Hi all,

 

For those of you that fish in S. Florida, I was thinking of going to Matheson Hammock Park to fish a little.

Any recommendations?

What type of fish to look for?

What kind of gear to bring?

 

Thanks!

Brings back memories. Used to go there all the time when I was a kid in the 70's. Good times. Plenty of small mangrove snapper and grunts. There are snook.

Light inshore tackle, maybe a 3500-4500 reel w/ a 7ft rod should land whatever is biting, aside from the sharks. Check the tides...it matters.

Bring some shrimp put them on a 1/4 oz jig head. Or get some doa shrimp and start casting. Might even have some luck w/  paddle tail on a jig head.

If you bring 2 rods, put a shrimp on a cork and let it float while you are working the jig heads.

We would wade out beyond the lagoon pretty far. Good luck.

Think anything would hit if I brought an top water plugs?

It's south florida, you never know. Might as well try. Cuda's like to hit the topwater. So do redfish and trout.

I was thinking of renting out a kayak to try over there. Any one tried?

I do a good 75% of my inshore fishing with 3 lures, bucktail jigs, spoons, and jerks shad on a jig head.  Sure I use other lures for my own variety but they do not catch any more fish.  For pure excitement there is nothing like a top water hit from a sizable fish.

You do not need big baits for big fish, most of my tarpon are caught on 1/2 oz bucktails and jerk shads.