Thread: How to spend my mornings?

I’m only here on my trip for a few more days and am looking to catch some fish. I’m not too picky and I don’t know much. Would my time be best spent in the early morning surf fishing for pompano, or go to the state park pier and fish for pompano and Spanish? I just want to catch some fish and don’t really care what. And what would the best way to catch them be?

Pier gives you more opportunities to catch fish, if the water is dirty close to the beach it might not be 1200 feet out. I’d say pier.

I've had equal luck from the surf and pier on my trips down- if you exclude the times that the surf was full of june grass. If you hit the pier you might get to meet some of the regulars. They're a good bunch, and if you're near them you'll learn from them whether you plan on it or not.

Perdigo Pass is a nice free spot to fish,lots of boat traffic and marine life to see ,caught a nice redfish there and seen several other caught also

Definately the pier. Do what the locals do when you see what's working for them. Most everyone will help you out. Just ask....

Lately, the area just outside the middle platform has yielded a LOT of ladyfish and blue runners ("skipjack" and "hardtails").
Not favored food fare, but great for entertainment purposes ;-)

they are easy to catch using the locally made 3/4 ounce white jigs (called "Looney Jigs").

Hope this helps!

You can likely catch bluefish, hardtails, redfish and ladyfish about halfway to the bathrooms. You'll need one rod rigged with a small sabiki to catch fish to use as cut-bait and another rod rigged Carolina-style with a half-ounce egg sinker and about 18" of 40# fluorocarbon/mono leader (because bluefish have really sharp teeth). I use about a #6 treble hook. Early fishing (right at daylight) is usually best, but sometimes that bite will continue into the morning.

Make sure you have a hand towel to grip the fish and pliers to help facilitate hook removal. If you're not keeping them, you'll want to return them to the water as soon as possible. If you catch a hardhead catfish, mind the spines on the dorsal and pectoral fins. They produce a nasty sting if they puncture the skin.

A rapala x-rap lure will catch ladyfish and bluefish all day long, as well as spanish and king mackerel. They can be pricey though, especially if the sharks are out eating everything you hook.

Originally Posted by MBoger

A rapala x-rap lure will catch ladyfish and bluefish all day long, as well as spanish and king mackerel. They can be pricey though, especially if the sharks are out eating everything you hook.

Do you use a wire leader on the x-rap?

If you know the bluefish are around, I would. I've used a 40# flouro leader with good success, but you are going to have to change it out. I caught a barely legal king with that, but got lucky. But even the ladyfish will fray the leaders pretty quickly