Fishing With Chris

The locals call them “Sardinas” but they are Threadfin Herring and no matter what you call them, the Roosterfish love to eat them and when they show up thick on our beaches, the fish aren’t far away. A large diameter very heavy cast net will do the trick, but more often you will have the best luck with “sabiki” rigs and most of the locals use bare hooks in either gold or silver strung on light mono to create a bare hooked sabiki which typically works just as well. The “sardines” as we’ll call them are not as heavy a bait as some of the others we use, but are generally available in large numbers.

When fishing for Roosterfish with sardines, I make sure to use a light wire circle hook in a smaller size and I do not bridle the baits, but go right through the nostrils with the hook. I fish the sardines successfully in every type of situation, but I concentrate more on fishing the beaches and river mouths when they are are available. The sardines work great in shallow water because of their tendency to swim nearer to the surface. They also bring the most exciting Roosterfish bites as they skitter across the surface the Roosterfish will approach from behind with its dorsal fin high above the surface slicing back and forth through the water as it pursues the nervous sardine. For the most impressive displays, hold your rod tip up high to assist in the baits struggle for the surface and once you get the hang of it, you can even lock up and reel the bait towards the boat to aggravate the Rooster into an even more aggressive attack mode and get an even closer look at the action. And don’t be surprised to find that there are actually 4 or 5 roosters after your bait (this is a good time for a bystander to be ready with another pitch bait). Once one does grab your bait, be sure to free spool to give the fish time to run with the bait and get it into its mouth. These beach fish are typically smaller and may require more time to swallow the bait.

The rigging is simple, a #6/0 or 7/0 light wire circle hook on a 55 lb. mono leader about 4 feet long either with an in line weight of 1 to 3 ounces, or without weight. Depending on how hot the action is, I’ll put out 2 to 5 rods with the longest in the center without weight 1 in each corner and one in each rigger. The closest bait will be in one of the riggers and then the other rigger will have the second longest bait with the corners will be set at distances between the 2 riggers.

A slow troll will usually work, but if the action is not red-hot, have somebody working a rod by setting it back and then reeling it to the boat and see if you get some followers, and if you do, you’ll wand to bump up the speed a little to trigger more of a reflex type bite until they are more aggressive. You’ll want to work the beaches from the surf on out to about 30 feet until you locate the fish and then work that depth. Look for rip currents and fish them and of course the river mouths.
The sardines also make a great casting bait. I’ll slow troll along steep rocky islands while tossing a sardine into the wash created by the waves bouncing off of the rock. Use a 1 ounce sinker and just cast it to the base of the steep rock and let it sink through the foam and then let it hang there and wait for the bite.

Deep trolling sardines works well too and will produce larger Roosterfish. You will need a heavier sliding sinker on the main line and work the bait closer to the boat using the same techniques described in How To Catch Roosterfish – Part 1 Lookdowns