I don't live close to the ocean and I don't own a boat. My wife and I were on vacation, fishing from a rental boat and using tackle that, except for the shock leader, hooks and sinkers, most freshwater fishermen commonly own. You can do it too. One great thing about the Florida Keys is the availability of rental boats. Sport fish-ing boats from 18 feet on up are available. Most are equipped with fish boxes, live bait wells, depth finders, GPS units, marine radios and all required Coast Guard safety equip-ment. The larger the boat and the better equipped, the higher the daily rate will be. Boats start out at around $ 200 per day for an 18 to 20- foot boat. Discounts are given for multi- day or weekly rentals. We found one of the best deals at Captain Pip's Marina and Hideaway. A guest room for one week, including the use of a fully equipped, 20- foot boat cost $ 1600, or about the same as two days of charter fishing! The room was quite comfortable and the boat out-standing, but next time I'll upgrade to a longer boat for greater comfort in the rougher offshore waters. When figuring costs remember to include fuel, ice and bait. Live bait is by far the most productive method when targeting sailfish. Dead baits are distant second. Ballyhoo, pilchards, blue runners and goggle- eyes make excellent baits. By Mickey Wright

Fisherman will argue over which bait is best, but for availability and attractive-ness to sailfish, in the Keys at least, you can't go wrong with ballyhoo. Pinfish can also be used. Sailfish won't always hit pinfish but they will check them out. If the only ballyhoo you have are dead baits, use the pinfish to lure the sailfish in, then pitch a frozen ballyhoo or pil-chard to them. To catch ballyhoo, run out toward the reef and look for dark spots that indicate hard or grassy bottoms in 15 to 30 feet of water. Anchor and lay a chum slick ( frozen chum blocks are readily avail-able at all Key's bait shops and your boat rental company should have chum bags). The ballyhoo will show up in the slick and can be caught on size eight or ten hooks baited with small shrimp or squid pieces. You can also cast net ballyhoo, but they are delicate and eas-ily injured. For the same reason, do not overcrowd your bait well with them. To find pilchard, look for birds diving on bait. If the surface of the water in these areas is dimpled like light raindrops there may be pilchard. Position the boat up current of them and get your chum slick going. Use a cast net if they are on the surface, or a sabiki rig if they are deeper. Look for blue runners in shallow ( 5 – 10 foot deep) water over sandy bottoms with rock or dark patches. Slow troll small light colored jigs or spoons ( 00) or jig sabiki rigs. Goggle- eyes are caught at night under bright lights and since most rental com-panies want their boats back before dark you won't be able to go after them. They can be purchased ( and sometimes bal-lyhoo or pilchards also) from bait boats. Ask about bait boats at your marina. Ex-pect to pay a small fortune ( up to $ 100 per dozen) for goggle- eyes, which is an-other reason to catch your own ballyhoo. Pinfish are very easy to catch. They can often be caught right at the dock, es-pecially in the area of the fish- cleaning table. Use a light spinning rod, 4- 8 lb test with small, # 8 or # 10 hooks. A small split shot can be used to keep the bait down and a small bobber if you like ( pinfish are devious bait stealers). Bait up with shrimp or squid and have at them. Sabiki rigs can also be used. Pin-fish can also be found easily on shallow grass flats. Anchor and run a chum slick to attract them in. Then use the tech-nique outlined above, or use a cast net. Pinfish can be kept alive for days in wire mesh cages. Frozen baits can be purchased at most local bait shops. Landing and photographing a sailfish is