Reel Draggin' Tackle

Welcome aboard Bite,
I fished the canyons from Ocean city for five years in a 232 single engine (Yamaha 225) Grady White (about 9 trips a yr in this boat). I really enjoy fishing the canyons in a small boat. The bottom line; its your call. Watch the weather and don't try to squeeze one in when its questionable. Make double sure the boat is seaworthy. We had duplicates of all electronics, 2 fishfinders, 2 GPS units, a hand held GPS, two fixed mounted radios and a hand held. You should be able to find lots of action outa Rudy. The Norfolk is a haul, but there is lots of structure along the 40 fathom curve that the Norfolk boys work hard.

Get a fuel flow indicator if you don't have one. With 125 Gal, its ok as long as you watch your burn rate. On a typical canyon run in the 232 we burned about 95 gal of gas; as long as I kept the RPMs between 4300 and 4500.

In 2008 we'll be doing small boat tuna tactics offshore seminars from a 282 Grady. Watch for our posts and come on out with us. We'll show ya ow to fish a small boat big. We also run from a couple of 45 foot boats, JJ's Rock and the Muff Diver, both in Ocean City.

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Capt. Ken Lahr
Canyon Draggin'

Bite Radius

Thanks:

Actually, I carry a duplicate radio, GPS (and extra lights and power supply for night). I can cruise at about 30-32 knots at 10.5 gph with engine running at about 4000-4100 rpms. I can push it to 35 knots/4500rpm, but after that the supercharger kicks in and starts drinkin' gas. I see what your saying. I don't watch my gas gauge; I go by the flowrate.

I don't have outriggers. My boat has a hardtop with places in the frame to mount outriggers. Any advice on a good, not-too-expensive, outrigger? I like the ones they have down here at bass pro. You know, the ones that you can rotate into position and crank/extend with one hand. Are those really durable? Any better ideas?

Best ideas for lures/rigs? Websites?

Reel Draggin' Tackle

Well, lets start with the obvious. They best place for offshore tackle is Reel Draggin' Tackle

I have Lee's on my boat, thats what Grady installs. I think I would look at Rupp or Lee and stay away from TACO, just my opinion. Lots of guys on this board will give you recommendations; I would start a thread asking that question.

Tackle: When it comes to Tuna fishing build your spread around several spreader bars. We pull nine to thirteen lines and always have at least four to six spreader bars in the water. Then, place RDT Slammers and daisy chains around the bars and on the flats. We have some spread recommendations and a FAQ section on our web site.

Another lure you want are some surface popper lures. There are some sponsors on this site that make some really awesome poppers/plugs. Its too cool to cast to a weed line and pop, pop, Whamm .,..

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Capt. Ken Lahr
Canyon Draggin'

AlloyToy

I'll second that

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Bite Radius

Thanks. Just after I posted the note above, I went to the RDT website and I looked at some of your threads showing your setup.

You use AVET reels. How do they compare to Shimano? I haven't used them before.

Reel Draggin' Tackle

Thanks AlloyToy: Heads up.. we got some new stuff that you boys up North have been asking for. I'll be posting a flier this weekend

Bite Radius: AVETS all the way We like them because they are small, smooth and pack a punch Check out this shot; all of these Big Eye hit at the same time and were brought to the gaff and put on ice in less than 30 min. We were using AVET 4/0 2-speed reels. Any doubts in my mind were left at sea that day

Oh, by the way these were taken on Green 16106B Slammer Bird Bars and 3228 squid bars fishing from the Muff Diver in early June 2006. This was the first time my AVETS saw real action. They get my vote!

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Capt. Ken Lahr
Canyon Draggin'

saltednuts

I have a 24 Offshore Grady and have been in the canyons on several occasions. I run 2 feul tanks 1-98 and 1-70 on a 225 Johnson with some economy mods. It is quite fuel efficient, We can usually make it out and back on the 98 gal. and still troll for quite awhile in decent seas. I would carry extra fuel or install an extra tank for safety, which is your main concern anyway. good luck and don't get upset if the fishing is not as good as you expect, thats why they call it fishing. trail and error 35 yrs on the water and i'm still learning by doing.