SirSnookalot

Light tackle.......lol, couldn't handle that fish from a pier on light tackle. Light tackle set up would not hold enough 25# line and 30 minutes fight time is pretty short on light tackle, not too mention the size of the bait, hard to imagine casting the bait on light gear, even free lining. A real nice catch, but that isn't light tackle.

Great fun on spinning tackle, caught this one on a spinner last year.

I hope you do.............best time for those bigger cudas on a tube is the incoming tide, I'll give one of my homemade tubes, not that they work better but are made with better tubing and last longer. The cudas we have been catching this week are small, dinner table size, mostly caught on live bait. I got bored with it , so yesterday I went to Juno beach and jupiter inlet, not a strike on anything, and didn't see anyone else catching fish. My buddy got his boat back from service, haven't been offshore in nearly a month, heading out this morning for some hopeful offshore action.

I like what I'm using, but i'm always willing to try something different. At present I'm pretty well set on my freshwater and inshore gear, I am looking at another offshore outfit. The Fin Nor Marquesa has caught my eye, I'm considering a Terez for it.

Fishing that particular spot I'm always walking back and forth. Even if my net was out of my car already the chances of me being close to it usually is slim. The problem was the fisherman not being able to keep the fished buttoned, I know Bassn would have no trouble, lol. Most of the fish I catch in that spot don't go real big, I can lift or spring most of them out, probably the average fish only goes 7-8# there. Other places I fish, much of the time I have a pier net with me, dropping a pier net 10-12' or more and holding on to the rod at the same time isn't easy, best done with 2 people.

Spoons will cause line twist even with braid. I fish spoons with leaders tied with a swivel, crane swivels will not reduce line twist but BB ones do help a little bit, also different style spoons cause less or more twist. My spoons and lures are attached using a loopknot, regardless whether the spoon out of the box has a swivel, split ring, or nothing. I do not put extra effort into putting on additional hardware, one reason is I get cut off so much it just doesn't pay.

When I first started fishing with my father we never targeted the smaller fish right off the bat. Most of the time we worked our way down the size chain, starting with pike, walleye, bass, if the bite was weak we fished perch, crappies and bluegills. The procedure varied between inland lakes and Lake St Clair and the Great Lakes, we had salmon and sturgeon and muskie to target first.

Don't give me too much credit, it wasn't that difficult, probably only took 5-7minutes or so (not that I time them), fish was only 15-20#. IMO a jumping fish is easier to land than a deep diving fish if you can keep it buttoned. Every time a fish jumps, it has no strength in mid air. I've had 25# fish that had to be run down with the boat because they were divers, and that's with conventional gear too. Your carp on 8# is a great feat, the key is patience and never horsing it in. It goes back to the question in the original post, "what's a good rod". I use inshore rods for my freshwater fishing, I don't think there is any difference in them except for maybe the way they are rated. A good rod for me is one that has backbone to pull fish out of cover and can handle some larger fish too, fatigue for some is also a factor.. I like 7' as an all around size, I can do just about anything I want with it, what I can't do with it are techniques that I have no interest in anyway. I do not care to use longer rods when it's very windy, 7' or less is much easier to handle for me. With the exception of some of the phone poles, I do not feel sensitivity is near as important as the rod and reel being comfortable, even when using mono lines I believe I feel just about everything. Today $75- $100 buys a nice rod, I haven't found the need spend more.

You're right about pulling a fish out of slop, sometimes it takes more backbone than landing a bigger fish. I landed (in heavy current) a tarpon this morning on a med spinning 7'6 8/17 with 15# line, just glad I had enough line and it wasn't a jack crevelle, that I would not have landed.

I needed him this morning. Not long after he posted this morning I hooked into tarpon, after an acrobatic display, which would have made a nice highlight reel, I did tame this beast and held it at bay along the sea wall. I don't have a good pic of a tarpon and had my cellphone with me, so I'm yelling to some guy to grab my rod and the fish next to the sea wall while I got my pier net. After a leisurely walk I hand my rod to this young man and proceeded to get the net from my car, not more than 20 paces away. Wasn't my day, after keeping the fish pinned down this fellow loses it for me in less than 10 seconds........Could I expect more from a mangrove snapper fisherman?.............lol.

That snook was caught on the south side about 1/2 between the bridge and back sea wall. No big cudas this week but they smaller ones have been there every morning, we have been using live bait to catch them. Quite often we can easily go days or weeks without hooking up with a tube, but when they hit a tube, they are big. I want to go to Hobe sound or Juno, but the weather has been to calm, I've got a spot at Jupiter inlet that might be dynamite from shore. I've been at the B. inlet everday......no snook the last 2 days, leaving in a few minutes.

With all due respect if you are asking that question, you are probably a novice, most people with even limited experience would have a good basic idea. If this were my one and only rod, I'd opt for a 7', med or mh is going to vary from mfg to mfg, so I would pay close attention to recommended lure weight of the rod. I would not overspend on my first rod, plenty of decent rods around $75 (or less) to get you started, if fishing catches on with you, you may decide to upgrade you equipment at a later time.

We get those Ribbonfish in the fall, all over the place and they do destroy lures, a real pain. Some people use them for Kingfish bait. Ever see one of these?..........Trumpet fish

Whether it's a good idea or not it is a tool I have no use for. Much of the time my smartphone isn't even with me, unless I'm expecting a very important call. Lund is an old dog and so am I, I grew up fishing in Michigan in a rowboat with 1 or 2 rods with no electronics what so ever, caught plenty of fish then and still do without those aids. Fishing serves 2 purposes for me, one is to get away and not be bothered by distractions, and two is to challenge myself. Having 15 rods, 6 tackle bags, fish finders, side imaging, 70 mph boats, lake maps and the internet to get information before leaving your home..............how much easier do some want it to be? I know many will say all that is needed because of fishing pressure, I say that's an excuse, not a reason.

Not that I advocate smoking but nothing works better of faster than a cigarette, just the flame from a lighter works excellent as well, the cauterized end helps in preventing any pull thru. Pliers with titanium cutters do the job too, I do not like to carry more things than I need.

I started fishing with my father about 1950, several times a week for nearly 40 years, both fresh and saltwater. Compared to what I'm using today his gear was junk, technology has made great improvements and I'm sure it will continue. When my dad passed away my mother threw out his gear, I was never so happy in my life, hope my wife does the same, my grandson can buy what he wants.

Nothing in fishing is cheating except breaking a tournament rule or a state regulation. If one's goal is just to enjoy themselves I don't quite understand how I would be cheating by catching a nice fish in a roadside ditch.

With any species you have to be prepared to take the bitter with the sweet. When one bits is slow that's the time to look for other species. In Florida, for me summer is never a good time for bass, the weather does not moderate, it's pretty much the same every day for 3 solid months. Once it starts to cool just a bit, the bass turn on.

Glad to say I have seen none in my area of Palm Beach County. When it comes to freshwater fishing I much prefer bass and peacocks. I don't know about anyone else, but I would not eat anything out of those disgusting canals, I really don't even enjoy fishing in them. Road runoff, pesticides from golf courses, farming, garbage and all kinds of debris floating around.

Probably trying to make a firework, but really didn't know how. Given the area I would be surprised if some government agency did not talk to this guy. From my own experience I can say the FBI on our home soil takes the slightest thing very serious. I was at a bank during a robbery, never knew it took place, several hours later the FBI visited me at my home, totally prepared with photos. I was questioned for a fairly lengthy time. Another time I was at a defense contractor in Michigan picking up scrap. I saw an M-1 tank on a RR track, curious I went over to take a look, didn't get within a few feet and sirens were blasting. Don't recall the agency, but they were on site, I was questioned for quite a while before being releasing.

I think it's all about location, but don't really know for sure. We mostly have smaller ones here 10-50# and very few are even 50#. At times we do see 100#+, I do not cast at them. I don't use gear heavy enough or have enough line to handle them when I'm inshore fishing, can't pick them up to a jettie either. When using live or cut bait (mullet heads are supposed to be primo) you just have no control of what's swimming by, If I were doing that I'd be using some very heavy equipment. My preference for any species is sight casting, tarpon roll to gulp air so they give you a target to cast at.

Caught 2 this morning predawn on windcheaters........also had about 10 cudas, 6 on spoon and 4 using live bait.

Great report !!!!!!!!!!! No question, tarpon are very formidable fish, keeping them buttoned while the non stop acrobatics is taking place and their sheer strength make landing them a real task. I target juveniles, 50# is more than enough to suit my taste and I really prefer them smaller. I was watching the Boca Grande tarpon tournament, the gear being using for the 120-180# fish they were catching is a 40# rod, 50# braid, 80# shock leader and a conventional reel set at about 18# of drag. These fish are still being run down to land them, it's a team effort between angler and helmsman, catching one on a kayak is something really special.

Fishing is fishing, techniques don't really differ between freshwater and inshore fishing, some freshwater techniques actually got their start in saltwater, like a drop shot and not the A rig. The major difference is in freshwater you have to locate the fish and in inshore fishing your have to wait until the fish come into your area, they aren't always there. Enticing a strike in saltwater often times is much easier, if the fish are there. Hour for hour I catch more fish freshwater, can't tell you how many times I've gone days without a saltwater strike. You must always keep your eye on the sky and the water, birds circling, bait pods and hopefully busting fish. Bluefish are awesome fighters, the more north you go the bigger they get. A blue isn't shy, they hit anything, I'd be using spoons as they will wreck hard lures and bite tight thru soft plastics, they have very strong jaws.

You are right, they are strong. I've noticed what other brands call MH, mine are mediums, I don't really know if there is a difference between a freshwater rod and an inshore, except from the labeling. The 3 rods I use for freshwater are all inshore, even my older clarus (med 6/12) had that title. I'm very pleased with them, I do have a couple of dust collectors and the reason they are collecting dust is because I don't like the rods.