How to Deep Drop for Barrel Fish - A Rare Monster From the Deep

written by Evan Anderson

If you’ve ever been out on the open ocean, there’s a good chance that at some point you’ve gazed over the side into the deep blue, straining your eyes to see just how far below the surface you can see, wondering what could possibly await hundreds or even thousands of feet down below the sparkling rays of sunlight. Captains Tom Rowland and Rich Tudor sure have, and on this episode of Saltwater Experience they decided to see for themselves what they could haul out of that great, mysterious realm by using a technique called Deep Dropping.

“That’s the cool thing about this is that you really do not know what’s down there,” says Tudor. The target species of our hosts today is the elusive barrel fish; a dense, dinosaur of a fish that lives over 500 feet below the surface in the canyons and valleys below. We’ll take a look at how to do a deep drop, what equipment you’ll need, and learn a little about this fish and what makes it such a great game.

THE SETUP

It’s a beautifully calm day as Tudor and Rowland pull up to the area they want to pattern for barrel fish. “We lucked into a day where it was very very calm,” says Rowland, “We’ve got the 26 Yellowfin...we went out there with one rod, a couple of weights, and a box full of squid.” They set their rod up with a rig similar to a Carolina Rig that bass fishermen might use on a freshwater lake. “The rig we’re using is really simple,” says Tudor, “we’ve got 65 lb Daiwa J-braid on the reel itself...J-braid 65 8 carrier line which is really thin which cuts the scope down. If you use a thicker, heavier line, you actually have to use more weight and it scopes it out more. So we’re only using about 5 lbs of weight, maybe 6 if the current’s running harder. And then for the rig itself we’re using this chicken rig, it’s about 100 lb leader with swivels and 5 different hooks coming off the main line.” (For a visual reference, scroll to 4:04 of the episode). To top it off, the hooks are baited with squid, a deep-dwelling food source for barrel fish and other reclusive beasts.

Tudor likes this setup because the multiple hooks allows for more opportunity when it comes to missed strikes. Since their bait will be, at times, close to 900 feet below the surface, it takes much more time to reel it back up. With 5 baits, they can miss a bite and just leave it down there, rather than spend tons of time reeling when they could be fishing.

PERFECTING THE DRIFT

Tudor’s 26 Yellowfin Offshore is outfitted with a Lowrance Sonar system and bottom machine that acts as a fish finder as well as a GPS. He recently plugged a Simrad C-MAP Reveal chip into his system which gives his bottom machine an incredibly detailed picture of the ocean floor, allowing them to see the peaks, canyons, draws, and valleys where the fish are most likely to hide. “These are big drops, 100-200 foot drops, and the fish are going to be sitting strategically along those,” explains Tudor.

Now that they can see what’s below them with the Lowrance bottom machine, Tudor and Rowland drive the boat around using the navigation system to mark spots where they see fish. This is a nice change, especially on a day like today where the wind is minimal and the sun is anything but. “The calm, hot days,” says Tudor, “those are the days it’s kind of miserable out there. Deep dropping is fun because I’m just running around marking spots.”

The Florida Keys sun is hot, really hot and strong. It is important to take precautions in order to actually make it a full day in this environment without getting blistered or worse; sun poisoning. Both Tudor and Rowland are covered from head to toe most days in the sun. Huk clothing which is designed for sun protection and comfort in this environment paired with Buff Headwear, arm sleeves and even gloves keep the sun off their skin allowing them to fish in this extreme environment day after day with no days off. “Using Buff Headwear can add 10 years to anyone’s guide career” says Rowland who was the first fisherman to embrace the Buff and has been working with the company to improve their products for almost 20 years.

Once they’ve marked a good spot on the Lowrance, Rowland maneuvers the boat up-current of it as Tudor drops his bait down to the appropriate depth. Then they attempt to simply drift into that spot, but they were faced with some obstacles that made it much more difficult than expected. “It took a little bouncing around,” says Rowland, “We made some drops and some drifts without any bites. Then, once we got into the right area, we would stop and watch as the boat would drift and watch as the GPS was drawing that track.”

One thing that made it easier to navigate, especially as they drew more tracks around an area, was having the screen set to “North Up”. Previously they had the system orientation set to “Heading Up” which meant that the screen was oriented around the direction of travel, causing the image to swivel with every turn they made and creating a very disorienting experience for Rowland as the boat driver. With “North Up” selected, the screen will no longer swivel around with the boat, allowing the boat driver to make more accurate drifts in this situation.

“A big game-changer for that day was the trolling motor.”

— Rich Tudor, co-Host of Saltwater Experience

After a few more tries, they started making accurate drifts. But they still couldn’t keep the bait in the right spot long enough to get a bite. Until Tudor and Rowland had an idea. “A big game-changer for that day was the trolling motor,” says Tudor, “We really weren’t getting bites on the drift. But [Tom] got us set up perfectly right in front of the spot where we were marking the fish and we decided, let’s try and put the trolling motor down. Hit the anchor mode right over the spot [Tom was] marking.” That’s when things began to get exciting. The anchor mode on Tudor’s Motorguide trolling motor keeps the boat in the exact spot they want it, allowing the bait to sit in the right spot long enough for the fish to notice it. As soon as they tried this technique, the scream of the reel signaled their success.

There was no worry about burning up all their battery power because this boat is not only rigged with the new Power-Pole Charging system that charges all the batteries while on the long runs they take in the FLorida Keys, but Tudor and Rowland also made a big change in battery technology this year. “Switching to Lithium Pros batteries was a complete game changer. Not only are they much lighter weight than our previous lead acid or AGM batteries, they last much longer, charge quicker and operate at the maximum performance right up until they run out of juice. At least that is what they tell us, we have never run out of juice.” says Rowland. “That is a big deal around here because we used to have to be careful about how much we used the motor or we would run out of juice at the crucial time. Anchoring like this uses a lot of battery power, but now we could do this all day without any fear of running out of power.”

“Switching to the Lithium batteries was a complete game changer...They last much longer, charge quicker and operate at the maximum performance right up until they run out of juice.”

— Tom Rowland, Co-Host of Saltwater Experience

Another necessity for deep drops is an electric reel. “The areas that seem to be most productive for deep dropping are between 500 and 900 feet of water,” says Tudor. With an electric reel you can monitor exactly how deep your bait is with the digital interface so you can keep it in the exact window of depth that you want it. What’s more, barrel fish are known to be incredible fighters. “It’s a dense fish,” Rowland remarks as they haul one in, “If you had a permit that size, this thing weighs 20 pounds more.” Fighting even an average-sized barrel fish at those depths, it could take a long time to reel it all the way to the surface. More importantly, it takes a long time to drop and reset so you only get a few drifts per day if you are hand cranking. The electric reel makes it possible to drop many more times through the day.. An electric reel, like the Daiwa Seaborg that Tudor uses here, will automatically reel in the fish, allowing you to save your strength and stay out on the water. Tudor sets his up so that he can reel in the last 20 feet or so. Can’t let the machines have all the fun.

Tudor and Rowland bring in a remarkable catch of barrel fish using these techniques and smile as they head back to the Hawk’s Cay Resort. Both comment that the fish itself is extremely unique and worth the time they put in to catch it. “If you want good fish to eat it’s going to be really hard to beat these fish from the deep drop,” says Tudor. Holding up one of the barrel fish, Rowland remarks, “This thing is like a sea monster. It’s way down there!” Deep dropping for fish is a great way to change things up a bit. Later, they would have the fish cooked at the Angler and Ale at Hawks Cay Resort.

Check out the full episode below and see these monsters of the deep for yourself on Saltwater Experience S15:E4. Follow @saltwater_experience, @tom_rowland, @rich_tudor1, and @waypointtv on Instagram if you want more Saltwater Experience content. You can also subscribe to The Tom Rowland Podcast for 5 shows a week including interviews with icons, and how-to episodes.