The deeper wrecks often produce big black seabass, like these two 5-pounders! Photo by Gary Caputi

The cursor that represented our boat was nearing the icon on the chart plotter's screen, which also indicated the position of the structure. This would be our first bottom-fishing trip of the spring season and I was feeling a bit rusty; but using the remarkable electronics we have available today is much like riding a bicycle: Once you learn how, it comes back quickly.

Mark and I were hoping to find a mixed bag of blackfish, also called tautog, and black seabass that inhabit this small wreck. This particular wreck lies in about 90 feet of water.

As the boat drew closer, I zoomed the plotter screen to one-eighth mile, steered a course that took the cursor directly over the icon and, sure enough, there it was on the depthfinder. I followed the first pass with five more to refresh my memory about how this particular wreck was situated and to see if the fish were there -- and where they may be holding over the wreck.

I switched the depth sounder to bottom-tracking mode, which expands the screen to show just the lower one-third of the water column for a better look. Meanwhile, Mark got out a pair of marker buoys with sash weights tied on the end of 100 feet of line. These were thrown over the side on my command. These buoys mark opposite ends of the wreck to act as reference points for positioning the boat during the anchoring process.

The key to successful bottom-fishing is location, location and location. If you don't study the structure and anchor the boat accurately, it's possible to end up 20 or 30 feet from a concentration of fish and barely get a bite!

When I was done placing the marker buoys at what appeared to be the bow and stern ends of the vessel below, the next step was to judge the drift of the boat, so I put the engine in neutral and watched carefully on the plotter to see how the wind and current would move it. The breeze was overpowering the current, so I motored downwind of the buoy at one end of the wreck, turned into the wind, idled about 400 feet past it and dropped the anchor. I prefer a slightly oversized Danforth as my main anchor, with a double length of chain, so it locks up quickly and requires less rode to hold bottom.

Once it hit, I pushed the engine into reverse and backed slowly toward the buoy. When the boat was almost at the buoy, I went back to neutral and let it settle the rest of the way against the wind. Mark was getting out the second anchor, this one a grapple-type, resembling a big treble hook with no points or barbs.

This anchor is attached to a short length of chain and 250 feet of 3/8-inch nylon line, which is kept in an old milk crate. I used the engine to swing the boat laterally over the wreck toward the other buoy where Mark dropped the grapple straight down, purposely snagging it in the wreck.