Not very good, have 6 year old that wishes i were

Hello. I'm a 34 year old woman that spent my youth freshwater bobber fishing for panfish. I now have a 6 year old that loves to fish from our saltwater piers. I'm spent a good while catching nothing until some kind lady helped me set up with my hook above my weights. I catch lots of croaker and occasionally trout, but id like to catch something we could maybe eat. Currently I just put some dead shrimp or cut bait about 6 inches from my weight and cast out 50yards from the pier. Usually I lose my bait to Crocker, spot, crabs or god knows what else. This is all I know to do. Any help would be appreciated. Oh and I fish in southern Alabama near the mobile bay in dauphin island

The croaker and trout are great eating. Filet, batter, and fry them.

Oh, i do filet and eat them! But you get what I'm getting at right?

You want to catch bigger fish, maybe redfish? Use small bait and small hooks to catch small croakers and pinfish. Use THEM for bait (you'll have to put on a bigger hook and you won't need a weight). The croakers and other such fish that are stealing your bait won't eat a small croaker or pinfish.

Okay thank you! Hook em in the mout or?

When I was in school for marine biology ( yes as pathetic as it sounds, I am a marine biologist. I do zooplankton) they just took us where we needed to go, we dropped out lines and pulled up fish lol. So with the croaker as bait, so I just reel enough to keep moving or?

Going for redfish near shore I would use a number 7/0 or so hook just under the dorsal fin with a float that would keep the bait just off the bottom. No need to move the bait unless he swims to a place you don't want him to be. Leader should be heavy, reds are not very picky and do not see well.

If putting the hook in the bait's back bothers you, a lighter wire hook can be threaded through the nostrils.

Ain't nothing pathetic about marine biology. Our knowledge of the world is the aggregate of thousands of tiny details faithfully recorded by diligent scientists. They slowly make for an accurate picture.

Oh no marine biology is awesome, I just think it's pathetic that I have no idea how to fish and I do marine biology for a living lol. I have no qualms about hooking a fish anywhere, but thank you for the advice. I'm hope it gets eaten anyway lol. I don't nexissarilu care if I catch reds, black drum, sheepshead, mullet, trout, just something my baby will be a little impressed with. He's not so impressed with my croaker skills anymore, but there were plenty of times I sat on that pier and cried my eyes out because I didn't know how to catch anything and couldn't get anyone to help me.

Also do I tienon the leader using the same knots to I use to tie on the hook?

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Originally Posted by Croakercatcher

Okay thank you! Hook em in the mout or?

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I hook them in the lower back, behind the dorsal fin. Some people hook them in the mouth where it comes out the nose.