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Q:
I go to Florida every summer and I want to start saltwater fishing there. I go to this beach where there is a huge line of rocks and then open ocean. Its shallow and there are lots of crabs and needlefish. I also saw a fish that looked kinda like a stonefish. This is in the gulf so any idea what lures I should try.
Question by bass bomber. Uploaded on November 12, 2011
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Answers (11)
Tell us more about the exact area please and what type of bottom such as sand or mud. My first thought in shallow water is flounder. Lower Florida has my favorite fish to catch, the snook. But in Florida all the following fish can be caught from the shore depending on the location; blue fish, spotted seatrout, sand/silver seatrout, red drum, pompano, croaker, striped bass, jack crevalle, sheepshead, ground mullet, stingray, sand shark, bull shark, and blacktip shark. I may have left out quite a few species of fish but all of the above are fun to catch. All of the above species feed off shrimp, killifish, and other small minnows/fishes. Starting with a natural food source as bait might be a good way to go.
Fiddler crabs are on all the beaches and will attract almost any fish out there!
Its near hommosasa and the bottom is sandy with some sea weed.
Hommosasa is a little too far north to have any good snook, but it does have red fish and speckled trout. With a boat out on the flats, you could even maybe see tarpon. I would go for the specks myself using soft plastic grubs of some sort or a double rig with two feather dusters. There is nothing like catching them two at a time.
I would start out using natural bait such as peeler crabs, squid or shrimp. If you're confident in using lures, use something shiny. I would definetly recommmend spoons or spinnerbait. Also jigs are one of my favorite things to use in salt water. You might want to get weedless jigs if you're worried about that seaweed. If you see a school of bait fish, cast the jig in the middle and pull it up almost to the surface of the water and let it sink back down. Do this a couple of times until a predator fish takes a nibble. Hope this helps.
Santa is a pro and knows what he's talking about, so pay attention. You might also do some good wading for speckled trout if the water isn't too deep, and specks like to hit a topwater Mirrolure early and late in the day over the grass beds. Good luck.
I fish there in the summer and I do pretty good with spoons and topwaters. You gotta get the big saltwater ones though. I learned the hard way that freshwater bassbaits won't handle the fish :) Good luck
Country Road is right about the Mirrorlure. It is an excellent speck bait. I have not had nearly as good results with spoons in shallow water for specks as I have had with soft plastic grub type lures. I have used Tom Mann's stingray grubs since they were first invented. I also was one of the first to use Jim Bagley's salty dog. They are both were very good for specks. Now days there are a lot of other soft plastic tailed lures with lead heads on the market to choose from that work fine. I have also made speck rigs in a number of ways. My personal favorite is with double rigged feather dusters or bucktail jigs, but common yellow and white nylon jigs will work. One of my secret methods of catching specks is to use a double rigged hook set-up with the head of an ely on the first hook and the body on the second hook. My favotite top water lures for specks are vintage Heddon Vamp Spooks and Rebel Minnows. For live bait on specks I like shrimp or shiners. My father had me in a boat fishing for specks when I was still wearing three cornered pants so I grew up fishing for them.
Cast master silver spoon 3/4 oz. works wonders on spanish mackerel and red drum
Try DOA shrimp, bombers, pencil poppers, and sluggos.
zoom flukes have been working wonderfully for me in florida...as well as paddle tails and grubs
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Hommosasa is a little too far north to have any good snook, but it does have red fish and speckled trout. With a boat out on the flats, you could even maybe see tarpon. I would go for the specks myself using soft plastic grubs of some sort or a double rig with two feather dusters. There is nothing like catching them two at a time.
Tell us more about the exact area please and what type of bottom such as sand or mud. My first thought in shallow water is flounder. Lower Florida has my favorite fish to catch, the snook. But in Florida all the following fish can be caught from the shore depending on the location; blue fish, spotted seatrout, sand/silver seatrout, red drum, pompano, croaker, striped bass, jack crevalle, sheepshead, ground mullet, stingray, sand shark, bull shark, and blacktip shark. I may have left out quite a few species of fish but all of the above are fun to catch. All of the above species feed off shrimp, killifish, and other small minnows/fishes. Starting with a natural food source as bait might be a good way to go.
I would start out using natural bait such as peeler crabs, squid or shrimp. If you're confident in using lures, use something shiny. I would definetly recommmend spoons or spinnerbait. Also jigs are one of my favorite things to use in salt water. You might want to get weedless jigs if you're worried about that seaweed. If you see a school of bait fish, cast the jig in the middle and pull it up almost to the surface of the water and let it sink back down. Do this a couple of times until a predator fish takes a nibble. Hope this helps.
Santa is a pro and knows what he's talking about, so pay attention. You might also do some good wading for speckled trout if the water isn't too deep, and specks like to hit a topwater Mirrolure early and late in the day over the grass beds. Good luck.
Try DOA shrimp, bombers, pencil poppers, and sluggos.
Fiddler crabs are on all the beaches and will attract almost any fish out there!
Its near hommosasa and the bottom is sandy with some sea weed.
I fish there in the summer and I do pretty good with spoons and topwaters. You gotta get the big saltwater ones though. I learned the hard way that freshwater bassbaits won't handle the fish :) Good luck
Country Road is right about the Mirrorlure. It is an excellent speck bait. I have not had nearly as good results with spoons in shallow water for specks as I have had with soft plastic grub type lures. I have used Tom Mann's stingray grubs since they were first invented. I also was one of the first to use Jim Bagley's salty dog. They are both were very good for specks. Now days there are a lot of other soft plastic tailed lures with lead heads on the market to choose from that work fine. I have also made speck rigs in a number of ways. My personal favorite is with double rigged feather dusters or bucktail jigs, but common yellow and white nylon jigs will work. One of my secret methods of catching specks is to use a double rigged hook set-up with the head of an ely on the first hook and the body on the second hook. My favotite top water lures for specks are vintage Heddon Vamp Spooks and Rebel Minnows. For live bait on specks I like shrimp or shiners. My father had me in a boat fishing for specks when I was still wearing three cornered pants so I grew up fishing for them.
Cast master silver spoon 3/4 oz. works wonders on spanish mackerel and red drum
zoom flukes have been working wonderfully for me in florida...as well as paddle tails and grubs
Post an Answer