We've done Lump fishing for decades in the Gulf. Last season we did the East Lump in February per usual and it was a complete cluster 100 miles from my port. We found nothing but sharks, a wide variety of sharks, but nothing but sharks nonetheless. The secret is out, and come weekend time, people are out on a calm day in everything from bass boats to sport fishers.
Think of a parking lot at walmart except the entire parking lot of 200 cars is drifting at its' own pace, then falling off the 200' cliff and racing back to the other side of the parking lot. Then the new Freemans running spot lock in 200' of water are sitting still like the buggie corrals and everyone else is trying to keep lines out of each other's business. On top of that, everyone is throwing everything from live mullets, to chunks of blackfin, to frozen pogies at the water with some boats tight lined, slack lined, jigging, and then others trolling the perimeter. Once the sharks figure out it's weekend time, they come to stay knowing dozens of boats are tossing thousands of lbs of perfectly good chum overboard to attract one of the few beasts that hundreds of fishermen are hoping to lure.
Short of weekday fishing, East Lump is ruined for me. On this particular trip, we made 2 passes, and ran away from that mess. Got into the amberjacks and blackfin further east and the kids had a blast. Next time, ill be there on a Wednesday and mooch off the charters who know exactly how to raise them, as evidenced by the photos on that article.