The deep dropping was a fun gig. Better than I thought it would be and the "investment" of a $700 dollar Diawia Tanacom Bull electric reel was forced upon me as the thought of hand cranking fish up from 700ft of water sounded like anything but fun. I rationalized the purchase and on the first trip it seemed like it was a good choice............A 250qt cooler filled to the brim with good eating deep drop fish.

Last year I had to cancel and lose my deposit as work infringed upon my fun........but this year was a different story and a former client turned friend accompanied me on this venture.

But all was not drop down and reel up, fish in tow. Day one proved very disappointing except for Norms truly special double in which he caught a Queen Snapper and a big Snowy Grouper on the same drop. Blame it on the full moon I say..........I had high hopes for the night bite and I hung in there until about 3 A.M. and had one very nice tuna in the 25 to 30lb class to show for my efforts along with a smattering of small fish. The Tuna missed the jackpot by only one fish which was caught the next day, a Warsaw grouper in the 35b class.

Day two deep dropping improved as the day went on but a long way to securing "fish for a year". My reel went down as the power cord got damaged and thanks to Norm who was wise enough to have a backup.

This was my second deep drop trip and I learned quite a bit. The veterans were bemoaning our lack of success and I look forward to next years trip as I will give it another go.

Nice fish. Lose any to the tax man on the way up? On a completely unrelated note, I have been really impressed with the new Daiwa BG series reels. Can't beat the price point. Not sure how the BWCA gods will feel about a 7.5' Teramar and BG4500 for trolling and casting the savage duck lure but that's what I'm going with. Rock solid smooth drag...... so far.

quote FlambeauForest: "Nice fish. Lose any to the tax man on the way up? On a completely unrelated note, I have been really impressed with the new Daiwa BG series reels. Can't beat the price point. Not sure how the BWCA gods will feel about a 7.5' Teramar and BG4500 for trolling and casting the savage duck lure but that's what I'm going with. Rock solid smooth drag...... so far."

I seen a few fish come up bitten in 1/2 but I was spared.

In the evening/night we go up on the ridge and fish 200 ft of water with conventional tackle. The tuna hit a 4oz bucktail with a butterflied grunt on the rear, not exactly tuna fodder. I had been Red Grouper fishing on the bottom and was reeling it up when it hit. It ripped the 50lb line out in a big run and for a minute there I thought I had a big shark on.

I understand the Teramar is a fine rod. I'm not familiar with the Daiwa BG series reels.

The Deep drop fishing is actually quite fun especially with tackle you can hold onto instead of a stern mounted boom winch. We were using 2lb and 4lb "sinkers" LOL.......just tape a foam pool noodle to the rail and set your rod on it. Get a bite, engage the reel to set the circle hook and 8 minutes later there is a yummy fish ;-)

That trip is on my short list. Thanks for the great report

quote Mnpat: "That trip is on my short list. Thanks for the great report"

Well bring your big bad self down to FT Lauderdale and I will pick you up and we will go. Definitely need a reel though as they don't rent them.

quote mastertangler: "

quote Mnpat: "That trip is on my short list. Thanks for the great report"

Well bring your big bad self down to FT Lauderdale and I will pick you up and we will go. Definitely need a reel though as they don't rent them. "

I will take you up on that someday. I would love a cooler full of tilefish, grouper and snapper. Next summer could work.

Thanks for sharing, MT!

quote Mnpat: "

quote mastertangler: "

quote Mnpat: "That trip is on my short list. Thanks for the great report"

Well bring your big bad self down to FT Lauderdale and I will pick you up and we will go. Definitely need a reel though as they don't rent them. "

I will take you up on that someday. I would love a cooler full of tilefish, grouper and snapper. Next summer could work. "

I have picked guys up at Ft Lauderdale international airport and then drove into the keys for the trip. The only "issue" with the deep drop trip is usually there is more fish than you know what to do with. 2 years ago I filled a 250 qt Great White to the brim plus another cooler. That is a lot of fish.........I have a vacuum sealer that guys have used and then we froze the catch overnight, drove the 1 hour back to the airport the following morning from my home and they checked a cooler as luggage. Naturally it came in as overweight and cost a pretty penny to fly back........probably still cheaper than driving however and certainly lots faster.

I will likely book the trip in Oct for late May of 2018. You would need a reel and a reservation......I have everything else. If you are serious Email me and I will send you a link to the boat and some Utube videos and will keep your email until I decide to reserve my spot at which time I would reach out to you and find out if your a go.