Originally Posted by
eym_sirius
It's just easier when the school is up where you can see them. If they're deeper and the visibility is three or four feet, lots of times they'll come up to your bait and congregate around it and that's when you'll see them. Of course the experience is enhanced when you're able to sight-cast past the school and bring your weighted float near them. Like CarlF said, though - you can use shrimp-tipped sabikis (fished straight down) if they're deeper. Problem is that you can't NET a sabiki rig without making a total clustermess! Some of the bigger spadefish need netting!
What's really cool is when there are jellyfish around and to see the school attacking jellyfish in the area! They seem to be attracted, initially, by the weighted float because it casts a shadow similar to that of a jellyfish (my analysis - that theory hasn't been confirmed by a spadefish). Remember to use a small hook, since using a large hook allows the nibblers to leverage the bait against the hook and you lose your bait without a hook-up.