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Tackle
We will
fish with artificials and/or live bait, as you
prefer. For an artificial lure it is hard to beat a Bucktail Jig
in anything but the shallowest water. In shallow water a weedless
spoon, soft jerk-bait or top-water plug is obviously a better
choice. There is no wrong way to fish a jig and there are not many
fish that will not hit one if in a feeding mood. I mash down the
barb of the hook on all artificials in order to make un-hooking
and releasing fish easier.
Bait
Live shrimp can be "Texas rigged" with the barb of the hook mashed
down. A shrimp rigged this way will stay on the hook when cast and will
not snag during the retrieve. Casting a rigged shrimp to a tailing
Redfish is an exciting form of
fishing.
Fish
Redfish, Snook and Spotted Sea-Trout are
available year round and are the main targeted species in this area. Others
are targeted certain times of the year, such as Tarpon.
Snook have 2 closed seasons during
the year in Florida, those being June, July and August (May also on the Gulf
coast) and December 15 thru January 31. It is a personal thing with me, but
I will not target Snook during the closed seasons. May - August are their
spawning months and instead of bothering them I
would rather they make more fish for the coming years. December and
January closing is due to the cold-water
stress the fish are enduring.
 In addition to those already mentioned, the mix of species
in this area includes Mangrove Snapper, Flounder, Spanish
Mackerel, Jack Crevalle and Cobia. Also two of my
favorites (both to catch and dine on), are Tripletail and Sheepshead.
Tripletail can be fished for most of the year except
the winter months and are a great hard-fighting fish to pursue. Sheepshead
are a year round species but
mostly targeted in the winter months.
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