Crevalle (Trevally) on UL Gear

How small is your rod and how light is your line? It's not about the size of your tackle, but how you work it. Come share your Ultralight and Bait Finesse System (BFS) fishing success here!
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Knotty
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Crevalle (Trevally) on UL Gear

Post by Knotty » Sun Apr 14, 2019 6:04 pm

Amazing video about using UL gear to fish for crevalle with under 5 g jig heads and ajing soft plastics.

https://youtu.be/JObBbJM6Ei8

I’ll be in Tampa later this month and would love a chance to try this but I’ll mostly be fishing from docks and kayaks, so I doubt going UL will be an option.

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Re: Crevalle (Trevally) on UL Gear

Post by ShimanoFan » Mon Apr 15, 2019 3:50 am

You need to target the smaller inshore Crevalle. Bigger ones will rip your ultra-light gear to pieces!

I do this in our intracoastal waterways here in Florida where large schools of Crevalle jack chase and hit baitfish. Crevalle push the baitfish right up to shore, some jump out of water onto shore trying to save their lives from being eaten under the water, but the birds are right there waiting to eat them flopping around on shore.

And the action is fast and furious too! Those jacks hit like a freight train and never slow down until I wear one out.

And the cool thing is when the jacks are busting on baitfish like that around here, I can throw out an empty hook and catch them. Just tie on a shiny empty hook and toss it into the schooling activity. Those jacks will hit on anything they can get in their mouths!

One day I went to Jupiter inlet for a concert I was working at, and all I had in my car was a 5' ultralight spinning rod with a small 2000 size Shimano spinning reel and some 10lb braid. Not the best choice, but it sure was a lot of fun. A couple of those will wear you out!
Why is there a concerted effort of hate? And why is it allowed?

ss30378
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Re: Crevalle (Trevally) on UL Gear

Post by ss30378 » Mon Apr 15, 2019 9:07 am

Man that looked fun out there. I had a 1003 luvias and that was one smooth operator. Nice smooth drag to let the fish run. If you're gonna be fishing near structure then I agree UL is not an option.

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Re: Crevalle (Trevally) on UL Gear

Post by Alphahawk » Mon Apr 15, 2019 3:52 pm

That did look like a lot of fun. I spent 21 years catching those and GT's also. As was mentioned....they will tear up some equipment. The GT's I was catching were small...40-50 pounds. Every so often I would hook a big one and the reel would be toast. This was in the Red Sea/Persian Gulf. The fishing was awesome.



Regards

Knotty
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Re: Crevalle (Trevally) on UL Gear

Post by Knotty » Mon Apr 15, 2019 5:54 pm

Anyone have some suggestions for a basic kit to bring with me to Tampa (Apollo Beach) later this month? I’m renting a waterfront home and plan to fish the lagoon from the dock and maybe kayak, as well as some beaches in Tampa Bay.

I’ll probably bring a 1000 size reel w. 8-10# braid, a 2500 w. 15-20# braid, and possibly a second 2500 w. 4# flouro to use with an ajing rod if I decide to ship the rod. Sound reasonable?

What kind of tackle and lures would you all recommend? I don’t plan to bait fish.

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Re: Crevalle (Trevally) on UL Gear

Post by Popfly » Thu Apr 18, 2019 6:57 pm

Knotty,

I can't speak to the fishing at Apollo beach specifically, but I have fished extensively around Tampa & St. Pete.

One word of advice if you fish soft plastics on Jig heads bring lots, the puffer fish will destroy them. I tend to fish Mirrodine mini's & Mirro Minnows along with Small vibe baits. Small rattle traps work well too along with any lure that you can walk the dog with. (Small rebel jumping minnow, baby sized Zara spook.) The bay has lots to offer, Speckled trout, Redfish, Ladyfish, Spanish Mackerels, Cobia etc...) 2500 is the size we usually fish with 10 lb braid & tie in a couple feet of 20lb flourocarbon to limit bite offs. Ladyfish will tear up your leader, but are a hoot on ultralight.

Tight lines...

Knotty
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Re: Crevalle (Trevally) on UL Gear

Post by Knotty » Fri Apr 19, 2019 6:58 pm

Popfly wrote:
Thu Apr 18, 2019 6:57 pm
Knotty,

I can't speak to the fishing at Apollo beach specifically, but I have fished extensively around Tampa & St. Pete.

One word of advice if you fish soft plastics on Jig heads bring lots, the puffer fish will destroy them. I tend to fish Mirrodine mini's & Mirro Minnows along with Small vibe baits. Small rattle traps work well too along with any lure that you can walk the dog with. (Small rebel jumping minnow, baby sized Zara spook.) The bay has lots to offer, Speckled trout, Redfish, Ladyfish, Spanish Mackerels, Cobia etc...) 2500 is the size we usually fish with 10 lb braid & tie in a couple feet of 20lb flourocarbon to limit bite offs. Ladyfish will tear up your leader, but are a hoot on ultralight.

Tight lines...
Thanks for the tips, Popfly. I’ve had the same experience with puffers and soft plastics here in NJ. Not familiar with the Mirro lures but will look into them. Hopefully Tampa has some good tackle shops.

What kind of rod do you usually use, UL, ML, M, MH?

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Re: Crevalle (Trevally) on UL Gear

Post by Popfly » Mon Apr 22, 2019 4:07 pm

Knotty,

It all depends on conditions, when the water is super clear & fish are skittish I fish UL if the wind permits...

(Daiwa Gekkabijin MX M72L-S.K) 5 piece with 2000S Twinpower & 4lb YGK braid FG knotted to 6' of 8lb leader unless the Ladyfish are swarming & then I blood knot in 6 inches of 20lb Flouro as well for a bite tippet as they will wear though 8lb in about 30 seconds. If Spanish Mackerel are around that also applies. I have been spooled by over slot Reds & more than once by a good sized Jack Crevalle but that is half of the fun....

The Mirrodine Mini (MR 21) is my favorite search bait as it sinks very slowly & has fine wire hooks that you can set with an UL Rod using braid pretty easily. You can throw the tiny Ebay Rattletrap copies or Pins Minnows too, but will spend lots of time removing Lizard Fish & Pin Fish from your lures neither of which put up a real fight. If you get a chance to fish at night where there are lights hitting the water the Pins Minnow can come into its own for "Lookdown" or "Moonfish" they are a sort of Saltwater panfish that has a high rpm tail & big flat sides it will also take Speckled trout & any other minnow eaters that are around.

Have fun, I love the inshore UL fishing on the Gulf coast as you never know what will hit next...a 24" Ladyfish is not an infrequent catch & will burn your drag, bend your rod & jump like a Tarpon, just smaller...

Tight lines, Popfly

Knotty
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Re: Crevalle (Trevally) on UL Gear

Post by Knotty » Sat Apr 27, 2019 4:11 pm

Tough going so far here in Florida. One each: snook, speckled trout, ladyfish and (oddly enough) a mullet. Also lost one speck because I forgot that I had left on a 4# leader and treated it like the 12# that was on the other reels. Correction: also caught 3 gafftopsail catfish. Great fight but dealing with the slime and their particularly poisonous barbs makes them a fish I don’t want to catch.

Funny thing about the snook. Was tossing good sized lures with a ML rod from the boat dock. Started downsizing and finally caught it on an UL rod with a 1/16 oz jig head and a 2" grub tail. UL rules!

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The preserve where I do most of my fishing.

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The mullet.

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