I'm going to Seaside Florida in a few weeks and I want to fish there but I have no idea what I'm doing so I need some help. I tried to fish last year but the water was full of seaweed so I caught a lot of that, but no fish. Anyway, I don't think it will be like that this year, but I just realized that the Cabela's Whuppin Stick I used last year is a Medium/Moderate rod. I thought it was a Heavy power that whole time. Do I need a new rod (I'll mainly be fishing 1/2 oz. Spro bucktail jigs) or will the medium work? Should I just randomly cast out into the ocean or should I be looking for structure like when I'm bass fishing. I'll have a kayak for a day but the rest of the week I'll be fishing from the shore. Thanks.

Forgot to add this: is 12 lb. Big Game Mono a good choice or is that going to be too light?

I’d fish the lagoon side.  Search my older posts for Hilton Head and Panama City fishing for some suggestions

4 hours ago, Chris at Tech said:

I’d fish the lagoon side.  Search my older posts for Hilton Head and Panama City fishing for some suggestions

Is that the part that leads into the ocean?

Heddon super spooks, spoons, Gotcha plugs, DOA soft plastics, and bucktail jigs are good lures to use when fishing from the beach in Florida.

3 hours ago, soflabasser said:

Heddon super spooks, spoons, Gotcha plugs, DOA soft plastics, and bucktail jigs are good lures to use when fishing from the beach in Florida.

I've got the spook, a silver minnow spoon, kastmaster spoon, and bucktail jig. How do you fish the kastmaster in the surf? I've got one that I think is probably 1/4 oz. and one that's probably 1/2 oz.

2 hours ago, EGbassing said:

I've got the spook, a silver minnow spoon, kastmaster spoon, and bucktail jig. How do you fish the kastmaster in the surf? I've got one that I think is probably 1/4 oz. and one that's probably 1/2 oz.

I would bring 2 of each lure to be safe just in case you lose one. There are many ways you can fish a spoon. You can reel it just below the surface, reel it midwater, or reel it just off the floor if there are not many obstructions. You can also jig the spoon every once in a while. Change retrieves to find the retrieve the fish like best on the day you are fishing in. You might want to get some 1oz spoons as well since they cast further. There are lots of bluefish and mackerel running in Florida at this moment in time and there are hitting gotchas, spoons, jigs, and jerkbaits.

10 hours ago, soflabasser said:

I would bring 2 of each lure to be safe just in case you lose one. There are many ways you can fish a spoon. You can reel it just below the surface, reel it midwater, or reel it just off the floor if there are not many obstructions. You can also jig the spoon every once in a while. Change retrieves to find the retrieve the fish like best on the day you are fishing in. You might want to get some 1oz spoons as well since they cast further. There are lots of bluefish and mackerel running in Florida at this moment in time and there are hitting gotchas, spoons, jigs, and jerkbaits.

Thank you, I'm going to try to target bluefish this year but if I catch anything I'll be happy because I didn't get one bite last year. ?