# VA Beach Deep Drop?



## SMT (Feb 8, 2008)

My buddy Fishnfool turned me onto this site. He just posted about jigging opportunities in the NC forum as we are always out for a new adventure. He also mentioned a trip we are doing in early March in VA Beach which leads me to this post.

Two day trip, one chasing birds for rockfish and the other a deep drop offshore. Hoping for tiles and grouper, but don't know what to expect. Anyone ever done any deep dropping offshore? What did you catch? Did you drop jigs or bait or both? What was the hot ticket? Sounds like the rockfish bite dies off in March? From the guys we know who have been down there, it's been trolling or chasing birds throwing rubber shads. What other ways do you like to fish for them; plugs, jigs, topwater, live bait?

Thanks in advance for any replies!


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## AtlantaKing (Jul 7, 2002)

I don't know about chasing birds, as I've never done that, but I've done the deep dropping. Deep drop fishing for tilefish, grouper, wreckfish and seabass is almost exclusively a bait'n'wait game...bait up, drop, wait one minute for the lead to hit bottom  Although I'm sure a tilefish or seabass will readily hit a jig, I don't think I've seen diamond jigs that are heavy enough (24oz+) and even if they were, jigging something that large and heavy would be extremely tiring. 

My usual gear for deep drop fishing is a stout boat rod and reel. The action and sensitivity of the rod is not terribly important since most of these fish hit like a ton of bricks. The super freespool and uber-high retrieves of the reel is also rather useless since you're dropping 24oz+ of lead plus bait; boat winches freespool just fine with that much weight and high speed retrieves means low torque which will wear you out quick. I use an Ugly Stik paired up with a 4/0 Senator loaded with 300yds of 65lb braid. The low and powerful retrieve of the Senator is nice when you're going to be retrieving nearly 2 miles of line over the course of the trip. 

An important thing about rigs is that they should be stout, and sport the biggest hooks you can get away with. I like 60 or 80lb Ande to tie the dropper loop rigs and 8/0 Octopus hooks. The reason for this is twofold: when dropping that far, the stiff line will cut down on the tangles and the big hooks will weed out most of the smaller seabass and tilefish. Cranking them up from 300' of water induces severe barotrauma and they won't survive when released, so I like to make sure my rig will hook only keepers. The bait is usually big chunks of frozen squid, bluefish or mackeral. Sometimes, there are big blues cruising around so catch a few and make fresh cutbait! 

Hope this helps


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## SMT (Feb 8, 2008)

Thanks for the reply AtlantaKing. We do plenty of deep drops up here, so rigging and gear aren't a problem. As for jigging those depths, you don't need jigs nearly as heavy as the lead you need to pin that bait rig on the bottom. Furthermore, there are other jigs besides diamonds  As for the tiring part, that's the beauty of technology! A rod and reel that's combined weight is 36 oz and yet can move heavy jigs through the water and handle 25+# of drag.

In any event, tell me more about your trips. What's your favorite bait? Have you gone in March or do you go later in the year? What type and size of grouper have you caught? Do you catch any golden tiles or just bluelines and greys? What's the average depth of water for tiles versus grouper or are they all caught at the same locations?

Thanks again!


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## 2aces (Jul 2, 2007)

Hey ATLKing looks like SMT is another taker. So when is this Deep drop trip ??


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## SMT (Feb 8, 2008)

A taker of what? If you are asking me when my trip is, March 7th and 8th. You affiliated with that trip you posted to NC?


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## FISHNFOOL (Dec 28, 2005)

CT (atlanta king) SMT is a good guy and has fished all over the country and we did a extreme mexican 7 day trip on a mothership and he is a expert rod builder..

we did drop in NJ but we fish from 600 to 900 feet for golden tiles we find the blueline in shallower water like 300 to 500...most of the time its baits like squid/makeral/ cow tongue etc..
drop down crank up jiggin that depth is done only when you have experienced guys on the boat..
cant wait for the Va trip and hoping to shoot down to Nc for jigging there...

Joe


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## 2aces (Jul 2, 2007)

SMT said:


> A taker of what? If you are asking me when my trip is, March 7th and 8th. You affiliated with that trip you posted to NC?


No just saw the trip posted on the Noreast site that im a member of. My trip is on march 22nd -23rd


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## AtlantaKing (Jul 7, 2002)

Joe, dood! I can't believe you put that VA trip together and didn't PM me...my freezer is empty and I needz da feesh! Hey, keep me in the loop on the NC trip.


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## FISHNFOOL (Dec 28, 2005)

CT,
Im not the charter master on this one(VA trip)...

the NC jigging im doing and maybe another TOG trip in early march on Karen Sue..

you still want me to keep you in the loop for the NC jiggin trip right? its most likley a 2 dayer..

joe


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## gus (Jan 24, 2002)

deep dropping - most important thing is reel - u want a high retrieve ratio. its no fun pulling up from the deep with a crappy reel. look at a tekota or torium. jigs will work fine if there isnt much current/wind creating fast drift. if u r fishing nasty structure losing jigs will suck. try multiple hook rigs with baits like squid/crab/albacore/etc. dont go on a full moon, pray for light winds and a captain worth his salt. use big circle hooks for tiles - it keeps the smaller ones off. if u dont use circle hooks u stand a good chance of losing fish. reeling from 700 feet and losing a fish half way up stinks - circle hooks will reduce that. good luck.


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