Everything you need to know about pulley ridge

How Far offshore is Pulley Ridge? Depending on where fishermen depart from, the bottom of Pulley Ridge is around 125 miles from Key West. From Naples Florida, the bottom ledges and the HAPC is around 150 miles, but you can start fishing the north end of the ridge at 110 miles southwest of Naples.

How Deep is the water at Pulley Ridge? The ocean floor is anywhere between 190 to 320 feet deep on and around the ridge. As you move west off the ridge, the seabed drops off dramatically into abyssal depths well over 3000 feet.

What kind of Fish are at Pulley Ridge? Catch huge Groupers such as Gag Grouper, Scamp Grouper, Red Grouper, Hinds and giant Kitty Mitchell Grouper, Snowy Grouper, Yellow-edge Grouper, Black Grouper, huge Warsaw Grouper and others. Also, catch Red Snapper, Yelloweye Snapper, Queen Snapper and Blackfin Snapper. Also, you will find long tail Sea Bass, Hogfish and dozens upon dozens of other types of fish that include pelagic fish such as Wahoo, Tuna, Mahi and more.

Know before you go! Be prepared for literally anything. Have a float plan that entails letting several people know when you are leaving and when you plan to return. Try to be specific with these people back at home about the areas you plan to fish and your return time. Read all you can about the area and what times of year offers the best weather and calmer seas. Gather intel from the closest weather Buoys near Pulley Ridge to aid in forming your float plan. This is a very long ride offshore, far from any land mass or safe havens for boaters and fishermen. Boaters should be armed with Satellite phones, Epirb, SPOT, or other emergency location devices. Our personal preference are water resistant handheld Satellite phones such as the Inmarsat 2 or Iridium. See available options for sat phones and service plans at the Satellite phone store in Sarasota, FL.

Electric Assist Reels – Most fishermen who have dropped baits or jigs in 200 plus ft. of water have likely used an electric or electric assist reel of some sort. For those who have not explored the world of deep drop fishing, you will find these reels to be handy “tools for the job” in certain deep drop situations, but they’re not for every deep drop scenario. They definitely have their place and time during some deep drop fishing trips, and these power assist reels should be a part of your gear and tackle arsenal.

As for deep drop fishing at Pulley Ridge, our team recommends using Daiwa Tanacom 750 or the Tanacom  BULL. Many anglers wire their electric reel plugs or plug in “hot spots” on the boat, directly to a 27-31 size battery to be sure they don’t lose reel power on long trips to deep water. (Note – Tanacom battery cords are finicky and fragile, and they may burn out on long days requiring continuous drops with heavy weights in deep water. Be sure to bring along extra cables for your Tanacom Reels)

In closing; You won’t use electric reels on a daily basis aside from those who deep drop fish only, and nothing else. But when the time is right, any deep drop fisherman will likely need them. Electric reels such as Daiwa Tanacom and Banax Kaigen both design superb electric assist reels that are portable and can also be used manually. We support Daiwa, but users should decide what they would prefer after doing some online research. There’s tons of info on power assist reels out there, we suggest reading all an angler can find about brands and dependability. See plenty of options for deep drop fishing reels at Melton Tackle here.

Slow Pitch Jigging and Conventional Gear – Just to be clear, we’d rather use manual gear! We don’t discount the fishermen who opt for manual gear, including slow pitch jigging gear and other rigs that are simply presented better with a parabolic rod, or “matched weight” jigging rod and reel setups that cover a variety of weighted jigs from 250-600 grams. In fact, many of our guides actually prefer manual reels for deep dropping in depths over 600 ft. It’s hard to beat the jig presentation and feel of a slow pitch jig (and other jigs or heavy Bucktails, etc) lifted off the bottom with finesse. Being “in tune” and “connected” to the jig is what this type of hard-core fishing is all about.. In most cases, a seasoned manual reel user with an effective combo in his hands will out fish others using cut bait or electric reels. It’s extremely productive at producing HUGE fish like Queen Snapper, Blackfin Snapper, Warsaw Grouper, Snowy Grouper, Yellow Edge Grouper, Long tail Sea Bass and the list goes on and on. Jigs presented the right way at the right time and locations are nearly unbeatable. Although we have covered some electric reel info here, we salute those who fish deep water with manual gear!

Where to get Deep Drop Reels, Rods and Jigs– See more information about choosing slow pitch jigs using our preferred jig designer, Johnny Jigs. See Johnny Jigs line of deep drop jigs here. Let the team at Johnny Jigs pair you up with the right rod/reel combo or, let the team at Chaos Fishing tackle set you up with a Rod/Reel combo.

See fishing spots for Pulley Ridge here