Salt Water Sportsman Adventures

Deep Drop Deep Water: Oil Rig Snapper, Grouper, Amberjack, and More Tuna On Top

What’s more fun than catching giant tuna on poppers? Catching huge snapper, grouper, and giant amberjack on slow pitch gear while you’re waiting for the topwater bite to heat up.

We sent three YouTube creators, Viktor Hluben, Brook Crist, and Ryan Morie out fishing with SWS Video Producer lead Phil Hollandsworth on Captain Kurt Tillman’s boat for another shot at the offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, and this time they brought their jigging gear.

Slow pitch is a hot tactic, and watching their footage, it’s easy to see why. Light line, light rods, and small reels make working heavy jigs in 500 feet of water something you can do all day without getting tired. It’s an active way to fish. More fun than trolling. More fun than bait. Although maybe not more fun than catching big fish on top.

Check out the videos from this trip at the links below (and watch your social media feeds for the rest of the content this crew is creating with us).

Brook Crist (Brook Crist Outdoors)youtu.be/qE-A6WXiAyc
Viktor Hluben (Landshark Outdoors)youtu.be/nPEG_5U5NTk
Ryan Morieyoutu.be/uJanhX6ItDU
Phil Hollandsworth (SaltSquatch)youtu.be/xmzJ4BjvcIM

Interested in fishing the Gulf? Capt. Kurt Tillman will put you on the bite. He runs a 39-foot Contender set up for the hardcore angler and will run hundreds of miles for you to hit the hottest spots.

Gear Used:

We asked Ryan Morie what he brought to target these fish on this trip. Here’s what he used for slow pitch jigging and what he used for popping on top.

Slow Pitch Gear

Setup 1 (Ryan’s go-to combo)

 

Setup 2 (For those deep spots where you need 500-1000 gram jigs)

 

Popping Gear

Popping Setup 1:

 

Popping Setup 2:

Want to Get Involved?

We’re planning more of these! If you’re a creator who is interested in joining our team, please contact Executive Producer Phil Hollandsworth. If you’re a sponsor interested in integrating products or services into these shoots, please contact our publisher, Scott Salyers.