Heading down in June, what are your tackle/gear/setup suggestions...??

[AZRob]

I just got the same reel and paired it up with a 10' surf rod. Worked beautifully with some 25 lb braid. I was able to cast past the reef at Miramar with Kastmasters and we even used it trolling.

We also fished the red bait balls that were all over the place around Memorial Day and had a blast catching sierra, trigger and rock bass. The bait balls would stick around under the boat as we drifted so we didn't have to move to stay on the fish. Krocodile spoons worked the best for the sierra. Coolest thing I saw was about 30-40 needlefish trailing us. We could see them pretty clear in the swells as they were following the boat. Looked like a bunch of snakes in the water.

I cant wait to try it out, cant you see the braid line in the water?

 

[estevan]

Yeah, more so than mono at least. I use the grey line to reduce visibility a little, but I've never had a problem before. A lot of times I use a steel leader to keep the trigger and sierra from cutting through the line and it doesn't seem to make a huge difference.

 

[jmcdtucson]

Those fish aren't like over-pressured spooky lake fish. I can't imagine line would matter. I bet they'd hit a shiny piece of a coke can on a piece of string.

 

[Jungle Jim]

A favorite with the locals is a seven inch section of a chrome auto antenna with an old rusty hook strung through and pulled by hand with the line wrapped around a.....Coke can!

They catch foot long Sierras along Cholla Mtn. as fast as they can pull em in during the late afternoon bite. The speed of the boat determines the depth of the lure.

Personally, my favorite bait maker for bigger live baits is a six inch piece of a Mickiee Dee's soda straw, the ones that are white with a red stripe, rigged with a small treble hook using a super light weight spinning outfit and trolled along the edges of bait balls. You can get a bait tank load of small Sierras, Leatherjackets and Macks with that setup.

JJ