SirSnookalot

This topic can really open up a can of worms. I honestly don't know why b/c are preferred by so many fisherman. I own but one baitcaster, as the name implies I use a B/C strictly fishing with bait and for fish that have a good chance of running over 50#, that said I have spinning gear that will accommodate those fish too and I prefer it. Prior to moving to Florida I fished Michigan over 50 years, nothing up there I couldn't handle on basic spinning tackle. Now in Florida my focus is more on SW, not that I don't fish for bass which I do nearly everyday as well, again basic spinning tackle pulls them out of the heaviest of slop without the need of 65# braid. Like 0119 said, he's more comfortable with spinning tackle and so am I, I can cast as accurate as I need to. I see lots of fishermen everyday, I could go for months without seeing a b/c. except heavier conventional reels for bait soaking.

Rules are different on the Atlantic side. Snook can be a very finicky fish, I've literally dropped a jig into a snook's mouth only to see it swim away. I've casted lures into a snook/tarpon frenzy dozens of times without a strike for up to an hour, they are too busy with live bait. Snook can be tough to entice a strike, but at other times nothing could be easier, a hookup on every cast, you just never know. Snook fishing is very similar to bass fishing. They are not the most formidable fighters you will run into in saltwater but a 10#+ will give you all you can handle, unless you have experience I would recommend not fishing with gear that's too light, especially if using bait.

Never thought there was a hoopla about jig fishing, maybe it's become popular for bass as of late but jigs have been a mainstay for about any gamefish in any venue for decades. There are a countless of variety jigs, all the way from a light crappie jig to offshore trolling jigs for billfish. If I were to own but 1 lure, it would be a bucktail jig, can catch just about anything on it in any body of water.

Giving advice on past personal experiences is an exercise in futility, everyone lives life differently. Reading the opening thread I'm of the opinion that Tony is not marriage material at the present time. I find no problem in having a good time at 28 yo, saving up a few bucks, establishing one's career until that lifestyle gets stale, it may or may not. If so, take a new direction at that time.

To quote the first guide I ever went with........"Tide is everything" Believe me, bait swimming around is a big help too, bait is staring to come in thick this time of year. Not that inshore fishing is complicated, there is a lot of information that will be learned along the way to make you more successful, just can't cover everything in a single thread. Let me give you a couple of bait tips to get you started. Whether using a net or sabiki, get yourself a 5 gallon plastic bucket to put your bait in, an aerator is not a bad idea, and a length of rope tied to the bucket to lower it to the water if on a pier or jettie. This is the secret, so don't tell anyone, lol.......especially if using a mullet, but all bait fish, clip a tail, dorsal or anal fin to make the fish seem in distress, isolating YOUR bait often times is the difference between catching them or not. Fishing should improve as the snook season ended yesterday. We can get into artificials, which I mostly do, and gear some other time. I don't recommend specific rods, reels and lines, but I will tell you what type of gear is popular for each venue and target species.

I inshore saltwater fish every day. Most of the time you will see the baitfish surfacing, easy to spot, sabiki rigs make catching them pretty easy, mullet have to be netted. For a novice I would recommend keeping it real simple at first, catch bait or buy some shrimp, squid, or frozen sardines, then play bait and wait, usually the most productive method. I'd start off casting by using spoons, bucktails, hard and soft jerkbaits. Learning the nuances of your target species in relationship to tides is most important, but don't over think just go fish. Summer is a good time to start learning, more bait and fish are around, wintertime can be real dead. When casting you need only 4 lures, spoon, bucktail jig, soft or hard jerkbait and a topwater lure. Many places have little or no structure, like the beach, in time you will learn where and how to cast on the beach. Snook love fast current, incoming waves and ambush from pier pylons and the sides of sea walls. Jacks for example just swim and look for bait, never no where or when they will show up...........just have to learn what is relative to your area.

Been on both sides, didn't get married until I was 46, 20 years ago. The last 20 have been the best of my life.

Organization is one thing and what I take with me on an outing is something else. When F.W. fishing I take no more than 4 or 5 different kinds of lures and if I suspect I may run into some vegetation I'll take some sort of soft plastic to rig weedless, everything fists nicely in my pockets, 1 rod. My SW gear is kept in my trunk in small boxes, 1 each for lures, jigs, spoons and some misc stuff. I use a good sized fanny pack with closeable lure boxes, more than enough tackle for any inshore outing I may do, as rule 2-3 rods. A lost lure is usually replaced on the way home from fishing. My gear at home is in on a couple of small shelves and a storage bin with drawers. Not too neat, but since I know where everything is, I guess I'd call it organized. I have around 20 or so combos, that hang vertical from a wall in my garage.

Season ends tonight at midnight, closed until sept 1. Inlets are usually good produces on the outgoing tide, this time of year don't be afraid to fish the incoming. I mostly fish Boynton so I'm most familiar with that area, never fished Hillsboro. Bucktails, windcheaters, flukes on jig heads are some of the better artificial lures to use, although snook and tarpon will hit most any bass lure. Look for good groundswell, wind from the east and strong current. West winds and flat waters generally do not produce as well. On a side note, I went to Coral Springs yesterday PM, struck out on snakeheads and that isn't the first time. I did manage some luck several months ago, I was blue in the face from throwing those frogs.

Offshore I use cocoons flip ups, have been very good. Inshore it's also flip ups for 2 reasons, I fish before sunrise and once the sun is up I prefer not to tie knots with sunglasses on, I just flip them up for a minute. Driving a car I wear regular prescription sunglasses, polarized makes the instrument panel hard to see.

I fish braid at the ocean nearly everyday, nothing heavier than 20#. If I'm using my stradics or daiwas I never get wind knots, there is no negative at all and it gets very windy here. Braid can be a nightmare if using lures than spin, like inline spinners or if you troll with certain kinds of spoons like a drone, j-spoon, clark, once the line is twisted it's too late, trash it. Only times I use mono lines are drift fishing with bait, trolling and casting for barracuda with my home made cuda tubes. I use braid 100% of the time in freshwater for every technique I employ, I've yet to have any negative. Give me a nice breeze 15-20 mph with a good 3' chop anytime for fishing.

Actually what was more surprising was the barracuda hitting the bonita. Bull sharks are very commonly around when catching bonita as they bleed a lot, 6-10 sharks isn't rare. It can be a little scary in a small 21-24 boat, I was on a 60' foot drift boat with high sides so no danger.

I get the terrorist thing Mine is chemically treated for insects too, I have it with me in the car but don't wear it too often, it quite warm. I use it on chilly mornings pulled around my neck. Very good line on insect repellent clothing http://www.exofficio.com/search/bugsaway/mens

Quite honestly it wasn't always the way I fished. Started fishing saltwater every morning for nearly 9 years, my hand just moved without ever planning, It just made handling the fish so much more efficient. I bass fish almost every afternoon ( in the cooler months), so I'm used to holding my rods like I do in saltwater. No question for me, as I've seen the results, saltwater fishing has greatly improved my bass fishing. One has to fish the way they are most comfortable, what works for me may not work for someone else.

When using lures, fish it just like you are bass fishing, there really is not much difference. The guide would be more benefit than me, he knows the area and the species. Let me give you a word or 2 on caution, even an 18" shark can take big a chunk out of you, sharks have no bone skeleton, it's a cartilige and can turn around 180 degrees. There are many species of fish you do not want to touch, they have spines that can give you a terrible infection, like a skip jack, squirrel fish, surgeon fish and countless others. I always wear sandals or shoes and step on a fish (or hold them with a towel) before I remove a hook, even small fish.............I learned the hard way. My health and safety comes before the preservation of any fish.

Don't you guys worry about about stepping on breaking them? My rods not in use are always in the above rod holder on the bimini top out of the way.

In my community, in Delray. I started off walking the canal behind my home, caught one maybe 2#, then switched over to one of my ponds and caught 3 more fish, they started busted bait which I haven't seen in while. This is about the time of the year the humidity brings out the gnats, last year was the worst I have seen. Between the heat and bugs out here I do very little bass fishing until maybe November, plus the saltwater action starts reving up about now.

I can add a 4th to the above list...........Braid getting wrapped around treble hooks can be a nightmare, leaders unwrap easily.

Landing a bull shark that size is more aggravation than it's worth, no real point to shooting it, we aren't going to eat it.

Obvious Tom is an old salt, "green fish" is a saltwater term for a fish that isn't ready to be landed. Once the fish is ripe and the angler has the fish in position, just reach down and scoop it up. Gets a little more time consuming if the fish are bigger, thrashing around, and have teeth. Many toothy critters love to try and take a chunk out of your leg if you aren't careful. I never knew green fish were LMB and brown fish were small mouths until I went on line.

Fiskers or any pliers with titanium cutters. In the field i use a bic or cigaret, which as mentioned keeps the line from fraying and put a nib on the end, helps in preventing pull thru.

Went off shore this morning, not a whole lot happening caught a few bonita and this Queen Trigger, a fish that must be released. The excitement happened just as we were getting ready to come in, a fisherman (not me) hooks a small bonita about 7#, during the battle the bonita gets hit by a big cuda, not strange, but within seconds the cuda gets hit by about a 200# bull shark, fight on.............we then cut line. I've never seen a chain of hits like that before, an awesome sight.

The sinker rests on top of the swivel and won't slide down to the hook, the sinker will enable a further cast. You can "free line" (no weight) if you choose, that's usually done with a live bait.

Went out yesterday pm, my flukes seemed real oily and I couldn't grip them to slide them onto to my 4/0 ewg hook, so I just nose hooked them. They worked perfect, in fact hook sets were even better as I had no plastic to worry about driving thru.

I do close to 100% of my freshwater fishing with 2 combos, I may use something else once in a while just for variety. Pond and open water, med 6/12 spin rod and 30 supreme 10# braid, any lure or soft plastic within the rod parameters. Heavy cover and hi banked canals, med spin 8/17 35 supreme 15# braid, any lure or soft plastic within the rod parameters. One of my exceptions are frogs, at times I will use one of my saltwater mh spin rods. 60 years of fishing has made me quite adaptable on hooksets, I'm on auto pilot regardless of what rod or line I'm using, it's all second nature I don't give it too much thought.