OK - I've read through all the posts on TTOL about the Kingfish Banks. Seems like it's hit or miss for trolling. Some have had success with mahi or bonito in the area, but it's pretty mixed.
Has anyone tried bottom dropping there for grouper, snapper, etc? Wondering if it's worth the detour en route back from Anegada.
I've also considered doing something like this in settled conditions - long day on the water, but 25+ miles of fishing the North Drop. Bound to catch something!! Turtle Head on this route also looks interesting.
We did the detour to Kingfish banks on the way back from Anegada in December. We trolled to the north over all of the banks and didn’t get any hits. We turned around and headed south. We hooked a nice mahi. Got it on the boat and headed for Jost. Mahi on the grill that night. We caught a few mackerel in the open water between Anegada and the banks while we were sailing. Dropped the sails and motored across the banks. It was definitely worth the detour and is on the schedule for November.
We actually caught that Mahi twice. After they got it on the boat, they threw it in an empty cooler and set it up on the hard fiberglass. As soon as we got moving the cooler slid off the back of the boat. Great opportunity to practice a man overboard drill. They all got excited as expected, and then everyone calmed down. We got back to the cooler, backed up to it and brought it back onboard. Made for a great story. I just wish someone would have taken a picture of the cooler floating on the waves. The highs and lows of fishing. They thought we lost our dinner.
Well done, I bet those mahi tacos were extra tasty that night. Here's my overboard drill for a bucket we lost in the chaos as we pulled a big king mackie aboard rounding Vieques. We didn't keep it, but still makes for a good story!
Any of the banks are worth a quick pass while trolling, and for bottom fishing as well. The charts just show the 'big' banks there are hundreds of smaller ones and having a fish finder to check them put before dropping is a huge help. in very general terms, you will do a little better for snapper especially when the moon is to the west when the tide is setting to the west as well. Be aware that local pot fishermen have strings of pots all over these banks and their lines drape up toward the surface but dont necessarily have buoys on them, so you might snag these while drift fishing.
