I fished for these "breeder" fish the first time the other weekend. We used 80 pound test with fancy offshore reals and rods and big circle hooks. We caught two rather huge spottails, horsed them in, and it was still sketchy. The fish seemed lethargic in general, and we had to "vent" both of our fish. The water was about 17 feet deep. The fish did seem to swim away nicely, but we talked of trying the jetties for sheeps, just b/c we weren't positive of the fish's mortality.

Catching big spottails is pretty cool in my opinion, but I would like to know more about the effects etc. If yall can post up the info here or other sites, I think you would possibly reach alot of people.

P.S. live mullet work better than "flies".