When the Keys were quiet during the COVID lockdown and the water was empty, I finally got my hands on what everybody down here hypes up—goggle-eyes. I was lucky enough to pick up almost a dozen (they’re crazy expensive in the Keys), and I headed offshore solo to see if they’re really “the best bait in the ocean.” I started with a super slow troll—about two knots—and ran that bait way back, roughly 150–200 feet, over some nice-looking bottom around 130 feet. And yeah… the goggle-eyes absolutely did it. First drift/slow troll, boom—kingfish on a circle hook, and even though kings aren’t my favorite fish (second only to barracuda), the bridling made the hookup perfect. Then I ran into a school that turned out to be bonito, and later I put a bridled goggle-eye down and got crushed by a big old grouper that tried to rock me—exactly why I keep the rod in my hands and lock it down when those grouper hit. I even butterflied a dying goggle-eye to see if it’ll still produce, because I’ve been told they work dead too. Bottom line: bridling keeps them lively longer, they track straight, and goggle-eyes catch everything.