Technique 06
Offshore spinning in the Canary Islands
You see the fish, you cast at the fish, the fish eats on the surface in front of you. No technique here is more immediate, and none is more addictive.
What offshore spinning is
Casting artificial lures (poppers, stickbaits, metals) into visible activity, and working them back with the rod. Every part of it is manual and every take is visual.
It depends entirely on finding fish on the surface, which is why we usually troll to locate and then switch to spinning once we are on them.
When and why
When and why we use it here
Whenever fish show on top. Birds working over a school of small bait are the signal, and the window can be minutes: everything has to be ready before we get there.
Approach is the whole skill: run in badly and the school sounds. We position upwind and let the boat drift in.
Tackle
Tackle and rigging
Long spinning rods for distance, high-capacity reels, braid and a heavy fluorocarbon leader. Lures matched to the size of the bait the fish are actually eating, which is usually smaller than people expect.
Casting distance matters more than anything else. The extra ten metres is often the difference between a cast into the school and a cast behind it.
On board
What it is like on board
Fast, loud and physical. Long periods of searching and then everyone casting at once.
It is the technique most people ask to do again.
We don't wait for the fish. We follow them.
Tell us when you are coming
Send us your dates and the species you are after. We will tell you honestly what the ocean is likely to be doing.