New to the offshore thing... HELP!!!

[Thfireman]

Hi, I have fished inland waters for years but only as a country boy with limited tackle and resources. Now we are going to the coast and want to give it a shot. We will only go out if water is calm and weather is good and wife says she has to see land this first trip out... I secretly agree. So advice is needed. We want to bottom fish for black bass or anything else that bites for fun. We will be doing catch and release unless we get some sea monster or something. Anyway I would assume the best way to go about this is a bottom rig the a 4-6 oz weight on leader with two hooks? I was thinking salted squid like the day trip boats use? I need advice on weight of line and leader? We will be going out from the Myrtle Beach, Murrels inlet, Little River area. How far out do we need to go and any wrecks or reefs locations might help also. An added note, we have been on day trips out of little river on the pay for half day trips almost yearly so we are aware of very basic bait and hook stuff but I need to learn more from you all. Thanks, Roger
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[Thfireman]

I must smell bad...LOL. I thought these might be easy questions to answer. Now am getting scared to go out.

[Fishin' DC's]

I'm a little bit south of you, but we catch black sea bass (BSB's) in primarily two ways. Believe it or not, fish for grouper and you will catch BSB's, by either trolling or bottom fishing. We catch them trolling using Mann's Stretch 25's using a medium action rod spooled with 65lb. braided line, and a 2ft length of fluoro attached to the plug. Troll them at 4-5 mph. Many times, BSB's will hit a plug twice their size. We also catch them bottom fishing, again with a grouper setup. I use a Penn 4/0 reel spooled with 80lb camo monofilament with an 8oz egg sinker (fish finder rig), swiveled to a 2ft length of 80lb fluoro tied off to a 7/0 kahle hook. They will hit live bait (pinfish, etc) or dead bait (sardines, threadfins). Oh yeah, Mr. Grouper loves a BSB also (legal sized of course .

Hope this helps. Be sure to let your wife catch the big ones. That'll get her hooked on fishing and increase your time on the water. I managed to get my wife involved in our local fishing club and now there's not many weekends that we don't go out. Good luck and catch 'em up.

[Thfireman]

Thanks, Thats good info. I will definatly take your advice about the Wife. Thanks.