Verado Tortugas trips are awesome. But there are some important things to know. Fresh Bait is usually best (Gogs , Tinkers ,Runners and Pinfish) Catch em the day or two before and put in ziplocks on ice until time to use. I catch pins and ballyhoo off the bridges when I'm down there but try and get the tinkers and gogs before I leave. Lately tinkers have been the bait freash or frozen so I'm trying to load up.
For the rod I use a custom rod with a slow action about 7 1/2 to 8' long. Thats so I can sling it away from the boat but have enough backbone to yank a slob mut or grouper off the bottom. For the reel I have a Daiwa Saltiga 50 spooled with Momoi Diamond 50#. A TLD 25 will work just fine.
Feel free to im me with any questions.
Professor Arthur I would love to grab those tinkers off ya. I'll give you a ring later this week.