Cant help with location, as not from your area, but as no one else appears to have responded yet, I'll try and help with the first bit. Trolling between bottom fishing locations, especially early in the season, high speed skirts around 10 - 12 knots, on a wire trace. We do this hoping to pick up a wahoo, and get the odd Spanish or good spottie as well. When anchored, float out a livie under a balloon, suggest about 20 ft of line under the balloon as a start, well away from the boat to minimize cross overs. Again single strand wire ( not too thick, say 40 - 50 lb) and use really small strong swivels, a small live bait nose hook and a treble as a stinger. Also float out a pillie, maybe without a balloon, we use triple gangs with the pillies, around 5/0 or 6/0, as sometimes the spotties and schoolies seem to prefer them over livies.
In my view your best shot is very slow trolling live bait if you want spanish, at least one on the surface and one down a little bit, either using a downrigger or a large barrel sinker. Again, slow trolling a pillie as well, will help your chances on schoolies/spotties. Often if you forego the wire you will get a lot more hits, and more bite-offs, but its a way of finding if they are there, as sometimes they get fussy about the wire
By surface slow trolling one rod out each side, and one a bit deeper in the middle, you don't tangle with 3 lines out. Run one well back if no other boats close by.
We keep a light rod ready with a small slug handy in case they are busting up on the surface. Often they wont hit a big metal lure when they are feeding on small bait.
good luck