When plan A blows out
The plan was three days out of Venice, Louisiana, for bottom fish and whatever pelagics showed up. Then the Gulf blew out for the week. Back home, Jorge had a grouper bite going, and the Atlantic side offered a shot at a quality golden tilefish, so Chad Busiere drove down from Gainesville for a day of slow pitch jigging out of Jupiter with Jorge, Rob and Ricky.
Golden tilefish on the EYEDROP
They left the dock around 6 a.m. and ran to the tilefish grounds first. First spot, first drift, and less than 30 seconds in, Jorge was tight on his first drop with a 700 g EYEDROP. Ricky followed with another EYEDROP and landed his first golden tilefish, then picked up a second one. Chad and Rob stuck with standard jigs and each lost a small fish after the hookup.
At the next spot the bait was on the screen but the quick bite wasn't. Chad kept working his jig, and after about ten minutes he came tight on a solid fish: an 18 lb golden tilefish, his best so far.
The EYEDROP 2.0 is the current version of that jig, from 50 up to 700 g, with a glowing skirt and fewer hangups on the drift. You'll find it with the rest of our slow pitch jigs.
What to know about golden tilefish off South Florida
Golden tilefish live in colonies, in burrows they dig into soft mud on the continental slope. Their range runs from about 250 to 1,500 feet, and off South Florida the productive mud is usually around 500 to 800 feet, often only a few miles from the inlet. Find the right bottom and there are usually more fish close by.
Most run 5 to 25 lb, and they can top 50. You don't need electric reels for them either: with thin braid, a hand-crank setup handles the depth.
A raft full of life
On the way to the grouper spots they found an abandoned homemade raft loaded with life: mahi, tripletail, jacks and runners. Jorge threw a blade bait and hooked mahi cast after cast, and they got one tripletail out from under the jacks.
Below it, Chad dropped a jig to about 300 feet and got cut off: the fish shredded the Kevlar assist line, so they knew it was a wahoo. Ricky dropped right away, hooked one and landed it, then did it again. Two wahoo on the jig, no wire.
Snowy and yellowedge grouper
The grouper spot was lit up on the screen. Rob hooked up right away on the WYLD and brought up a snowy grouper, glowing. When the bite slowed and the fish turned sluggish, Jorge went back to the EYEDROP and caught another clean snowy. Chad never got his grouper bite, but did put a tuna in the boat.
On the last drift of the day, Jorge tied on a lighter EYEDROP and hooked something heavy. It took a steady 25 minutes, and up came a 28 lb yellowedge grouper, on 8 lb braid. The day before, on the same setup, he had landed a 32 lb yellowedge on a DEEP 300g in Pink Glow.
What started off as a canceled trip turned into a great day.
What the day taught us
- Tilefish first. Start on the tilefish grounds early, then move to the grouper.
- Give the skirt a chance. On this day the EYEDROP outfished standard jigs on tilefish and restarted the snowy bite when it went sluggish.
- Light line, heavy fish. With patience, 8 lb braid landed a 28 lb yellowedge in 25 minutes.
- Check floating debris. A raft can hold mahi and tripletail on top and wahoo below.
Before you go
Seasons and limits for tilefish, grouper and pelagics off Florida's Atlantic coast change often. Check the current rules with FWC before every trip.
