Bringing your own 30-50lb class rod/reel setup would be ideal. Otherwise they will give you a heavy setup and you won’t be able to feel the bites as well as your own setup. If you want to catch whatever bites, using a 2 hook chicken rig is the way to go. If you want to catch bigger snappers, then you’ll want to catch grunts quickly, cut them up into “plugs” (deckhands will do it for you if you ask), and hold on! Tight lines and good luck!

I have no idea how close we are to 8a pelican. I think all depends on the day in terms of depth, but I fished 80 - 150 ft of water on average on this boat. Might be worth a call. People who own boats get on this boat for the convenience. Tight lines!

Sinkers depend on the current, but I’ve seen 6’s and 8’s mostly. I think they use 80-100 lb mono on their loaners, but I’m not sure. I personally usually stick to 50 lb for snapper fishing and 80 lb for groupers, but I’m going to go up to 130 lb leader for groupers. I don’t usually mess with anything lighter than 50 lb unless the bite is really finicky. Tight lines!

Man, I would LOVE to go fishing in SD. I watch SD tuna fishing videos every day! Lol