I am pretty new to saltwater fishing and have done quite a bit of bottom fishing. I would like to troll for tuna,wahoo ect. And need a starting point. I have the gear and boat. What type of tackle,bait,ect and good spots of freeport, matagorda, or port oconner?
I am comfortable up to 100 miles out. Thanks!

Kevin, your starting point is to take someone knowledgeable with you who can show you how to do these things in person.

I'll volunteer.

i'd wanna know more about your boat and gear before getting into any specifics and i'd also suggest you read all you can about the art of trolling.

yes, it's an art...... there's more to it than just dragging bait behind the boat and there's a big difference between hardcore big-game sportsfishing and weekend perch-jerking

a good starting point would be to learn how to rig your gear and the lures and also learn how to rig ballyhoo

but i'm gonna jump to lure selection............

for wahoo surface trolling think big and rig with no more than 3' of S/S 49-strand cable.......




Ilanders work well with ballyhoo....... here's some rigged w/rubber hoo for marlin and tuna........



here's some tuna feathers and and other tuna lures........



both wahoo and tuna lures shown here......



spreader bars can help too for tuna...... sometimes even wahoo (but that's not the norm)
they're in the long blue packages under the big platic box.....



stuff like this will work for both wahoo and tuna too........

most of those lures will not only give you a shot at billfish too but sometimes they'll entice nice dorado............

here's a pic of a friend's son on my boat with his first trophy bull.......

Bill, why do you prefer cable instead of singlestrand wire for wahoo? Is it just personal preference or is there a performance problem with wire?

27' pursuit with Rupp outriggers. Penn 50vw reels and Penn tuna sticks
Still need to string them. Recommendations?
I have no gear for trolling and not real familiar on hooking it all up
Plan on fishing out of Freeport,port conner, matagorda. Any good spots to recommend? Thanks

Damn that kid almost as good lookin as his dear old dad

Just as important as what to troll and how to troll it is where to troll it.

Color changes, rip currents, temperature breaks, weed/trash lines, over bottom structures, near rigs, etc.

I once found a temp break that about 1 degree difference. There was no other obvious signs at the water's surface. In just a few minutes I caught a YF tuna, a dorado, and a 'hoo off of that break.

I also look for the holy trifecta...blue water, flotsam, and flying fish. If you find these three things together at the same place and time then you should probably be trolling.

i'm guessin' he musta got his looks from'is mother...........

KevinE to the forum! You will certainly get the info you need from our experts here. They have been very helpful to me throughout the years I've been here. Good luck with your fishin'.

HEY ..... I resemble that remark

Hoo Teeth -vs- Mono

To speed up the learning curve, bit the bullet one time and hire a guide, watch and learn and ask lots of questions. Did this with my boys when we first started going to Rockport and it provided lots of good and quick info to a family of freshwater fisherpeople!! (wife was along too).
I am sure the folks on here could recommend a good guide for you.