Thread: Fishing Over Structure

In the past two years, I have moved from inshore fishing, to fishing while hooked onto oil rigs off of Ft. Morgan. I am now interested in fishing over various artificial reefs out of the Perdido Pass. I have a Humminbird Helix 5 Sonar GPS unit on my boat, and have located multiple reefs. I have gotten decent with utilizing the sonar features as well. My issue is, whether to anchor, or drift over the reef. I am in need of some good advice. Is anchoring common? I am just concerned with the possibility of losing anchors by getting them hung in the structure. The issue with drifting is the fact that I have a mid 90's model 150 johnson on my boat and not sure about keeping it running while fishing, or cranking and turning off multiple times. Anywho, some good advice before things kick off this summer would be great! Thanks.

I used to fish offshore quite a bit. We rarely anchored unless fishing the larger reefs, like hard bottom or a ship.

Most of the time, we found the reef and then placed a marker buoy just up current. They we backed into the current and idled in place with the motor running. Yes, backed down. "Pushing" the bow into the current to hold place does not work. You have to back into it.
The trick is to find the right rpms and motor angle to hold the stern in place over the reef. Some days you could barely bump it in & out of gear and stay put. Other days, you were constantly working the throttle and steering wheel. It takes practice. I did it with a 1987 OMC 115 2-stroke on a 20 CC. So you can do it with your motor.

Anchoring over small reefs is tough. You will need two markers. First, place your first marker just up current of the reef and kill your all progress. Then let the current & wind push you down current. When about 100-200' feet down current from the reef, toss another marker. Run straight back up current past your first marker, well past the reef. Line the two markers up and toss you anchor. When the anchor hits bottom, let out line until you drift almost back to the first marker. Tie off and hope you got it right. If you did, your stern will be over the reef and the first marker will be off your bow. You can turn the engine to act as a rudder and move left and right a little. Don't expect to get it right the first time, you may have to reset the anchor multiple times. Practice and you will eventually get the hang of it. But even with practice, there are days when the wind, waves and current are all over the place and you simply cant line it up.

Remember to drop anchor well up current of the reef. But even then, sooner or later you will drag and hang an anchor in a reef. Using an anchor retrieval ball will sometimes help get an angle on it & pull it free, but not always. Anchors are cheap, its losing chain and 150'+ of expensive rope that sucks.

Make sure to have lots of chain, the chain holds the anchor to the bottom so it can get a grip.
On my 20'CC, I had an anchor rated for a 34-40' boat, 8' of thick chain and 15' of smaller chain. My chain easily weighed 3x more than my anchor. On a calm day I could anchor in 100' of water with 150' of line.
You need a minimum of 300' of anchor line if you are going offshore. I carried 400' but we never fished in over 125' of water.

Hope this helps.

Another tip, mark you anchor line at 100', 150', 200', etc.. it will help you figure out how much to put out before tying off. LIke I noted, have the right anchor & chain and you can hold with 150' of rode.

You also want the line on your markers to be close to the depth you are fishing. Mine all had a base of 100' and I kept a bag of extra 20' lengths with clips when fishing in over 100'.
Just unclip the weight, clip on more line & put the weight back on.

Thank you for the in-depth response. Exactly what I was looking for. Looks like either way, I should invest in a couple markers. J&M has some of the kind I think I could use. I am excited for the challenge of getting out and trying it out. I will definitely refer back to your advice and I will be sure to let you know how it all works out! Thanks again

Markers: I bought marker weights from JM but used bleach bottles for our markers

If you anchor, be able to tie off a little upcurrent of the reef. You can chum them to you that way if the drift takes you a little to the side. If you do luck up and hit it straight at the reef you can always let out a little more line, but if you are anchored short you can't pull in.

The drift will change during the day, what with winds and current. Like Carl said, the small reefs are best fished with one man operating the boat. I've got a friend who just got one of those electric motors with a GPS unit that keeps it on a spot. Can't wait to try it out in a few weeks.

The small reefs will hold some big fish, but you've got to put it right on them. Chumming is your friend.

One other thing, it's a lot easier to anchor and get close to a shallow reef, like the new nearshore ones, than to a deep reef. There can be nice fish on the nearshore reefs until it gets too warm.

Originally Posted by CarlF

Markers: I bought marker weights from JM but used bleach bottles for our markers

It takes little current to drag a small store-bought marker under water or drag an underweighted one along the bottom - don't go smaller than a gallon bottle and don't scrimp on weight.

I've done both - makes for a frustrating trip.

Originally Posted by prkr99

The issue with drifting is the fact that I have a mid 90's model 150 johnson on my boat and not sure about keeping it running while fishing, or cranking and turning off multiple times.

SEAFOAM (and DEEP CREEP) is your friend. Search and learn how to use it. Basically you get a small tank with a heavy dose to run a gallon or two regularly and then every 50 hours spray DEEP CREEP into the intakes of a warm idling engine until it chokes it down a few times (kills the engine). Let it sit about a half hour with the stuff in the cylinders, then crank it on the small tank and run it a bit.

Works wonders.

In the future, you may want to invest in a trolling motor with spot lock technology. Basically your trolling motor anchors you in place. The Salty kayak YouTube channel has lots of videos that might interest you. He fishes natural and artificial reefs, has older videos where he anchors and newer with spot lock, and has changed boats so there is a lot to see. May find something you like or don't without having to make a big investment first. Oh and for anyone that wants to get more of an inside looks into what it would be like to fish offshore on a boat, salty kayak now has a 360 camera so you can spin it around, see the layout, watch the rods to see the bite, etc. He does that in conjunction (two separate videos of the same trip) with his first person hat cam videos he's been using for a long time.

Thanks for all the advice!