Part of the ritual of offshore fishing is "making bait". It seems like just about any species your going to go after is going to require you to " make bait". If your going after AJ's or Grouper then just about any live bait will do, but the large variety of hardtail (10-12 inches) seem to do the best. These can normally be picked up at the rig you intend to fish, but because of their large size you will want to use a large sabiki rig. A multi colored fly with a hook size of 6-8 with a main line of 13 lb-17 lb is  a pretty safe bet. Once you have a string of them on your line you don't have to very careful with them as they are just bout indestructible. All that needs to be done is take them off the hook and toss them into a circulating live well. That’s it now….

 

 You are ready to fish.

 

If you’re going after Tuna then there are a variety of baits to go after Tuna generally like small baits although early in spring and late fall they will often times crush larger baits. If your after the smaller baits you have a choice of hardtail, threadfin, or tinker mackerel. All three of these baits you will do best with the smallest size Sabiki's that you can find. Hook size from a 3-6, main line 10-12 lb, and drop line of about 6 lb.  You will also want to exhibit caution unhooking these little baits as they are not near as hardy so I would definitely recommend the use of a de hooker in order to keep from handling these little baits. Try to get a many of these little baits as your bait well can keep alive so that if the Tuna are a little finiky you can live chum with them. If your targeted species is Marlin then you will again want the Larger variety of hard tail or a small Skip jack or small Blackfin. With either the  Skip jack or Backfin you will need to either bridle them up immediately and put them down or put them in Tuna tubes, they will not live in a conventional live well. 

 

Good fishing!

 

Capt Jerry