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I'm in Florida (gulf coast) but beach piers are the easiest place to catch keeper flounder basically year round. During the night and early morning flounder come up very close to shore, as it heats up they head deeper. You are right that cooler temps are generally better (for almost all fish in the gulf) but I caught a flounder way up in Tampa bay in 95* weather a couple weeks ago. And that was about 20 miles inland from the coast in 90* water temps. A couple guys on https://www.theonlinefisherman.com exclusively fish the jetties between 5am-9am and get nice sized flounder, snook and reds almost everytime. They say the bite almost always dies as the sun gets up high.
tesilential fucked around with this message at 18:59 on Aug 14, 2013 |
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Aug 14, 2013 18:55
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SERPUS posted:I'm having lots of trouble with my new reel, a light spinning reel. It came pre-spooled with 6 lb. line. I'm using small 1/16 jigs and spinners because I'm just trying to catch these small crappie and bass from the lake. It seems like each time that I cast, I get a huge tangle that comes off of the spool before I can start reeling in. It looks like 3-4 different lines are coming off of the reel and tangling up around the first rod eye. What am I doing wrong? Every now and then I can get a clean cast, get the baler closed, and start reeling in, but for the most part I spend cutting out huge tangles and starting over. Mantis gave you good advice above. It could also be that your reel is overspooled. Make sure the line isn't quote to the edge of the spool lip. I sometimes use 1/16th ounce jig heads and occasionally small free lined shrimp that weigh less than that on 3000 size stradic w/ 20 pound braid. What make and size reel do you have? For those lure weights I would throw no more than 6-8 lb mono or 10-15 braid.
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Aug 23, 2013 05:12
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Ivan Yurkinov posted:Here's a nice bass I caught in a farm pond here in NW Missouri about 2 weeks ago. Nice bass! How do you work that worm? My confidence lure for bass is a zara spook jr. Oddly enough in the salt I use almost exclusively soft plastics.
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Aug 23, 2013 05:16
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Speaking of the heat I finally caught a break today. Super cloudy morning so after errands hit low tide on the local inshore flats with a female friend bay doesn't fish at all. Tons of baitfish jumping and occasionally getting pounded by small jack crevalles. Caugh 2 jacks, they pull a bit but my inshore setup was whipped em too easy. Saw about 6 sharks between 2.5-5 feet, at least 4 were bonnetheads. 2 got too close for comfort but I splashed the surface with the rod tip to misdirect their curiosity away from me/us. The sun came out and poo poo slowed down but on the way out found a trout bite and landed 4, missing several more. Left em biting cause a thunderstorm was heading our way quick. Just another day in good ole Tampa Bay. We were actually targeting redfish and had hoped to catch them tailing on the outer sand bar but I guess even with the cloud cover they still didn't wanna get in the skinny. Anna handled the day well but later told me the sharks had scared her a bit (poo poo me too, you never get used to one swimming straight at you) she just didnt complain or freak because she figured it wouldn't do any good.
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Aug 26, 2013 03:10
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Snook season opened up here on the gulf on sep 1 after a 3 year closure. My roomate and I paddled (I'm a SUP he's got a yak) to the exact mangrove tree line where we saw literally hundreds spook when we were on a friends airboat. Tally, 30 snook. Sadly all were babies the biggest of which were maybe 15" so we didn't bother with pics. drat I want to taste one of those bad boys.
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Sep 11, 2013 21:27
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Elmnt80 posted:What were you using to catch the snook? I don't use live bait much but busted out the cast net since baits been around all summer. Bait has been super plentiful as of late and we threw greenbacks and small pinfish, all around 2-3" which is smaller than average. Casting one of those white bait belly or lip hooked under a small old school popping cork. I use the styrofoam cone shaped corks with the pin in the middle. I prefer these as i can adjust without retying knots or leader like I have to do with a Cajun popper. Its also more minimalist and causesess disturbance in the water and casts easy. I tied 1/0 circle hooks on 30 lb fluorocarbon with a palomar knot. White and glow colored DOA cal shads on 1/8th and 3/8ths mission fishing weedless jig heads caught a rat red and almost as many fish snook as the live bait. These are my preferred jigs even when there is no grass. Actually I'ved used that specific jig/plastic combo for 90% of all my saltwater fishing this year. Last fall and winter I was throwing Mirrorlure lil jons almost exclusively but the paddle tails are retrieved quicker which makes them my most effective search bait. If I get hits but can't hook up, I tend to jig them by raising and lowering the rod tip 4-8" and slowing the retrieve. This past trip I was pitching them deep into the mangroves and letting them fall then jig a bit if I didn't get hit.
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Sep 12, 2013 00:37
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Slow Graffiti posted:Spinning is the way to go in my opinion. Agreed on spinning gear. Could not disagree more on braid. It has some definite annoyances like wind knots, line wrapping around the guides and the wind blowing your line into the mangroves after making a perfect cast, but overall it's vastly superior to mono. Much better casting distance, sensitivity and strength. Hook sets are as simple as a flick of the wrist. That said I've been thinking of getting a spare spool to put mono on for when I'm wading at night. It would eliminate wind knots and having to retie leaders in the dark. I'm in no hurry though, a lot of times you have a tangle with braid you can just pull the line really tight and it will straighten out. I'm not saying everyone should use braid, but definitely give it a fair shot. I lost a few lures with flouro to braid knots failing, but once I perfected my technique I knew there was no going back.
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Sep 23, 2013 23:13
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Slow Graffiti posted:The wind knots were the worst part of it. Given that when surf casting there is almost always some sort of brisk, if not heavy, wind this was an immediate deal killer for me. I'm just not sure it holds any real benefits when you're going for blues and striped bass. Again to each his own, if you're happy with the performance you are getting stick with it. Check out https://www.stripersonline.com it's a huge community of surfcasters, the majority of whom throw braid, mostly on reels which were designed before braid got popular. John Skinner, author of Mastering the Bucktail among other books, posts there and has put up some cool underwater videos of his fishing techniques. They're pretty sweet actually. Anyways give it another shot! Like I'll be giving mono, which I haven't used in years. Hopefully it's improved go where line memory doesn't resemble a slinky and the stretch doubles my line capacity.  Serious question though, what brand/model mono do you recommend? I'm using suffix braid and like it, and I already have some cheap suffix mono, but im interested in a more modern performance mono if it's available.
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Sep 23, 2013 23:55
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Snook seasoned opened up after a 3 year closure on 9/1/13. Slot is 28-33" and I finally got my bad boy last night after 10 min of fishing. First first fish on an Aqua dream 1/4 spoon (white), second fish ever on any spoon. Talk about building confidence in a bait. Caught a bunch of slot reds and shorter snook last week, but this was the prize:  My longest red at 33" I'm super lucky to live 2 miles from my favorite inshore flat. I get to fish any day of the week after work and pick and choose when to go based on the tides.
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Sep 30, 2013 19:30
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Corla Plankun posted:I almost lost a yellow perch the other day because my line is so junky; it broke at a random part a couple feet from the end just as I was pulling the fish out of the water. Someone posted a line recommendation in this thread a while back, but I can't find it. I had it sitting in my amazon shopping cart for ages so I wouldn't forget, but apparently that thing empties after a while. Or my wife emptied it. There are many types of line and it's really not possible to give the best recommendation without knowing the how big the fish you are catching are and what kind of structure you are fishing around. If you aren't fishing heavy grass or lily pads or anywhere with rocks, 10 lb braided line is wonderful. Much more sensitive than monofilament or fluorocarbon. 10 lb is super thin diameter so casting distance is awesome. The caveat is you have to have a reel that lays line decently. If your line doesn't lay evenly it can create problems, the line can pull on the coils beneath it and give you pretty ugly knots. Suffix 832 is my preferred braid because it's strong as hell and tough. Haven't had any break offs from abrasion. It is a little thicker than other 10lb braid but it's still thin enough for great casting. If this is your first time using braid make sure to keep an eye on your line and spool, it's easy for a loop to form and end up causing a disaster. If you catch the knots early you can almost always just pull tightly and they'll pop free. Get some fluorocarbon leader and use a crazy alberto knot to connect it to the main line (braid). Braid is solid and sticks out to fish underwater, fluorocarbon transmits most light right through it and is harder for them to see so we use it for the last 3 feet before the bait or lure. I fish saltwater and my quarry is usually toothy and tough so I bump my leader up almost double the strength of my main line.
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Nov 16, 2013 05:55
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An easier and probably more effective way of checking the guides is to simply run a cotton ball through them. The cotton should go through completely smoothly and not get caught at all. Oddly enough I had a mysterious braid breakoff yesterday myself. Using 10 lb ghost color power pro tied via crazy alberto knot to 30 lb Ohero Flourocarbon leader. I cast it plenty of times, no issues. Waded over to a new spot and checked the knot, still in perfect shape, not slipping at all. I hookup on a couple ladyfish and launch my favorite bucktail back out. On the drop I get a nice hit and set the hook only to feel slack. Bummer. I retrieved my line and it looks like it broke within a few feet or yards of the knot, but not AT the knot. When it breaks at the alberto (when I'm pulling a snag) the braid comes back with a curly tip due to the many wraps. Last night it came back perfectly straight. I would thought it broke closer to the rod but I did retrieve most of my cast's worth of braid back. One of my favorite jigs, an owner bullet weight style weedless (like a texas rig but the weight is built into the hook just beneath the eye, broke in half in a small ladyfishes mouth. I hate when my gear fails, if I had a nice snook or red on I woulda been really pissed. And now I have lost some confidence in both pieces of gear.
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Jan 3, 2014 18:38
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Gozinbulx posted:Noice. You should have alot of fun with it. It's quite a machine for such a low price (compared to other fish finders for fishing boats). And Yes! I'm in Tampa and already wading in just swim trunks and neoprene boots. Redfish are hitting like crazy but most interestingly, the warm water loving Snook has never left and I've caught some of my biggest this winter. Hell 2 Saturday's ago had one of my best snook days with 11 total, and 3 Big ones. All on foot in same spot I fish 300 days a year. Florida is the best.
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Mar 5, 2014 23:39
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I would never catch a catfish on purpose. That said, I've caught sail cats on super spooks, lil jons, DOA cal shads and of course shrimp or cut bait. Once I caught one under a bridge at night on a glow paddle tail and it puked out like 20 baby catfish about 2" in length, possibly it's own offspring.
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Apr 10, 2014 06:49
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I really need to post some of the [awesome] fish I caught this winter. I caught at least 5 slot snook and maybe 10 slot reds. Released almost all of them safely. Now that Spring is here things are going to get serious! I already had a BIG snook straighten out one of my owner weedless hooks and caught a nice FAT 25" red later that day. I kept him to make my famous Redfish stew, which I make from scratch using the head and spine to make the stock. Redfish and snook have been all over the flats the past couple weeks of hot weather, and I spooked probably 5 reds in potholes on saturday, only getting one to even follow my lure (that I know of). They are really spooky about lures coming towards them, they will scram immediately. I want to get into fly fishing this summer, because the afternoon low tides are like shooting fish in a barrel, the redfish tail almost every night and I go almost daily after work. Does anyone have any good [cheap] fly rod and reel recommendations? I will be targeting redfish and snook, hard fighting fish that I commonly catch weighing from 6-15 pounds. I think typical gear is an 8 weight setup with floating line. I also want my own vice (been using my roommates to tie bucktails and skimmer jigs), is there anything decent under $100?
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Apr 14, 2014 20:22
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DocMcgillicuddy posted:What's your budget like? I'm trying to keep it around $200ish for rod reel and fly line. I already have 2 nice flats spinning setups, and the fly rod will get much less use because it's usually super windy. I might look around for a decent used setup rather than get some cheap kit, unless those are decent nowadays? I'd ask my roommate but he walked into a fly shop and spent a G on his rig and has no idea whats good on the low end. He then broke the tip on his Sage and had it out of commission for a while.
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Apr 15, 2014 03:28
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HenryJLittlefinger posted:Cabelas has some good deals on their house brand fly combos right now. Bass Pro house brand is similar to Cabelas and both are good. Reddington is decent low-cost stuff as well. IM6 graphite is the same across brands, so quality differences might not be that apparent. I don't know anything about Scientific Anglers or the other similarly-priced entry-level gear. Check Craigslist or ebay for reels. I like my Pfleuger, and new prices on them are pretty reasonable. There's some sub-$70 Orvis reels out there. IM6? I knew fly rods were pricier but  . My main rod is IM10 and when I use my backup with IM7, it feels sloppy and insensitive even though it's a lighter rod. I'm looking around at used TFO inshore setups but I could also buy my roommates $400 Sage for like $220 since he wants something else. I probably should have headed to the local fly shop tonight for their free weekly fly tying class where I could have tried out a couple rigs. For the reels I like the idea of a Pfleuger or Orvis or maybe even an Okuma. I've been using nothing but Shimano reels for a while and it'll be nice to be forced to try something else.The-Mole posted:Those are all a response to what I saw last time I went fishing with people who had never been fishing before. And yeah, I know nothing about many kinds of fishing, that is mostly about where to find trout, though the whole "figure out where the food enters the body of water and try your luck there" applies to most fish. Correct away. I read it as advice to someone who had no clue and I agree with most of what you said  . For those of us who already fish a ton, we know sometimes you have try 10 different things in a couple hours to get a bite. :PIt's awesome that this thread is getting active, I'll contribute pictures in the next day or two! I might even do a simple writeup on fishing inshore flats, even though that's pretty region specific. I've learned a lot over the past 2 years fishing mostly the same flats and mangroves. HenryJLittlefinger posted:Which is in turn dependent on moon phase, barometric pressure, how you tied your shoes, and if you're eating the right brand of sunflower seeds. True
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Apr 16, 2014 00:55
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IM FROM THE FUTURE posted:Got a new casting setup for my birthday today. Pumped to rip some lips with this thing. Almost bought an all Abu setup but I liked the shimano stuff more. That's sexy. My main stick is a MH crucial with a stradic fj 3000. It's nice and I bet that rod is gonna cast amazing and be super sensitive yet powerful and exciting with a fish on the other end. Here's what I caught on mine tonight  : 30" redfish in 8" of water! Never caught one this big this shallow. Easily over 10 pounds.  26" snook. though it wasn't that much shorter than the red it was probably half it's weight. It ate the pink and chartreuse mirrodine my girlfriend picked out a couple weeks ago:  This is skinny water red fishing:  The tailing redfish are finally here . I am lucky as hell to live 5 minutes away from a flat that will have tailing reds from now until September. I also opted for a fly setup over a tarpon rig so now I have a TFO BVK and RIO redfish line on the way and I already received a Lamson Velocity 3x I ordered for barely over the price of a decent cast reel since it's being discontinued. Initially I wanted to just go cheap on the reel but for only $175 I got a fully machined reel with sweet sealed drag that weighs only 5.1 ozs! I'm super stoked about the rig and hope to be posting pics of redfish caught on the fly in the next couple of weeks. The lonely reel awaits it's rod and line. Being a cheapskate, I ordered my 8wt TFO BVK from Stillwater Fly shop online for the same price as can be had locally ($260) because it came with a free fly line, I chose Rio Redfish which would have cost another $80 and they also threw in 200 yards of 20lb backing, a $15 value. The tradeoff is I have to wait a couple weeks to get it since it comes from TFO to them first. Here are a few of the fish I caught in March and early April. Unfortunately these are taken on an iPhone 4 and sometimes no one is around to take the photo.  More typical year around depth of 2-3'.      Of course there are many more little ones than big ones that we stop to snap pictures of. Although some days like today, only big fish are caught. In addition to the 2 fish at the top of this post one of my fishing buddies landed his personal best snook of over 40" on the outer sandbar a half hour before i caught my redfish. I want to get the picture from him but it was simply beastly, one of the biggest snook I've seen caught wading. When it rains later in the week I want to fish a spillway for my first tarpon. IM FROM THE FUTURE Nice loving fish! I'm jealous man. Can you recommend a decent waterproof camera for less than $300? I'd like something to take better fishing pictures while I'm wading or SUP fishing. It would also be cool while snorkeling in the keys.
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May 13, 2014 07:14
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IM FROM THE FUTURE posted:Thanks. Florida Reprezent! Obviously Florida is just the jam on both coasts... Awesome fish! Jealous of those reds and that fly rod, planning on doing more red / trout / drum fishing in flamingo soon. Currently rebuilding my dads old inshore boat and will be taking that down there quite a bit once finished. Ive wanted to get into saltwater flyfishing for forever but neve have enough quality regular tackle to justify. Fly fishing is fun and its even more fun away from obstructions. Fishing the flats with a fly on a SUP sounds like a fun rear end time. Hell yeah, Florida is awesome and it's sad when coworkers complain about just going home tired and hoping to do something fun on the weekend.....I've been doing 10 hour days at the office and still getting 2 hours of fishing in afterwards when I feel like it. IM FROM THE FUTURE posted:Ended up returning the shimano crucial for a G.Loomis after much debate. The action is pretty similar but the GLoomis has a cork handle and looks like sex. Its a 7 foot stick with a short but making it 6'8". drat that was quick! G.Loomis has some nice rods but how does the warranty compare? My crucial has a no questions asked over the counter warranty, which I can say from experience is truly OTC. I've walked in with a broken rod and my receipt and walked out with a brand new crucial twice now (first one was the old model with IM9). I actually need to buy a backup flats rod for my GF to use since my friend drunkenly broke my Ohero rod last weekend. I like the St. Croix mojo in shores in medium light a lot but the warranty isn't great. I may get a Shimano Clarus or something just so I can get a lifetime OTC warranty. It's seriously nice to have.
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May 14, 2014 04:46
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Armed Neutrality posted:I have an Olympus Tough 3000 point and shoot I keep in my vest, or I'll carry a GoPro on a mount on my net. Two votes for the Olympus, I'll definitely have to find somewhere to check it out. The Litespeeds look pretty sweet but I've read of an easily bent frame due to the extreme milling and the price is more than I want to pay. I actually bought a Lamson Konic 3.5 two saturdays ago, but literally drove back and returned it 30 minutes later and went online and ordered the Velocity 3x for a total of $20 more (including shipping). Now I have a fully machined super light but strong reel that should last years and years and looks SO much sexier than the Konic, which honestly looks cheap in person and doesn't match many rods well. I know that's purely aesthetic but being lighter, fully machined and coming with the Hard Alox finish it is a much nicer reel. Even though they have the same drag I noticed on the Konic when I loosed drag to max it became a little harder to crank in (as in to retrieve). When I tightened the drag a bit it loosened up, but it felt kinda cheap. On the velocity no matter how loose or tight the drag is set, the retrieve feels smooth and consistent. A minor detail as many people like their Konics. For your 6 wt, why not pay an extra  and make the jump from cheap cast reels up to fully machined pieces? This would be way sweeter: http://www.sierratradingpost.com/lamson-velocity-reel-v2~p~75749/?filterString=fishing-reels~d~188%2F&colorFamily=31I received mine on the 5th business day after ordering from STP. *Full disclaimer* I still haven't actually fished my reel but I have spent many minutes fondling it
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May 14, 2014 04:59
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IM FROM THE FUTURE posted:The warranty is the same on both, but after pool casting with the GL2 im not sure I like the action as much. I might go back to the crucial despite not liking everything about it. The action and sensitive tip was too nice. Just googled it and Gloomis has a lifetime warranty but it only covers manufacturers defects. Usually those make themselves known in the first few uses or after a few fish. The crucial (at least the inshore versions) has a no questions asked warranty. I have literally walked into the store I bought it from and said hey my rod broke I need a new one and then walked around and grabbed a brand new one off the shelf and walked out. I don't want to make this thread our personal back and forth so I'll leave now and go back to watching fly cast videos long after I should have been asleep.
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May 14, 2014 06:47
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HenryJLittlefinger posted:Marine fish that do a lot of sustained high-speed swimming have some version of that really stocky, inflexible body shape. It's basically huge muscle groups that all put a shitload of power into the tail and peduncle. They all swim in what's called thunniform (literally, "like a tuna") motion, and only move roughly the back third of their body. Most freshwater fishes have more of an anguilliform (eel-like) swimming form. They don't need to be so specialized for swimming long distances at high speed against ocean currents, and their bodies are more flexible for, say, poking around in the weeds. Can you relabel that image with "slower action" on the left and "fast action" on the right? lol Aren't you the resident fisheries biologist? I had a biology degree but only got to study fish in the very last chapter of my Limnology textbook. I was pissed, thought the entire class was about fish in ponds but apparently there were much more important things to study like turbidity and other crap I don't care about and long since forgot. Also my university had 8000 students enrolled in biology programs but only offered a Marine biology every spring semester and it only seated 10 students.  Majoring in biology was the worst.
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May 15, 2014 00:17
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Kid Golbez posted:And the federal red snapper season goes from 11 days to 9 days... why don't they just close it and be done with it? I keep hoping this management is just due to incompetence, but it keeps looking more and more like corruption or at the very least an total anti-recreational fishing agenda. Corruption. There should be NO commercial fishing for any species that is considered overfished. If Red Snapper are truly endangered, they should be made a Gamefish. That is the best way to protect a fish species. Take snook in FL. Strict seasons, only 1 fish per day, requires an extra snook stamp and has a tight slot size. I've caught near 200 snook in the past 6 months and only 8 were within the slot size of 28"-33". Of those, only 5 were caught during a legal season. I only harvested 2. But the American Red Snapper debacle is mired in corruption, the commercial fisherman have lobbied extensively and have bought plenty of politicians. I think TheOnlineFisherman.com did a pretty thorough writeup on it last year if anyone wants to google it.
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May 15, 2014 01:39
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St.Croix makes excellent rods but have the same kind of warranty as GLoomis and most others. That is to say there ARE questions asked and it's NOT a free replacement. It'll be $50+ to replace (each time) and you have to mail yours in and go rodless* for a couple weeks. Hell, like I said earlier I want a st croix Mojo inshore for a backup rod, but I'm probably gonna get a Shimano Clarus just for the warranty. *j/k we all have more than one rod
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May 15, 2014 22:23
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Scrapez posted:Do you guys really break rods enough to worry about warranties? For me it's all about the price of the rod. If I could buy a rod that felt great in my hands for less than $50 with absolutely no warranty I would do that all day long. In reality I have to spend about $100-150 to get a spinning rod that I love and I want the best warranty I can get. If I'm choosing between a similarly priced and specced Mercedes vs BMW and one has a 5 year and one has a 30 year warranty, the choice is very simple to me. DoctaFun posted:I can honestly say I've never broken a fishing rod in about 16 years of fishing. The fiberglass and primitive graphite rods of yesteryear are not known for breaking. My dad has only broken 1 rod in his whole life whereas I broke 3 in the past two years (but those are the only ones in almost 20 years of fishing). The difference is mine are much lighter and thinner while being strong enough to handle the same fish. They are definitely less forgiving with regards to accidents and user error and are more prone to fail catastrophically in the case of manufacturer's defects. Modern rods are extremely light and strong, but are more brittle and prone to breaking than cheaper graphite or fiberglass rods. Nice rods that feel like a feather and are extremely sensitive and can cast a mile are more likely to break than a $40 ugly stik. That being said on monday a friend of a friend was on the flat with us and caught a HUGE snook on an $8 walmart rod. It creaked and moaned but ultimately landed the biggest fish of his life. Nonetheless I would not use that rod unless I have no choice because it was whippy and heavy and not at all comfortable to use IMO. DoctaFun posted:
One cool thing about a lifetime OTC warranty is that if they stop making or carrying the rod, you get the modern day equivalent . When my old IM9 crucial broke at the tip (extremely thin tip known for being fragile) it was replaced with the new IM10 based crucial and not only that but I was able to change from a 7 foot medium power to a 7'6" medium heavy which weighed only a fraction more and has handled some fat fish.
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May 16, 2014 07:08
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If you like something else I'm sure BPS will let you swap. Like I said I've broken 2 crucials about 8-12" from the tip within a month of using them. My current replacement has been good for over a year and caught hundreds of solid fish. Being extremely thin in tip yet with a strong butt I'm sure it will someday break and I'll have to exchange it. Got another decent (23") snook last night on the flats and lost another.
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May 16, 2014 14:53
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IM FROM THE FUTURE posted:Went to bass pro and spent a LONNG time examining every rod between 150 and 250. The Gloom was the best all around package by far. The guides arent that great, its not that light, but it was the nicest rod of all the ones I used. The shimano crucial was a close second, but the handle sucks as much as the tip is great. The warranty almost made me buy it, but I couldnt get away from the GL2 and its amazing handle. Awesome! Cool to see ya out there with pops just having a great time. My dad taught me to fish and loves it, but he's 2 hours away and we've only fished once together in past four years. It was a crap windy day with a blown out tide and we didn't even see a fish. I'd love to have a picture of my dad or I holding a big fish with the other in the frame as well....hell might as well both be holding a fish  . But drat, you're doing it right IM FROM THE FUTURE.
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May 17, 2014 20:43
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FogHelmut posted:I want to get into surf fishing, but don't know anyone who does it or where to begin. Obviously, get a long rod and cast into the ocean. What else is there to know? Depending on where you are, most fish may be relatively close to shore, like in the surf zone. So the goal is usually not to cast as far as possible.
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May 27, 2014 13:42
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Barfoid 3 posted:There's basically no place to even buy fishing gear in my fail city. You are almost certainly mistaken. Well I guess it's possible if there are no fishable bodies of water within 50 miles or something, but otherwise you can find gear. And you also have the Bangkero option.
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May 27, 2014 23:42
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Bangkero posted:oh hey there, I need help from surf fishergoons. I'm off camping on Assateague Island (http://goo.gl/maps/KWThS) at the end of the month and wanted to try out surf fishing for any surf fish I can cook up (flatfishes I wanna tryout). That's definitely not an ideal setup, but it will work. Be careful loading the rod to cast that much weight, it's probably rated for less than a 1/2 oz. Take it slow and cast in one long graceful motion. Fish the drag pretty light but tight enough to get the hook to penetrate. Look for a "different" looking area on the beach. Google maps can help you find slightly deeper areas or areas near a creek outflow. Fish the early morning and evening/night, the fish come in closer.
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May 28, 2014 19:18
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FogHelmut posted:I'm going to get this Okuma Tundra Combo. If I end up loving surf fishing so much to buy something nicer, then I'll have two rods, and that will be even better. That is a fine rod for bait but you will not enjoy working many lures. Big soft plastics with a paddle tail or spoons would be fine since you can just reel them straight in. IM FROM THE FUTURE posted:imho something like surf fishing is fine with cheap rods. They dont need to be sensetive and light and allow for accurate casts like a typical bass fishing etc setup. Id say a rule of "get a big rear end cheap rod and ad a big decent spinner" is a good rule of thumb. Even old stuff is probably fine for surf fishing. For bait, yes. For lures you want the same things in a rod you look for in a nice inshore or bass setup. Lightweight, sensitive, moderate fast-fast action and as small a reel as will hold the line you need. The guys fishing for striped bass on the beaches and jetties up north actually spend a lot more than your average nice spinning setup. A St. Croix mojo inshore rod is like $120 but the mojo surf rods are over $300 last I checked. Long range accuracy can also be really important in order to get your bait where the fish are blitzing. All the same you can catch excellent fish on a junk setup, hell in a lot of places offshore commercial fisherman use hand lines, though I would absolutely not recommend that for fishing on a beach. -- Yesterday, exactly one week after I received it, my TFO BVK 8wt fly rod broke. It snapped right as I arrived on the water while I was gently shaking the line out of the rod to get enough out to begin casting. It is a really clean cut right between the feet on the second guide. I'll try to post a picture tomorrow. Called TFO and they said they'll waive the normal $25 copay on a rod replacement. He also said the clean break indicates the blank probably had a scratch or damage in that spot, typically a defect with the fibers results in a jagged or frayed break. If the replacement breaks under such light use, I am going to sell it (once replaced) on eBay for a minor loss. Really not even a loss because I got Rio Redfish line free with it ($80 value) and I can easily get $200 for the rod ($260 new).
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May 29, 2014 04:56
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Wow that was a serious  post!A couple things I want to clear up because I believe you are mixing up facts a bit. 1) In 99% of fishing, you want your leader to be stronger than your running line. This is because you need abrasion resistance to protect against the fish's teeth, gills, body, etc. Also to protect against them rubbing that line against structure. You want the part of the line in contact with the fist to be the strongest. 2) The exception to the above, as you already mentioned, is fly fishing. In fly fishing you want the leader to be the weakpoint, because if your fly line breaks you are out $80. For spinning or conventional gear, mono and braid are pretty cheap (less than $30, as cheap as $5 to spool up). Having a soft tippet also protects your fly rod, which are typically wimpier than spinning or conventional gear designed for the same size fish. 3) As far as losing your running line (mono or braid), that is usually not a worry. The weakest point and thus the most likely to break is always going to be a knot. Example: braid with breaking strenght of 15 lbs and 30 lb fluorocarbon leader. The weak point would be braid to fluoro knot. This knot will be weaker than the original 15 lb strength of the braid. Knots ALWAYS make the line weaker than no knot. The above scenario is a common inshore rig of mine and in the few instances of breakoffs, I always get all of my braid back, minus the 3 feet of fluorocarbon leader. I've never had a breakoff occur randomly down my running line except in 1 case where I'm sure the line was defective, it was an extremely thin 10 pound braid and you could feel the line get thinner near where it broke off. Another example: Say you are using 10 pound mono line, you don't really have to use a leader as 10 lb mono is hard to see underwater. If you do use a leader, it should be a stronger leader, for the reasons I mentioned above. As far as trying to save the fish by ensuring a breakoff results in the minimum line being dragged around by the fish, it would seem a weak leader would ensure they don't end up pulling 50 yards of line, but conversely you are greatly increasing the odds of a fish breaking off in the first place, and thus increasing the chances of them swimming off with a hook and some line. You should not be breaking off very often when fishing, unless you are hooking the bottom and losing your rig. As coyo7e stated, you can catch pretty big fish on really light line. The key is to make sure your drag is set right. It should be tight enough to set the hook (although you will probably hear some line pulling out when you set the hook) but loose enough that there is a cushion for the fish to run without breaking the line. Also hold the rod at a 45* angle and fight the fish with the butt of the rod and the reel, don't high stick or hold the rod straight up as that places undue stress on the rod, and don't point the rod straight at the fish because that will place all the force on the line itself. tl;dr you don't need to create weakness in your line via a light leader because your leader to lure knot or your leader to mainline knot are already your weakest links in your connection, so you should already be breaking off at or near the end of your line. Oh yea, as far as swivels, keep terminal tackle to a minimum. The only metal in my setup is the hook . Albright knots connect two different sized lines, uni to uni or blood knots connect similarly sized lines. Canoe man's loop knots for the terminal tackle (hook/lure).
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Jun 30, 2014 21:27
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Excellent trip report ElZilcho! The scenary looks beautiful out there but I gotta admit I'd be worried about crocs out there. Do they inhabit areas that far west and south? I know they are all over the tidal areas of the northern territory and even along the beaches. Basically I would never get within 10 feet of shore of any body of water in northern Australia, and this is coming from a guy who regularly wades through similar environments in Florida where we have obviously have gators.
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Jul 8, 2014 15:30
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That's a drat fine Tuna. Never even seen a live one, but I know just through reputation they are probably the single hardest fighting fish out there! That being said if you asked us to guess I would have figured that fish around 120-150 pounds just comparing it next to the feet/legs in the picture as well as the size of the pallet. I've heard those things fight so hard that their bodies overheat tremendously and the meat can cook itself unless you immediately bury it in ice water. Did you experience this at all? I know for a fact if I caught that thing I would have ate enough raw tuna to get helicopter lifted off the frigate for medical care.
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Jul 29, 2014 00:18
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Palomar is a great knot to join line to a bobber or weight. For lures or hooks I always use a Loop knot of some kind. 99% of the time I use a Canoe Man's Loop (google it). The palomar is really strong, I've tested it against clinch knots and it wins almost every time. BUT the action of your lure or bait is very much reduced because you are completely clamping down on the eye of the hook. Tie a lure to your leader with a palomar and dangle it in the air. Now tie a [any] loop knot and dangle it. The lure/hook will dance and wiggle MUCH more. The pros all use loop knots for their terminal knot, even when fishing for monsters like Tarpon or shark.
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Aug 19, 2014 23:00
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bunnielab posted:Ok, I want to buy a set up for pier fishing over the fall and winter. How does this set up look: Don't buy that rod. I'd get a ST croix mojo or tidemaster for the money. Maybe even a Shimano terramar.
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Oct 8, 2014 06:31
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Seasons greetings from Tampa Bay!  Yes we're still wading at night in bathing suits, winter isn't real.
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Dec 4, 2014 19:24
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What is a nice baitcaster under $150? It's for a guy that already has older ok gear but girls gonna buy her dad a nice modern low profile for Christmas. Main use will be tossing soft plastic worms in rivers and lakes for LMB. There's some structure such as tree branches, floating logs, cypress trees, floating and submerged vegetation, but he's not flipping into deep lilies or docks all day. I was thinking a 7.1 gear ratio would be cool for him--way less winding then he's used to. Also don't say Shimano Curado cause I can't find one for <$150. How important is all aluminum frame versus graphite side plates for durability?
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Dec 5, 2014 00:27
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JRay88 posted:Question for the guys who kayak fish: What do you wear? If you are fair skinned wear breathable fabric pants. I fish on a SUP but when my roommate comes on his kayak he gets sunburn on the tops of his thighs and shins. They have zero sun protection if you wear shorts or swim trunks.
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Jan 11, 2015 15:31
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extra stout posted:Thanks again for the advice everyone, I thought of doing this but called Dicks and the guy said the Ugly GX2 was 39.99, ten bucks cheaper than Amazon. Went down there and it was 49.99 but he remembered misquoting the price, so he sold it to me for 40. Spent a couple more dollars on 330 yard/6 pound line. Two bobbers and ten "worm and chunk bait" hooks. Hopefully I can clip a knife on my belt and boom, a new hobby is born. Most species aren't in season until April 1st here so I've just got to keep reading/watching til then and get my license. I would go ahead and do a little CnR fishing before the season opens. It may not be as easy as you remember . Down here we have very particular slots. It's pretty easy to catch a snook. It's a lot harder to catch a snook measuring between 28"-33" in season.
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Mar 18, 2015 06:22
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 05:41 |
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On stripersonline forums I read of dudes who skish at night.  like they swim and drift miles along the beach catching stripers. I'd be really really worried about great whites out there. And people do die fishing on jetties up north but a helmet wouldn't help. Most of the time they get washed out and get hypothermia and drown. If anything a life jacket would be more valuable than a helmet I would think.
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Mar 31, 2015 21:04
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