Did you know there is a place seldom visited by fishermen just teaming with all kinds of fish? These fish run in sizes small, medium, and large. A place with few (if any) other boats. Imagine. Just you and waters teaming with fish—all eager-to-bite.

Does this scenario sound too good to be true? Well, I'm telling you it is true. Sailfish, dolphin, wahoo, white marlin, and blue marlin all travel this fertile, purple and blue, energized highway just out of reach of the fishing boats herding the 100-foot to 200-foot edge trolling the traditional spreads of ballyhoo, goggle eyes, greenies and tinker mackerel. Now let's do the math, cost of a dozen rigged ballyhoo is approximately $36, live baits double that price, and unless you are penny pinching you are going to use a whole lot more than a dozen natural baits.

What if I told you there was a way to catch a larger variety of these fish, and not have to buy a single fresh bait?

Well, there is no secret here if you grew up fishing off Hawaii or other oceans where artificial lure fishing is the preferred method over natural bait. You would then believe in artificial lures with out any further coaxing.

But it's a good idea to review the techniques used by fishermen who have been successfully trolling with artificial lures for the last fifty years.

While lure fishing, you are able to cover more ground, and in turn you will discover opportunities out of the reach of the pack. I recommend placing yourself much further offshore. Reach out to 100 fathoms and beyond to 200, 300, 400 fathoms. Systematically troll these different zones of water.

Lures come in a variety of sizes. The lures that will produce the most all-around action will be the smaller sizes: five-inch, seven-inch, and nine-inch models. Hook sizes will range from 7/0 to 9/0. Leaders will range from two hundred, to three hundred-pound test. A solid trolling spread would consist of five lures: two flat, and three lures from the riggers.

Better quality lures today are sold in packs, ready to fish. These packs consist of five lures. You would be well advised to purchase one of these convenient trolling packs as well as have spare or additional lure models, hooks, skirts, leader, stainless steel cable, and crimps to make secure connections.

Not to worry—the changes necessary to make the transition from trolling natural baits to lures is much easier than you might imagine.

The most difficult thing to deal with will be the loud voices in your head shouting, "What the hell am I doing out here all alone?" The real truth is you are not alone. These fertile deep water highways can throw back at you on any given day more action than you may have ever imagined, or can even deal with. True, it would be a whole lot easier for you if you cut your teeth fishing lures in Hawaii. Still it is not too late to learn. And it won't take you very long to adapt once you give yourself a chance. I say dare to compare! Give lure fishing a try, and don't give up if at first you don't succeed.

Allow me to relate a short fishing story. The year is 1994. I had just moved from Hawaii to Florida. Naturally invitations to go fishing came my way quite often, but none to fish lures, only live bait.

From time to time I would suggest, "Why don't we try some lure fishing?" Every time I asked, the gesture was met with disapproval (in a nice way) until one day, after eight hours of live bait sail fishing without any visitors, I decided to ask the good-natured captain if I could try out some lure fishing for an hour or so. Not a problem he assured me, only problem was we did not have any lures on board. I scuffled through the captain's tackle collection and found four lure skirts: two blue and two white, and thought, "That will work". Now all I needed were two egg leads that I could push up into the head of the skirts. Then all that was needed was to simply puncture a small hole in the head of the skirt, pass a leader through the hole and center hole of the egg lead and attach a hook. I took the two makeshift lures to the captain and suggested that we troll just two lines, and he nodded with his approval.

The big 65-foot ocean yacht's engines revved up as we raced for a starting point determined to be located in one hundred fathoms. The sleek, fast sport fisher moved along at a rapid pace. Soon enough we were deploying the two lead-headed blue and white skirt lures, placed one in the right rigger and the other in the left. The sea conditions were blue and calm. Both lures trolled just inches beneath the surface and I could see the blue and white skirts flashing. We were only minutes into the troll when a 250-pound blue marlin appeared and without hesitation, grabbed the left rigger and got hooked. Suddenly this otherwise boring but beautiful day was now filled with the electric fury of a wild blue marlin making his way across the waves at high speed, acrobatics being thrown in to make the experience just that much more memorable. The captain was glowing. Later he confided in me he had never caught a blue marlin. The blue gave us all it had before we released the surprise-of-the-day catch. Since we still had plenty of daylight I decided to once again deploy the two blue and white lures. Back up to trolling speed and there she was, "Right rigger, blue marlin," I yelled out. Another super fight and release. On the way home that afternoon I heard the captain giving a recount of his fishing day. He was laughing and smiling, as was everyone on board.

The happy memory of a great day of fishing still lingered months later when I was asked again to go fishing with another friend by the name of Captain Art, who kept his 41-foot Viking in Stuart. I told him about the double blue marlin trip and asked if we could troll some lures. Art's reply was quick and certain, "Bart, troll anything you want, peanut butter sandwiches if you wish. I don't care." Art was not known for having exceptional fishing skills; he does have good tackle, a clean boat, and super electronics. For me this was a golden opportunity—no resistance to the method I wished to fish, plus Art was a good-natured host with like-new fishing gear.

This time I brought plenty of rigged lures. I was ready and hungry to learn more about the potential of offshore fishing in Florida—Hawaiian-style.

The plan for the day was to travel 35 miles offshore, which would put us in the deepest water possible between the coast of Florida and the Bahamas. Once we arrived at our destination, Captain Art put the nose of his boat south into the current.

Here is the fish count for this wild and crazy experience while fishing 35 miles offshore, lure fishing only, six busy hours of too much fun:
3 blue marlin; approximate weights: 75 pounds, 90 pounds, 110 pounds
1 sailfish
1 white marlin
23 dolphin; sizes small to medium
2 wahoo; 25 pounds each
7 other bites that didn't hook up

I have experienced this kind of action, and much more, all over the world on lures. Now go out and find your own honey hole.