Dealing With The Cabbage
Dealing with the summertime cabbage (loose sargassum grass) is enough to make me wonder if trolling for dolphin is even worth it. Some days it seems like all I’m doing is ripping baits in to get the grass off the lure only to have more grass catch on it as it’s being deployed. This procedure has a time limit and not a long one before I throw my hands in the air and say that’s it! After a lot of experimenting with lures and natural baits I’ve found a winner. Not only do these little lures not catch grass mainly because of the rigging I employ but every fish we target eats them. A small slant head artificial lure. There are tons of them out there but it seems to me the best ones are the lighter the better - and they need to be keel weighted. There are a million ways to rig these lures. This is just what I’ve come up with to deal with the loose grass in the lower Keys, but there’s more to it than just the rigging. Placement of the lure in your spread and the speed you troll them at plays a big role as well. I find keeping them short is best probably something to do with the angle between the rod tip and the lure. I also like to troll these lures fairly quickly, just slow enough they don’t come out of the water and tumble. If it does happen to catch a bit of grass it’s usually on the head of the lure. Simply leave the rod in the holder and reel fast while watching the lure. It will tumble and normally the grass should pop off. No matter how great at fish catching your lure or bait is, if it’s loaded with grass it’s usually not very productive. [gallery columns="4" link="file" ids="4077,4078,4079,4080,4081,4071,4072,4073,4074,4075,4076"]
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