Blue water fishing in the gulf in late July and August historically has produced our best results. Summer patterns are firmly established and long periods between bad weather allow the weed lines to build. The Loop Current is the place to fish if you can travel more than 150 miles offshore.
The 100-fathom curve is a good place to start trolling, working your way to the area called the Steps. Look for floating debris, tide rips, weed lines and temperature changes. The biggest dolphin caught last year was in the 40-pound class located under a floating five-gallon bucket. Early mornings and late afternoon have produced most of our wahoo and tuna strikes. The dolphin can be caught throughout the day as long as you find weed lines and floating objects. Binoculars are essential to help find feeding birds, which indicate that fish are feeding below. Look for frigate birds, also known as marlin birds. The frigate bird circles the big game fish waiting for the fish to start feeding. Once the feeding starts the bird swoops in and picks up the pieces.
For most trolling lures, 71/2 to 9 knots works. Jet heads, skirted ballyhoo, doorknobs, MP lures and wahoo wackers work. Green-and-yellow and pink-and-silver lures seem to be hot for dolphin. Dark lures for tuna, marlin and wahoo have proven the test of time when fishing in the gulf.
- Larry "Huffy" Hoffman charters out of John's Pass, Treasure Island. Call (727) 709-9396.
