Bonitas or little tunnys
Question
I need help catching Bonita's. I live in Ft. Myers and love to use Bonitas for shark fishing. I have found they work the best! I have a 24 foot boat and have been fishing and riging for about 10 years. I can get out to the Gulf. What do i need to do to target the Bonita and get the most hook ups with the least time and effort? Thanks for your advice.
Answer
Hello Allen:
Bonitas are usually caught while fishing for something else because nobody eats them so there is little interest in them. Small ones are useful in live-baiting for large fish,but your need for them means finding a school and not picking up the occasional stray. Probably the best way to go is to find birds diving and picking up bits of small fish bonitas feed upon. Find a school this way and troll or cast at the edge of it with small brightly colored jigs whose nylon strings are just a bit longer than the bend of the hook. Fish these jigs rapidly; there is no way you can reel in faster than a bonita can swim. And jig it back and forth as you retrieve. Another thing you can do if you find a school is chum with chopped or ground-up bait in order to keep the school near you. Boris Arnov
rod/reel matching
deep sea fishing in Florida