Helluva_Engineer

I'd be more than happy to give y'all a hand with that.

Both, you'll catch some big ones

In general: Freshwater, no. Saltwater, yes. It has moreso to do with styles and techniques, but nobody can deny me that listening to Reggae while reeling in a sailfish deep sea fishing is about perfect.

Cobia

SirSnook, can't say you didn't tell me so and can't say I wasn't telling myself the whole time not to, DOPE! drag. To answer your question about gear...probably not big enough. I don't have them sitting right in front of me, so from memory I think it's a Penn Fierce 5000 with about 300 yards of 30 lb braid and a rod to match. It's a good utility setup that can handle a tarpon up to 150 or so (at least it's what my high school buddy who's a charter captain here uses on occasion), but isn't a real shark setup. Attempt #5: 12/30 Used the one pre-made wire leader with a trailer hook that I'd bought...this is the rig I will be using from now on. My bait had been out for 20-30 minutes and I feel the violent head shake on the strike and brace. I was mid-sentence with my girl and she looks at me like I'm crazy and then the line starts peeling out again. I tighten down the drag on the fish and fight for 15-20 minutes and it's a stalemate with a slight edge to the fish. I'd spent a lot of time last night trying to get a feel for the drag on this rod and thought I had a bit of margin to tighten down the drag and get the upper hand...not 10 seconds later after that last turn...there goes my braid. I'm an idiot. Attempt #6 12/30 I don't have any more of the pre-made rigs so I fix up my own with a rated 45 lb wire leader and the swivel that comes with it. I set this up and after 5 minutes my bait comes to the surface...I see the tail slash the surface (I can 100% confirm shark and bigger than my original 150-200 lb estimate), but that swivel failed INSTANTLY...sooo frustrated. I got a bunch of those thinking they'd be more versatile and only one of the pre-made setup... I'm starting to think it might be best I call this expedition quits. I'm not sure how much more I want to train this thing the beach in front of my place is a food source and I don't have the best rod and reel to really handle this so I'm fighting it from my heels to begin with. I might take another shot or two with the pre-made rig and call it quits if I fail.

Thanks for the info guys, I'm getting closer. If I'd used a rig with a trailer hook I might be posting pics right now. Attempt #4 - 12/28 2' wire leader, 8/0 hook, everything else the same. Put the bait out and after about 45-60 minutes my line starts peeling out. I let it run with a good rod bend for the hook to set itself and tighten down my drag some so that I didn't get spooled. The fight lasted about 2 minutes and I was getting down towards my backing after the initial long run and was making it back up, but it came unbuttoned. I reel in to find that my hook had come partially out of my bait and gone through it's spine leaving just the point (wasn't even able to push the barb through when I tried) exposed. Lesson learned and with a trailer hook and a slightly tighter drag I should be able to finish this job.

Ok, so the past few days I've had some issues with losing big fish. On Christmas Eve, I had a hook straighten out on something deep sea fishing...oh well. The topic of this thread, though, is my misses on something just off the beach. I got a quick look at it (mostly it's tail) and would put it around 6-7 ft in length. I originally thought it was tarpon when it jumped. So I got some live bait and let it out. My setup basics: 30# braid 6 ft - 50# mono-carbon leader Circle Hook Attempt #1 - 12/23 I see a crashing just down the beach and get excited. Sure enough less than two minutes later I feel my bait get nervous then see from the dorsal fin back of this massive beast go right next to my float. I reel up slack, but before I feel the line pull my leader is cut. Attempt #2 - 12/23 I re-rig and throw it back out hoping for a second shot. This time I set my drag pretty light this time around. 10-15 minutes go by and line starts peeling off my real. A couple quick tugs and my bait is gone. The sun is setting and I'm out of bait. Call it a night, going deep sea fishing the next day anyways Attempt #3 - 12/25 Put my bait out in the water with my drag set where I have to give the line a solid tug to pull any line out. I let it sit for about 20 minutes and feel my bait get nervous. I feel some action and then weight on the line. I get set and there goes my line. Best way I could describe it would be a freight train, not particularly fast, but I couldn't even slow it down. This lasted about 30 seconds and its over. Again, my leader is cut. So, at this point in time I've come to the conclusion that my eyes deceived me and this is not a tarpon, but instead a shark. So is it time to get a wire leader and see what I can do?

Green or Black back with silver belly, worked with a twitch-twitch-pause retrieve.

I got a few about that size off the beach today on a walk the dog lure. They were too far out for me to reach with my standard mirro-lure so I gave it a shot not expecting success. Now THAT is a crazy strike!

Hey, Don't really know the history here as far as what field you're looking into and the whole parental situation (think I saw it during my lurking, but didn't commit it to memory). However, to echo other sentiments and add my own 2 cents: 1) You're going to need to fill out a financial aid application. 2) Student loans suck, pay them off as soon as possible. I paid mine off during college which leads to #3. 3) Co-op/internships. They're paid and they help you get a fantastic job after college. I wouldn't be employed without my 2 co-ops. I also would have 10k in student loans. Plan ahead to get one your first summer in school and save save save. Use that money for your ramen budget throughout the next semester and pay whatever you have left over to the student loans you used to get through your first year. Rinse, repeat 4 times and take the 5 year plan to graduate debt free with experience. Trust me. I've got more tips to make college awesome if you'd like.

The mullet run is treating me well too. 5-10 jacks and 1-3 ladyfish every night this week. The tarpon were slamming anything that moved on Sunday when I got back in town, but I didn't have the gear to handle them so I stuck with the jacks. Got a new setup and am ready for them to show back up. I'll be trying first thing tomorrow morning before football starts.

Tech took a bad team behind the woodshed and put up 360 some odd passing yards with our first quarter passing yards outpacing our season high for a game last year. It's nice being #1 in passing efficiency in the NCAA if only for a week. A lot of young talent that makes it exciting, but I'm nervous about the rest of the year. UGA lost like it should have. Boise was clearly the better team and showed why they were ranked #5. UGA was ranked #19 after a 6-7 season and losing the top 2 WRs and RB?!?? Don't understand that one. Auburn got lucky...really lucky... I was rooting for my buddy's younger brother, Connor, up at USC. The ole ball coach thinks very highly of him, but the team just seems to fall apart with him in at QB and they gel around Garcia. I don't get it, but I'm biased so that might be in play.

Oh man, that lightning woke me up and I thought about going and fishing for a while before work, but the current looked way too rough to me so I went back to sleep... What was I thinking?!?

Thanks for the tips, I'll give these tips a try. Hope to be posting a pic here soon.

How would you approach catching snook wading in the St. Lucie area? I've seen a few in the surf and I'm sure they're on the riverside. Seem to get skunked everytime I try inshore and at least get something from the surf though I usually lose confidence pretty quickly fishing right at the shore and go deeper and find the bluefish cruising along.

I went out of Stuart back in early June and caught 2 along with several dolphin trolling ballyhoo. Haven't been able to get out again since then...I've got the itch. Those are some fun fish. Hope you keep catching them.

BLACK buzzbait. Try near the mouth of the creek that feeds the place if the water is cooled.

Buzz baits knocking them off stumps in 2-6 ft water this time of year kills them for me on similar ponds. Especially near a cold inlet water source. Switch to pumpkin seed worm Texas rigged during the middle of the day if you can locate some deeper structure.

Thanks for the help guys, I'll definitely be getting up with George since he's got a recommendation. Now to find a real estate agent...

Would a 17 ft tracker be up for those waters? I've heard they're pretty rough at times, but don't know what that's relative to. Thanks for the help!

Hey y'all, I've accepted a one-year assignment in Port St. Lucie. I'll be moving down there in the next week or so and can't quite decide what to do. So I'm asking your advice! 1) Should I bring my boat? Part of me wants to have it for convenience, but since I don't know anyone in the area it might do me better to try to bum spots to learn the places. 2) Are there any good fishing guides in the area? I'm hoping to do all sorts of fishing...bass, inshore, deep sea. So if you know of any guides or would be willing to take me (I'll cover your gas and bring drinks) I'd appreciate it. 3) What are some off the beaten path type things you'd recommend I try to do? -Andrew

Haven't decided whether mine is a career description or wishful thinking at this point 8-). Graduated Georgia Tech in '09 and do design work in the nuclear industry.

Mostly Allatoona and Lanier, but if you know any better spots feel free to share.

How do I know I can trust you... :-?

Thanks for the help. I'll try to locate a few places like that to give it a go.