1 December 2022
 Categories: Recreation & Sports, Blog

Marlin fishing can be the experience of a lifetime. When it comes to deep-sea Marlin fishing, focusing on the small details can make the difference between success and failure.

Here are some trolling and drifting tips you can use on your deep-sea Marlin fishing trip.

Current, Tide, and Depth

Marlin can travel thousands of miles to find schooling baitfish. When you're on your deep sea Marlin fishing trip, setting your drifts based on the current, tide, and depth can increase your odds of hooking a trophy fish.

• Current: Marlin are often found in waters near converging ocean currents. These locations act like rivers in the ocean, circulating bait, nutrients, and oxygenated water throughout the oceans. When you set your drifts on a Marlin fishing trip, it's important to position your boat so that you can drift parallel to the nearest current. To find these locations, look on a GPS oceanographic map. Before your trip starts, plug in coordinates that allow you to drift on either side of the current. Depending on your fishing location, the distances between the edges of the current can be substantial, so factor that into your trip before you go.
• Tide: although tide plays less of a role on deep sea fishing trips, natural tidal movements can signal when fish are most likely to feed. In most cases, timing your trip to coincide with a rising or falling tide is best. If possible, avoid times when the tide becomes slack.
• Depth: deep ocean waters are separated by layers. These layers, known as thermoclines, represent where water temperatures change. When deep sea Marlin fishing, finding locations with significant depth changes (shelves, reefs, troughs, etc.) can be an indicator of where you can find the fish. Setting your drifts near these locations can make it easier to test a variety of thermoclines to discover where the fish are feeding.

Trolling

The most reliable way to cover water to find trophy game fish is trolling. When trolling on a Marlin fishing trip, you might get a strike at hundreds of feet of depth or directly on the surface.

• Find the Birds: ocean birds are one of the best ways to figure out where to troll on deep-sea Marlin fishing trips. Because ocean birds only tend to converge in the open ocean where they find food, trolling near birds gives you a better idea of where to find baitfish. If you find birds actively diving on a school of baitfish, you can try trolling surface lures around the feeding frenzy.

For more information on Marlin deep-sea fishing, contact a company near you.