Saltwater Fishing

Hey Guys,

Heading to Florida in a few weeks and planning to spend some time fishing. Most of the fishing will be from shore and then my Father in law and I are taking a trip out to some shipwrecks to chase some Amberjacks. Who has experience fishing saltwater? I have before but this is my first time taking my own gear. I’m planning to bring a medium spinning rod for shore fishing. 15 lb. braid with fluorocarbon leader for the lighter stuff. I’ve been looking at a new spinning combo that gets decent reviews on Amazon to try out as well.

Amazon Spinning Combo

According to what I’ve read about the combo I should be able to spool with up to 50 lb braid for the Jacks. Anyway, those that have fished the saltwater…How do you protect your gear? I was planning to rinse with freshwater every day and it was also suggested to me to spray the reel down with “Reel Magic”. Then when I get home I’ll take the reels apart and clean and re grease everything. Thoughts? Am I way to worried about this?

What part of Florida? Don’t worry, I won’t go and harass you.

LIGHTLY rinse your reel and rod off after every trip. Sounds weird, but I rinse and then lick to see if the salt is gone. Don’t dip it in water or spray too hard, that will push the salt into the reel casing. I’ve also been told to rinse them upside down, but I don’t. I just think then it can get under the spool and find it’s way inside the reel since the spool overlaps the casing or body of the reel. It doesn’t make sense to me.

When you say shore fishing, are you fishing the surf or inshore?

This is a great resource for shore fishing for the entire state. They list pretty much every public dock and pier, complete with pictures and videos.

Salt Chef

Live, frozen and dead shrimp is all you need. Unless you prefer artificial baits, then just jig soft plastics. Everything eats shrimp and even big fish won’t pass it up.

We will be just south of Tampa near Ruskin…In the past we have always fished in canal areas. I’m assuming this would be considered Inshore. Also some pier fishing. We have pretty much always used live shrimp. I’m very new to the entire experience as you can probably tell. Thanks for the info on taking care of the equipment. It is much appreciated.

I had great luck with Gulp shrimp too. Fishing a wreck is fun, I have always fished in the Keys and learned a ton from this book. https://www.amazon.com/Fishing-Key-West-Lower-Keys/dp/0813032946

It says Florida, but the tactics apply elsewhere. Great info on fishing near wrecks too.

My parents moved down to Apollo Beach for a couple years and had a boat on their canal that I used often. I also fished in the canal off their dock with good success. I used an 8′ MH with 40lb braid for everything I caught. Snook, Redfish and Drum were what I would normally catch with frozen shrimp.

Cool, our plan is to make our final move over that way somewhere from south Tampa down to Port Charlotte. My sister and husband are looking at land in PC to spend the winters.

Yes, those canals would be considered inshore. Basically any salt or brackish water inland not directly a part of the ocean is considered inshore.

Have you tried the Skyway pier in the past? If you don’t know what that is it’s the old bridge over Tampa Bay on the West side. A barge hit it and they turned it into a pier. I haven’t been there, but I have wanted to at some point. From what I hear it is nice. Just pick a spot, park your car and start fishing.

Gulp is what I use when I am jigging, but being shore bound, I find it just easier to fish with shrimp or sometimes finger mullet when available, and relax. If you can get your hands on some fiddler crabs, you can fish around docks and other structure and target sheepshead.

This is what I have gleaned from fishing boards and not experience. Winter is great in the canals and deeper channels when the water is cold and/or on cold days, as opposed to flats in the warm months.

I have a place in Cape Coral. I use med, med heavy 7-7’6″ spinning gear with 20-30lb per pro with 20# leaders. bottom rigs with a live strip are very effective for sheepsheads. Many of the piers are open for fishing and can be very good. For snook, reds and trout. i prefer jigs with stout hooks and fluke bites and paddle tails. my favorites are Z man shads they hold up well with many fish. Aggressive jerks is the key to saltwater fish. simple retrieval is usually not very successful. wade fishing is also very easy and can be a good bet. talk to the local bait shop they will steer you in a direction. I fish from my pier and in a kayak. their are also places to rent kayaks for the day. Estero River outfitters has options and great fishing.

Almost forgot, a shrimp under a popping/rattling cork is great, especially for trout. Mike is right, most inshore is 10-20# braid and a 20-30# mono or fluoro leader.

Thanks for the info guys…think I’ve got a few things figured out.

Please post picts of your results!

I don’t think you need that heavy combo for inshore. I fish the Keys most years in February and have a medium spinning rod with a Penn 3000 reel and 20# braid. Same thing I use for pike fishing. I use a 30# leader and that usually keep the small barracuda from biting you off.

I use gulp shrimp only with a 3/8 or 1/2 jig head. Throw it a mile and rip it back in. White seems to be the ticket. I’m heading down in 3 weeks and cannot wait!

The only thing that ever spooled me with that combo was a pelican….

Looks like I need to mix ip up more when I am jigging. CA Richardson and the Salt Strong guys said the 2 most effective retrieves are to swim or a normal lift, drop, swim and repeat.

Matt Moen wrote:

I don’t think you need that heavy combo for inshore. I fish the Keys most years in February and have a medium spinning rod with a Penn 3000 reel and 20# braid. Same thing I use for pike fishing. I use a 30# leader and that usually keep the small barracuda from biting you off.

I use gulp shrimp only with a 3/8 or 1/2 jig head. Throw it a mile and rip it back in. White seems to be the ticket. I’m heading down in 3 weeks and cannot wait!

The only thing that ever spooled me with that combo was a pelican….

The reason for the medium/heavy combo is when we go out to fish the wrecks for Amberjacks. It may even be heavy for that I guess but I didn’t want to break one of the rods I currently have that I like.

Med/heavy is what you need for AJs.

Agreed, offshore you’ll need the heavier stuff. Good luck!