By Capt. Scott Avanzino

If Mel Fischer were as much as a fishing addict as he is the world's greatest deep-sea treasure hunter, he would probably spend less time searching for gold artifacts and Spanish galleons and more time looking for snapper, amberjack and grouper near uncharted wrecks. Despite the obvious differences between Mr. Fischer and myself. We still share a common problem.... If we only knew where to look for our treasure.

There's just no telling what's really down there below the murk and what lies on the ocean floor just within our grasp. And in that respect I would be willing to bet that there is probably more fishable structure beneath the surface then there are rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. I just wish I had their unknown number!

It's for good reason that "the known numbers" have been guarded with the utmost secrecy for generations. They really hold fish! When I say numbers...I'm not just talking shipwrecks either. Today in Louisiana, numbers also mean artificial reefs, toppled platforms, lost cargo, forgotten wellheads, templates, pipeline coverings, net snags, hard spots and coral heads. As time wears on more and more are being produced each day with or without regulatory permission and in part by Nature itself.

Arguably in time, any one of these structures has the potential to conceal a hidden treasure in the form of very large cobia, snapper, jacks, grouper, triggers, kings and sharks. And many of these less known structures have the capacity to support and hold healthy populations of ground fish for years, and most with the potential to break existing records for the aforementioned species. Given the lessoned fishing pressure, the action can be quite impressive most times. I have had customers marvel at the fact that every time they drop down something hits their bait almost instantly.

The greatest trend to hit the fishing world is the public and regulatory attitude toward the construction of artificial reefs. The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Artificial Reef Program "Rigs to Reefs" has introduced some great spots that produce many quality fish. A list of these reef sites can be obtained from the LDWF website, maps and fisheries booklets. Though the best source by far is the commercial fishing industry. There are more unknown net snags and home made reefs consisting of anything from junk cars, old appliances, warehouse bookshelves and PVC piping and milk jugs. And let's not forget the boats that go down every year.

Want to find them on your own? A surprising amount of wrecks and reefs can be found within 10 miles of SW Pass. Try making a few traverses about 2-5 miles southeast and south of SW Pass. I always turn my bottom machine to split screen with one side of the unit looking from top to bottom and the other side looking from 30 feet above bottom to the actual bottom when in these high traffic areas. All Raytheon units have this feature - STD/BTM mode. There have been numerous commercial vessel wrecks in the last twenty years as well as during war times. Of the twenty plus cargo ships that were sunk by German U-boats off the coast, I am not sure if any remain today after wasting away or becoming completely silted over. But there are a few remnants of lost cargo in the shipping lanes worth trying. Always look at your bottom machine when running into and out of the passes.

The best way to find them is to use low frequency (50 Hz), which widens your search cone. Look for mushroom shaped returns or thick or solid returns with variable colors and shading. The speed at which you pass over a bottom structure will also effect the shape. Most of the time you will see the "boomerang" returns or a few dots representing the suspended critters that make the structure their permanent home. It never hurts to carefully watch your screen while running. Any departure from the normal bottom profile is worth investigating. Some of the most overlooked spots are hard spots, or places where calcareous material has been deposited after corals and bryozoans have anchored themselves to some minor hard substrate along the bottom. These show up as thicker returns in red. These usually hold one or two nice fish.

Most of them are found well to the west and east of the Mississippi River. Some of the most productive areas are well to the south of the Chandeleur Islands in 130-200 feet of water. Though I have never fished any of them, these areas are said to hold one or two big snapper and sometimes spiny lobsters. The later of which frequently turn up on trawl nets when these areas are dragged for shrimp.

Even If you are fortunate enough to get an accurate position from a reliable source, you'll still have to assume that a little treasure hunting will be involved. Modern navigation equipment and positions from Loran TD don't always match up. The best thing to do in these instances is to start a search grid or search in a circular pattern from the given position outward. Use low frequency to allow for the widest search cone.

Once a spot is positively identified from the obvious departure from bottom profile. Mark it! Then set up on top of it.

The two most successful ways to fish bottom structures once they are positively located are to hold the boat over the top of the structure with the engines in gear or to try making a series of slow controlled drifts across the structure in order to exploit it's every edge. We usually set up directly on top of a particular structure and allow he boat to drift with the current. This is done in order to check the speed and direction of the surface current on location. As long as the bottom current is insignificant the slow drift method works fine. Once we have established the set and drift we start our controlled drift up current from the structure with four to six anglers in the cockpit. The captain's responsibility is keeping the stern pointed directly into the current. Bumping one or both engines in reverse will allow us to control the speed of our drift. Staggering the drops and fishing with lighter or heavier weights will prevent the majority tangles by keeping everyone at different distances, angles and depths It is up to the anglers to keep a hooked fish from tangling with the other lines.

Bait, gear and presentation are no different when compared to rig fishing. Even though most fisherman already have their preferences; these are a few of the things that work for us.

In terms of bait, it's always nice to have live bait but be sure to bring a good supply of cut bait or whole dead baits such as pogies if not available. I have caught AJ, snapper and grouper on just about every type of bait but experience has shown some baits work better for certain species.

Snapper love small live baits: these include live croakers, hardtails, mullet or pinfish (all about 3-6" long). If I can't get any small live bait, my next favorite snapper bait is a whole pogies 4-6" or cut bonita strips about six inches or longer. I cut them into elongate strips and split them down the middle with the final product bearing a striking resemblance to a large bloody "Uncle Josh" Pork Rind. I think it helps if every attempt to hide the hook inside the whole pogey is made. I always go through the mouth first and lodge the hook in the body cavity through the gills. With the strip bait, I usually place the hook at the large end of the strip with the barb up and skin side down.

If you are targeting big amberjacks nothing beats a live hardtail. If you are targeting grouper try fishing a live hardtail about 6 to8 inches long for smaller groupers or a whole dead mackerel or bonita for warsaw's. Snapper and amberjack are usually suspended a few ten's of feet above the structure with the grouper all the way on the bottom.

One other thing I have learned.... big bait catches big fish.

For terminal rigs, we usually use a modified Carolina rig with an 8 to 16 ounce sliding lead depending on the depth of the water and current. Obviously the lighter the weight the better, but some days you need a little more weight to get down to the fish. We snell a 13/0-7/0 circle hook or live bait hook to 150 pound soft mono leader attached to 150# rated barrel swivel. I tend to shy away from using more than two sets of hooks, as one fish is usually all most people can handle.

Standard bottom fishing gear on our boat is heavy level wind reels with stand-up tuna rods. Although any short stand up rod with heavy action paired with a reel with a good drag and high gear ratio capable of holding at least 300 yards of 80 pound braided line will work. Braided line has several obvious advantages. Braided lines have little or no stretch allowing the angler to feel every bite. The small diameter of these lines creates less resistance in the water, which minimizes any angle created by currents. A reel with a high gear ratio will allow you to get the fish up and out quickly for every turn of the handle. Additionally braided line will pack more tightly on the spool leaving a larger diameter on the spool, which in turn gives a quicker retrieve. Any reel will work as long as it is match with a lightweight short heavy action pole.

I can recall a trip a few years back where a customer asked if he could bring his own rod and reel. I said, "Fine as long as you have 80 pound line and a reel that is capable of 35 pounds of drag". The man shows up with a 7 foot long trolling rod and 80 pound class Penn reel. I remember the day starting of slow picking up a few snappers and amberjacks at each stop. Finally toward the end of the day he asked if he could break out his rig.

I promptly rigged up his rod (without checking his drag), attached a live hard tail to the hook and down he went. Nothing happened for about 5 minutes, and in that time I noticed his rod tip gradually start to drop from the vertical position as his forearms were starting to strain from holding this big heavy rod. By the time it got to the horizontal position a few more minutes went by without even a nibble and there was talk of moving to the next spot. Then...WHAM, out of nowhere it happened. A big fish was on and taking line quick. Only problem was that my angler was out of commission. The big strike coupled with the shear leverage from the long rod jerking downward from too much drag had caused him to loose his balance and out went his feet behind him and down he went to his knees with a crash. Bigger problem.... his false teeth had also been jarred loose and were now sitting on the deck in front of him. He got back to his feet instantly and started to fight the fish as I instinctively put the boat in gear and down he went again. Too much drag and too long a rod. Somehow he got back to his feet and landed the fish, a 30-pound grouper. He hadn't said very much all day and expecting a real harsh rebuttal, I politely asked him if I could do anything for him. He said... "Son, that's was the best thing you done me all day. I had some teeth removed a few weeks ago and they put those fake teeth in on Monday and right now is the best I have felt in a two weeks".

Several lessons to be learned. Always carry a short stick, ensure proper drag and be ready for the strike at all times!

You really never know what to expect but you can increase your success at targeting specific fish by water depth Water depth has a tremendous impact on the reef community. Obviously you are not going to catch many amberjack in 50 feet of water, nor are you going to catch mangroves in 300 feet. Most of the structures we fish lie in 200-300 feet of water. Snappers and gag groupers will hold on structure from 40-300 feet. Amberjacks usually start showing up at structures 200 feet or more. And warsaws in structures deeper than 300 feet. At most structures, we have found big jacks and snapper suspended above the structure. We'll see the returns on the sounder and drop to these depths. It usually only takes a few seconds to prove what is there.

Snapper almost always peck at the bait a few times before finding the hook. They eat from the back of the bait and work their way up. Sometimes adding a stinger hook in the back of the bait will increase hook-ups. Big snapper will take drag during the first half of the fight often leading the angler and crew into anticipating an amberjack. There is usually no mistaking the amberjacks; they pull from start to finish. It is not until the "burp of death" that they succumb. That comes at the end of the fight usually about 10 feet from the surface when they expel all the gases that have built up on the ride up (Amberjacks do not have swim bladders). Grouper on the other hand like to stay right on the bottom, making them tough to catch. Grouper always make one powerful break for the structure after they find the hook, and if you can pull them out they basically give up. If you are strong enough you can beat them before "they get home" the will just float straight up without much resistance. With grouper, you have to be ready for the strike.

The coolest thing about fishing natural and artificial structure is that you never know exactly what you have until it breaks the murk. In these respects, it's not really fishing...it's a treasure hunt.

Visit http://www.paradise-outfitters.com and Capt. Scott Avanzino for more Louisiana fishing information.