Brdhntr47 Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 I fish the beaches here in Florida every morning. I walk the beach looking for signs of feeding fish and cast artificial lures on light tackle. If I don’t see any signs of fish I blind cast. Some days I catch fish and others are just casting practice. Florida is the “Bait Fishing Capital of the World” so I am a bit of a novelty. This time of year I mostly catch Bluefish, Jack Crevalle and Spanish Mackeral. As the season progresses and the water warms other species will be on the beaches. Blacktips should be around in the next couple weeks but they require a upgrade in tackle or I will just be feeding them $20 top water plugs. Link to post Share on other sites
GraceinVA Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 Man I love some surf fishing. Went to college around VA Beach and the Chesapeake Bay. Had some awesome surf/salt water fishing down there. I used to pawn off old video games from our party house to buy jig heads and gulps. You ever catch flounder? Link to post Share on other sites
fishvik Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 I grew up in CT and I miss catching blues off the beach. Link to post Share on other sites
Brdhntr47 Posted January 13 Author Share Posted January 13 54 minutes ago, GraceinVA said: Man I love some surf fishing. Went to college around VA Beach and the Chesapeake Bay. Had some awesome surf/salt water fishing down there. I used to pawn off old video games from our party house to buy jig heads and gulps. You ever catch flounder? I don’t fish for Flounder as I only fish artificial lures. However last year I did catch a very large Flounder on a top water plug during a Bluefish blitz. I also occasionally catch Pompano on top water. Also last year I caught 3 Whiting on top water. You never know what will grab a lure in the surf. Link to post Share on other sites
Brdhntr47 Posted January 13 Author Share Posted January 13 1 hour ago, fishvik said: I grew up in CT and I miss catching blues off the beach. Hard to believe but I catch a bunch more Blues in Florida than anywhere in the northeast. But then I fish every day that I am in Florida. Link to post Share on other sites
snood Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 5 minutes ago, Brdhntr47 said: However last year I did catch a very large Flounder on a top water plug during a Bluefish blitz. That's interesting! I mean, who'd a thunk? Good eating though, hope the luck continues. Link to post Share on other sites
Brdhntr47 Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 Today was a balmy 52 degrees with 15 MPH wind out of the NNW. A great day for wet wading in the surf. The first wave hit me about waist high (that wasn’t planned) so it was a bit chilly till the sun came up. The day turned out to be a Two Pounder Day. Two pound Bluefish in the rough surf jump like crazy. The fish were about 40 yards off the sand in 3’ - 4’ waves. I have run into this many times in Florida and most of the Blues throw the lure. Today was no exception. 15 of the little guys on and only landed 7. I guess that’s not really that bad considering that I have had similar days and lost 90%. Link to post Share on other sites
aje4 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 You ever keep a few for the grill? Link to post Share on other sites
WI Outdoor Nut Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 Please keep sharing your adventures. I am just learning surf fishing (when I visit) and can't wait to get back at it again. I was just in FL and while I didn't surf fish, I did get out on the boat. I was hoping to get into reds, but the weather was not cooperative to head out, so we stayed in the back waters. Found a bunch of trout, and lost one red in the 8-10# range. Best part, all hand to hand combat using a swim bait like a bass assassin. If you don't mind sharing, what are you throwing? My wife and I are talking about heading back to FL possibly in Feb, but worse case, I am back on the beach in AL in March. Link to post Share on other sites
Brdhntr47 Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 2 hours ago, aje4 said: You ever keep a few for the grill? No, I don’t keep any fish I catch. I only like Cod and Grouper and they come from the local seafood market. Link to post Share on other sites
Brdhntr47 Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 2 hours ago, WI Outdoor Nut said: Please keep sharing your adventures. I am just learning surf fishing (when I visit) and can't wait to get back at it again. I was just in FL and while I didn't surf fish, I did get out on the boat. I was hoping to get into reds, but the weather was not cooperative to head out, so we stayed in the back waters. Found a bunch of trout, and lost one red in the 8-10# range. Best part, all hand to hand combat using a swim bait like a bass assassin. If you don't mind sharing, what are you throwing? My wife and I are talking about heading back to FL possibly in Feb, but worse case, I am back on the beach in AL in March. You can catch any fish in the Florida Surf on a silver spoon. Off the top of my head, that would include Blues, Spanish & King Mackeral, Ladyfish, Snook, Jacks, Bluerunners, Sennet, Barracuda, Blacktips, Spinners, Tarpon, etc. Use different sizes and vary the retrieves. My favorite is a cheap imitation of a Krocodile (sp) Spoon. I modify it with upgraded hardware and premium hooks. Big Jacks and Tarpon will straighten the stock hooks and split rings. Any type of swimming plug with a shallow running depth. I like something with silver or gold sides and dark top. Top water plugs, I prefer poppers. Size 5 or 6 inches. Color doesn’t matter, just lots of commotion. Quick story. Two years ago I had been catching some nice Jacks that were averaging 8 - 10 pounds in one small section of beach. That section of beach is very rocky so I started with Poppers. First cast a giant swirl, fish starts it’s run and line goes slack. Leader is cut. Shark. Retie with 100# leader. Next cast same thing. I have no wire with me so stay with the100# mono. Long story short. I lost 8 Poppers in 100 yards of beach. That’s $160. worth of Poppers. I called it a night. Every thing you use in the surf will work some of the time. I think the most important part is to keep trying different retrieves till you find one the fish like. Link to post Share on other sites
Brdhntr47 Posted January 15 Author Share Posted January 15 Flat water today. 1’ waves at 11 seconds. While you can see everything going on in those conditions the fish don’t usually like it. I was ready to write the day off. Wrong. Found a Bluefish blitz going on just at sunrise. 45 minutes of a fish on on every cast. Landed 14 Blues averaging 4 to 6 lbs. When that ended starting walking the beach north. Shortly, saw an oil slick on the water. I was hoping it was a school of Jacks feeding. No Jacks but more Blues. Had 12 on and landed 8. Those Blues were averaging over 6 lbs. One had to be nudging 10 lbs. I have only been here a couple weeks so my “old muscles” were not ready for that work out. As I walked back to my car I got a call from my wife letting me know that there were fish feeding on our beach. Got there in 10 minutes and could see fish feeding for a half mile. Walked out on the beach and there is no one fishing. One guy there watching the mayhem. He asked what was going on and I told him it was probably Bluefish. He told me he was from Idaho and never seen anything like this. He had just arrived the night before and had purchased a license on line but had no fishing gear yet. I handed him my rod and told him to give it a try. He made 3 casts with no strikes so I showed him a different way of retrieving the lure and it was game on for him. He had a half hour of outstanding fishing. Link to post Share on other sites
gunsrus Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Very interesting , thanks for sharing and keep it coming . Link to post Share on other sites
SODAKer Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Do you eat blue fish and if so how do you prepare; I've found them too strong for my taste. Link to post Share on other sites
Brdhntr47 Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 8 hours ago, SODAKer said: Do you eat blue fish and if so how do you prepare; I've found them too strong for my taste. I don’t eat any of the fish I catch. I do eat cod and grouper but they come from the local fish market. Link to post Share on other sites
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