Am I Ready for some Football

[beamie]

Yes the footballs will be around on Labor Day. You may find pods of fish off of the Race within 4 mi all around. Last week there were some 300# class fish in that area, reportedly.

Though, you need some bigger gear. That 6500ss will last about 47secs before you are spooled. Many guys using the ss's are using the 9500's, unless you go with a different brand for more doe.

You trolling stuff is lite too. If you want a "cheap" set-up you can do it with a 114H and a 5'6" stand up stick. You can load it with 80# braid. I have mine with 80# mono which yields about 325 yards, enough for smaller fish but if I were to tie into a 150+ would be a challenge of not getting spooled and chasing him down. Need to troll some small squid bars or daisy chains.

This is a fun fishery but does take some investment of gear to get into it.

[gf2020]

You'll also need a Federal permit to target SBFT...

http://www.nmfspermits.com/PermitList.asp

[capecodder]

Thanks Beamie.

I was afraid my gear was too lite. I won't have a lot of time to try this due to family obligations, but... if I was to invest in one set up either a spinning combo to cast to them or a trolling setup, which would you go with to give the greatest probability of hooking up. I realize it is a low probability to begin with...

I'm inclined to go the trolling route as that setup could be used for other applications such as cod or other trolling. A real heavy spinning setup would be pretty limited for me.

If spinning is the way to go, what would you recommend for a setup?

gf, I know I need a permit and will get one if I decide to try this.

[beamie]

Trolling is really the way to go. However you would really want a good spread, 3 or 4 rigs out etc so that is some investing. And outriggers help too.

You are probably better off getting one good spinning set-up. A 9500ss at about $150 and a 7 foot rod. It need not be a high end rod. The reel is more important. But some thing with back bone, fast action tip with heavy diameter towards the handle. Probably spending about $80. Maybe the rod you have will do but you need the line capacity. Then some deadly #^&#^&#^&#^&s or Shimano Hydro tigers. Then find some breaking fish. It will be frustrating because many a great cast will yeild no fish. Sometimes I think it is all luck. I,ve seen schools of bft along side long enough for 2 good casts and nothin. But that's fishin.

[beamie]

Oh, and load that reel up with 50 pound braid for more capacity. SS's aren't the most braid freindly but it will work.

[wrikerjr]

I have caught two-(2) BFT (approx. 20 lbs.) with a Penn 6500 loaded up with a short amount of mono backing and then 30 lb. PP.

The BFT were in pretty close off LI this year, and many people were succesful with these smaller spinning reels. You can get a good amount of braid on the line and be setup for BFT. It would be better to purchase a new outfit, but as a money saving alternative I would recommend repacking with as much braid as you can. If you get anything in the 50+ class you will need to chase it to avoid being spooled, but some anglers do it, but most got spooled and lost good fish. That's the replacement

If you hook into one you will need to replace the drags, trust me.

Good Luck