3 Tips For Fishing The Gulf Of Mexico

written by Evan Anderson

This episode of Into the Blue features Captains Steve Rodger and Scott Walker as they head out into the Gulf of Mexico to fish some wrecks. “A lot of people come down here and fish on the ocean,” says Rodger as he revs up his Mercury Marine motor, “but man that gulf has some special, special things to offer.” Our two expert captains hit it hard in this episode, catching a wide variety of fish including grouper, cobia, and various types of snapper. The key to their success lies in finding wrecks and bait balls. Here are three tips for fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.

1. Wrecks

Shipwrecks are one of the best ways to find fish out in the gulf. Wrecks create structure, and in an area like the gulf with a mostly barren sea floor, a wreck will resemble an oasis in the desert. “We got numerous wrecks, a lot of shrimp boats that have sunken over the years,” says Rodger, “It’s all sand out there, so any type of structure is gonna hold fish.”

“It’s all sand out there, so any type of structure is gonna hold fish.”

— Steve Rodger from Into the Blue

Captain Rodger eyes the Simrad radar system for wrecks as he motors through the gulf. When one pops up, he gets into position and throws out an anchor. “The first thing you do is that you anchor up,” he explains, “try to get positioned right. It’s very important that you’re uptide, maybe get a couple bow lengths up depending on how hard the current is, trickle out a little chum, maybe put a block in the bag. There’s life everywhere.”

Rodger’s preferred rig for fishing these spots is what he calls “The Knocker Rig”. He says, “It’s basically just...a sinker on your line, and then a hook. No swivel. The sinker actually rides right down on top of the hook.” He then adds a pilchard (sardine) onto the hook for bait. It’s a simple setup but extremely effective. It’s not long before they start hauling in loads of fish.

2. Bait Balls

The next tactic the two captains use is to find a great big bait ball and try to catch some of the fish coming in to feed. A bait ball is essentially a large school of small fish that are commonly used for bait. This is a common sight in the gulf and one that Rodger likes to take advantage of. If you find one, the bite will get hot real quick and it’s important to have flooring like SeaDek that will keep you from slipping.

One way to find bait balls if you’re not using radar is to look for flocks of birds swooping down into the water. Oftentimes a bait ball will get surrounded by predators, pushing them to retreat all the way to the surface. “There’s so much bait in the gulf,” says Rodger, “and where there’s bait, there’s predators, and where there’s predators there’s birds.” The stirred up water gets the attention of sea birds which will then begin feeding as well. Rodger and Walker describe the scene that they encountered as “30 frigate birds in a tornado…taking their turns on this bait ball.” In that kind of feeding frenzy, you can easily chuck some bait into that mess and you’re bound to catch fish. You just need to be wary of predators.

3. Predators

We’ve all experienced it. We’ve all had that monster yellowfin or grouper that we’ve fought for a solid half hour, and just as we bring it to the surface a shark or a barracuda rips it right off our line. The gulf is home to loads of predators and these can present a challenge to the angler. “You’ve gotta be aggressive, man, with those [barracudas],” says Rodger as Walker nearly loses a fish to the predator, “You gotta be aggressive when you’re catching the eaters because everybody else down there wants to eat them.” At one point, while Rodger is hauling up a yellowtail, he says, “You always want to leave those yellowtail in the water a little bit while they throw up ev-” when suddenly a barracuda snatches the fish right off his line. If there are predators around, it’s better to just wipe off the yellowtail stuff later with some SeaDek Dek Magic rather than lose the fish. When you’re aware of predators in the area, get your fish into the boat ASAP.

Planning to hit the gulf soon? Check out the full episode here to see Walker and Rodgers roll up on wrecks, fish the heck out of bait balls, and avoid sharks and barracudas in S11:E4 of Into the Blue.