Got Bait?
In general, the type of bait to use when trolling offshore depends on the fish that you wish to catch. Some fish are easily attracted by live fish while others can be lured with artificial imitations. The following is a list of artificial lures and bait that can be used for specific species when trolling offshore.
Offshore Species & Lures Used
- Yellowfin tuna and Bigeye tuna: cedar plugs, feather lures, and offshore trolling lures
- Bluefin tuna: cedar plugs and feather lures
- Wahoo: spoons, large plugs, feather lures, and offshore trolling lures
- Speckled trout: plastic tail jigs, bucktails, and mirror-sided plugs
- White trout: metal jigs, lead jigs with plastic tails, buck-tails
- Striped bass: plastic eels, spoons, swimming plugs, surface plugs, and bucktails
- Tarpon: weighted streamer flies and plugs
- Blue marlin, white marlin, and dolphin: offshore trolling lures
- Sailfish: small offshore trolling lures
- Amberjack: diamond jigs, surface plugs, spoons, plastic squids, and white bucktails
- Red drum: jigs, spoons, and large plugs
- Black drum: lead head jigs and bucktail
- Spanish mackerel: metal lures, spoons, feather lures, and nylon lures
- Bluefish: tube eels, spoons, metal squids, and surface plugs
- Cobia: large spoons, plastic eels, white bucktails, and swimming plugs
- Little tunny: cedar plugs, spoons, nylon lures, and small feather lures
As you can see, different baits are used for different fish species. Of course, there is no guarantee that these species stick to these baits. In fact, many anglers bring different types of bait and lures, use certain bait, then, and catch an unlikely fish species. Some fish species such as flounders and sharks are not attracted to artificial lures but can still be caught with these artificial baits. The best thing to do is to try different baits and see which ones are more effective.
