
Smaller sportfishing boats will have a minimum of two outboard engines, and some have more. Engine size and speed are important, because your boat isn’t just going to get you to the fish, it also has to follow the fish, some which can swim up to 40 knots per hour. These come in various types, from center console open motorboats with biminis or T-tops to large sportfishing vessels with air-conditioned cabins, some reaching 60 or 80 feet long. The first thing you need to catch the big game fish is a fast, seaworthy vessel. Pelagic fish like to hang out in these deeper waters because there is an abundance of food sources, bait fish – also known as forage- which will migrate from place to place during the year. In these areas there can be underwater canyons and structures, and different types of fish are found all over. Other fish species like to hang out past the drop – which is characterized by a steep drop in depth from the continental shelf. Some fish species like hanging out on the continental shelf, around deep underwater reefs and seamounts. First, what type of fish do you want to catch? Most of the deep sea game fish species are pelagic fish, which means that they live in the pelagic zone of ocean waters – being neither close to the bottom nor near the shore. How far offshore you need to go depends on several factors. The techniques you use to catch bonefish on flats aren’t going to work trying to catch big game species like striped marlin, mahi mahi, or a bluefin tuna.Īs opposed to inshore or near-shore fishing, deep sea fishing is usually done in waters at least 100 feet deep, and as far out as a hundred miles or more from shore. This means larger fish, but it also requires different techniques and equipment to catch them. Seas, gulfs, and oceans provide a much larger habitat for fish to roam, and hunt each other. Deep sea fishing is exciting, exhilarating, and exhausting, but there is absolutely nothing like it.ĭeep sea fishing is different from inshore fishing. The great wide ocean is home to legendary fish and humans spend a great deal of time trying to catch them. President Herbert Hoover once said, “All men are equal before fish.” That saying is never more true than when deep sea fishing on a sportfishing boat. Deep Sea Fishing: boats, fish species & techniquesįormer U.S.
