow and two at the stern of his boat. The front rods are spooled with braided line but have 10- to 20-foot leaders of 100-pound test fluorocarbon tied to three-way swivels. The stern rods have leaders that can measure 30 feet with leaders and dropper lines.
“Your bow leaders can’t be too long or they’ll wrap the stern leaders,” Sneed said.
Terminal tackle
He uses 12- to 24-ounce ball sinkers to take live menhaden, pinfish or frozen cigar minnows to the bottom. Groupers prefer live baits but will taste frozen cigar minnows.
“I try to use the lightest (sinker) weights possible, but that depends on the ocean currents,” he said.
For big groupers, he spools 100- to 135-pound test Momoi Diamond Hollow Core braid on Shimano Forcemaster 9000 or Daiwa Tanacom 1000 electric reels (they save anglers’ arms, backs and legs by cranking huge fish to the surface).
His light-weight jigging and casting rods include 7-foot Shimano Trevala or Speedmaster 12s.
For scamps and gag groupers, Sneed ties 7/0 or 10/0 Owner reef and circle hooks to 65-pound test braid with 80-pound test fluorocarbon leaders. Reels are Shimano Speedmasters.
“I like to connect leaders to braid with PR knots,” Sneed said. “That’s done with a (hand-held) bobbin.”
Bobbins should be familiar to textile-mill workers who once used them in N.C.’s booming industry that depended upon knitting machines to weave wool into cloth.
“We put braid through a bobbin and twist it (with a leader),” Sneed said. “It makes a slim knot that goes through line guides easily and makes a 100-percent connection (to leaders).”
He ties two 10-foot long dropper lines about 4 feet apart above the bottom weight.
Black, gags, mottled groupers and amberjacks are the main fish his anglers haul from the depths.
“Groupers prefer live baitfish. But if you’ve got AJs around, they won’t let live baits reach the bottom,” Sneed said. “So we drop frozen cigar minnows to get through the amberjacks.”
Groupers are hard fighters
Sneed always tries to fill a bait tank with menhaden. If pogies are difficult to find, he’ll motor to hard bottoms and jig Sabiki rigs to snag menhaden, cigar minnows or pinfish.
The main problem with groupers is when hooked, these strong bottom-huggers often try to pull terminal tackle into rocks, ledges or reef holes. In that case, anglers must use their wiles.
When a big fish attacks a bait, an angler’s first tactic is to turn its head toward the surface to prevent it from diving into structure.
“But you just have to do the best you can (when a hooked grouper swims into structure),” Sneed said. “People often give a fish slack line and wait 5 or 10 minutes. If a grouper doesn’t feel line resistance, sometimes he’ll swim out (from an obstruction).”
Scamp groupers vary in length from 18 to 30 inches but must be 20 inches to keep. Gag groupers must be a minimum of 24 inches.
“Scamps typically will weigh 8 to 20 pounds,” Sneed said. “But gags will go 20 to 35 pounds. The biggest gag I’ve caught weighed 40 pounds.”
Anglers may keep three scamps or two scamps and one gag grouper. Greater amberjack must measure 28 inches fork length.
“I also use kites to fish light-lined frozen cigar minnows on the surface,” he said. “With kites we catch dolphin, sailfish, wahoos and an occasional king mackerel. But mostly we catch sailfish with kites.”
Curious cobias often swim up from the depths to eyeball his boat. In that case Sneed tosses a baited line tied to a stand-up rod at them.
Cobia and grouper seasons are May 1-December 31. Cobia must be 36 inches or longer and only one fish per person is permitted.
Other deep-water sportfish that sometimes slam his deep baits include African pompanos that may weigh 30 pounds.
Be the first to comment