Time to break those old habits. I’ll be the first one to admit I have some when it comes to ­fishing with soft baits. Often those habits take shape after successful trips. I think, “Heck yeah, I’ve got these fish figured out!” Then, on the next couple of trips, I’ll get skunked.

Soft plastic lures come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, making them suitable for targeting a variety of fish species. They can be rigged in so many different ways, with new options being dreamed up all the time. Today’s soft plastic lures are more durable than ever; they can withstand multiple casts and retrieves without losing their effectiveness.

Techniques for fishing with soft baits shouldn’t remain static. The same old baits can stagnate in their effectiveness. Take advantage of better fish-catching opportunities by using different styles of fishing, trying new lures and techniques, or even considering a wider range of target species. Pick up some new habits.

Freshwater Fishing Lures in Saltwater

Daniel Nussbaum, president of Z-Man Fishing, learned the costly consequences of sticking to the same presentations, especially during slow fishing periods. “I was fishing in South Carolina with Drew Reese,” says Nussbaum. Reese is the former tournament bass angler who finished seventh at the inaugural Bassmaster Classic. “Reese caught eight quality seatrout in a row from the back of the boat, while I failed to get a bite on my three staple trout baits.”

Reese had chosen a finesse rig, also known as a Ned rig, similar to the style of bait he uses in summer for smallmouths at Lake of the Woods, Ontario. The rig consists of a ⅙-ounce Finesse ShroomZ jig head and Hula StickZ (a buoyant creature bait with rear tentacles). Nussbaum stuck with his lead-head Trout Eye jig head and ElaZtech soft bodies that imitate baitfish.

“At the next few stops, we quietly poled and drifted across several flats in search of schools of redfish, and Reese proceeded to boat several quality redfish while I struck out again,” Nussbaum says. “Reese expertly played the fish on his light gear with 6-pound braid, 10-pound fluorocarbon leader and light-wire hooks. He was putting on a clinic using Midwest finesse tackle and tactics.”

Nussbaum realized why the bass master’s baits and presentation were so effective. “Reese slowly raised his rod three times before allowing the presentation to settle to the bottom,” he says. “He always allowed the bait to reach the bottom at least once on each retrieve, noting that the bait standing up off the bottom and moving slightly mimics a small minnow dying or feeding.”

Twitch Baits as Soft Plastic Fishing Lures

A growing number of soft-plastic baits now come rigged with trebles, taking up real estate once reserved only for hard baits. Break the mindset that only hard baits can be twitchbaits or topwaters. The most established soft-bait brand to produce twitchbaits with trebles might be the one with Paul Brown’s namesake, now produced by MirrOlure. Some Gulf Coast anglers recognize them as Corkys.

“I think predators hang on to them for a bit longer due to the fact that they’re soft and more realistic in feel,” says Capt. Tommy Thompson, a past executive director of the Florida Outdoor Writers Association. “We use them only in colder weather, when big seatrout are moving slowly and want slow-moving prey that’s easy to catch.”

The Paul Brown line of baits recently introduced topwater models to complement its suspending twitchbaits. Thompson favors the Devil twitchbait model, with a built-in wire harness, ­single treble hook, oversize eye and short “rat tail” at the rear.

“Use a very slow retrieve, just keeping the plug off the bottom. A random twitch will cause the plug to die, and that’s when predators like trout and reds are more likely to attack,” says Thompson. “I’ve caught 60 trout on one, but it takes just a single bluefish to cut one in half. A 2500-class reel on an 8-foot rod with 10-pound PowerPro works just fine for these plugs.”

Use Weedless Lures All Day Long

Fishing with weedless soft baits is and always has been a productive technique in estuaries, creeks and other inshore waters. But for many, the jerkbait is just a single tool in the box when fishing in shallow waters. I propose that the jerkbait become your prized tool, like a hammer that’s used regularly in around-the-house projects. Make sure there’s always a rod rigged with a jerkbait and worm hook whenever you’re fishing shallow waters less than three feet deep.

“If you retrieve the jerkbaits fast, you can skim them on top for surface strikes,” says Adrian Gray, fishing photographer and creative director at the International Game Fish Association. “If you fish them slower, they suspend if not heavily weighted. Plus, they land softer than most hard-body lures and spook fewer fish.”

The inshore scenarios where weedless baits excel illustrate their versatility. You can cast them under mangrove overhangs or docks, on top of oyster beds or grass beds, or even along rock jetties or shore breaks.

“I find that if I have someone fishing with me with little experience casting to shorelines or structure, a weedless jerkbait affords the angler more confidence to cast closer to structure with less risk of snags,” says Gray. “Plus, worm hooks are far easier to unhook and better for releasing fish than a mouth full of trebles.”

Creature Soft Plastics for Saltwater Fishing

Picking the right soft plastic sometimes defies conventional logic. If fish attacked only the most natural-looking presentations, all soft baits would come from the same baitfish molds, utilize the same natural colors, and replicate one another. But colors such as LSU’s purple and yellow are popular in ­places like Louisiana. And at times, the bait that’s shaped like a french fry can ­out-fish the mullet imitation.

“It’s all determined by our dirty marsh waters,” says Capt. Dan Skermetta of Louisiana. “Those darker ­colors show up so much better than light, natural colors.”

Creature baits that mimic crabs, eels and animals that I have never seen on this green earth also generate a profile that’s easier to pick up in murky waters. Often the baits are rigged with a noisy popping cork 2 to 3 feet above the bait.

Anglers who fish tidal zones where fresh meets salt have the opportunity to catch both largemouth bass and redfish at the same spot. Flip a jig-and-pig at reedy shorelines for both species.

In the Florida Everglades, Capt. Ray Van Horn pitches mangroves for snook, reds, black drum, young goliath grouper and tarpon with Strike King’s Hack Attack bass jig coupled with a Strike King Rage Bug (creature bait) or MirrOlure Marsh Minnow (baitfish) trailer.

“It truly is a reaction strike [I’m ­looking for] when flipping to mangroves and undercut banks,” says Van Horn. “I use a 7½-foot medium-heavy casting rod with backbone and large guides to handle the GT knot I tie between my 70-pound braid and 80-pound leader. When fish bite, they hit it with ­authority and don’t let go.”

Catch Swordfish on Soft Plastics

The dirty secret that experienced deep-droppers only recently revealed is that eels are top natural baits for swordfish. Capt. Corey Burlew, a commercial fisher­man from Deerfield Beach, Florida, found that soft-plastic eel imitations are just as productive.

“The first day I ever tried the 18-inch Hogy eel, I had five bites and two swords landed,” says Burlew. “The next day I had five bites and landed three fish. Ever since, I’ve used them with confidence.”

Curlew uses traditional electric gear for the swordfish, but at the terminal end he adds a pink or black skirt to 300-pound mono leader before ­rigging the soft-plastic eel to two 8/0 Southern-style tuna hooks. He sews the Hogy to the hooks the same way he would sew a mackerel.

“What gives action to the eel when fished deep is the current at the surface,” he explains. “I’ll head up-current, say, into 3-knot current at just 2 knots, so the boat drifts slowly back, and that imparts action to the eel at the bottom.”

So far, Curlew has landed up to four swordfish on a single soft plastic, but averages closer to two or three fish per bait. “I’ve tried marinating the Hogy in menhaden oil,” he says, “but I haven’t noticed much of a difference in my catch rate between the scented and unscented baits.”

The post Not Your Ordinary Soft Plastics appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

People who complain that South Florida doesn’t enjoy a change of seasons don’t fish the annual fall mullet run.

To anglers from Stuart to Key Largo, nothing signals that fall has arrived like the migration of these baitfish. Silver and black mullet move south in enormous schools along the Atlantic coast, all the while dodging a host of predators such as snook, tarpon, jacks, sharks, Spanish mackerel and bluefish. October marks the prime time to fish the mullet run, both offshore and inshore.

The Live-Bait Game Plan

Anglers never know what they might catch from one cast to the next. They don’t even need live mullet to catch the gamefish species. Half a mullet, topwater plugs, spoons, and soft-plastic bait imitations can be as effective if not more.

Capt. Chris Murray, of Stuart, usually nets several dozen mullet wherever he sees the baitfish pushing water. After catching bait, he cruises around until he spots another mullet school. Then he closely watches to see what the baitfish are doing and what’s feeding on them.

Tarpon often jump completely out of the water, then come crashing back into the middle of the school. Snook hang below the school and suck in mullet with an audible pop. Jacks charge into the school and send mullet flying.

Murray likes to fish live mullet on a 7-foot, light- to medium-action spinning rod with a 4000-size reel spooled with 20-pound braided line. He usually attaches a 40-pound fluorocarbon leader with a 3/0 circle hook and clips an indicator float to the leader, which allows him and his anglers to keep track of the bait.

“I vary my leaders. I like to actually start lighter,” Murray says. “Normally I rig up two that are 25-pound, two that are 30, two that are 40. When I know what kind of fish are there and what kind of heat I have to put on them, normally 40. If they’re short snook, 25 or 30 is fine.”

When drifting or slow-trolling, he hooks a mullet through the upper lip and casts it to the edge of a submerged oyster bar, which snook, tarpon and other species use as ambush spots. Murray then opens the bail of the reel and slowly lets out line.

Jacks Are Wild

On one trip I took in the St. Lucie River with Murray and Anthony Javarone, we cast out, and moments later I felt my mullet get very nervous. Suddenly violent splashes erupted, and whatever had scared my mullet nailed Javarone’s bait.

Following Murray’s instruction to let the fish swim for a few seconds before closing the bail and reeling tight, Javarone hooked up to what turned out to be a 15-pound jack. The fish took Javarone from one end of Murray’s bay boat to the other before it finally tired.

“Those big jacks are great practice for people who want snook and tarpon,” Murray says. “They’re a guide’s best friend. They just give you every chance to develop your rhythm.”

When jacks, tarpon and Spanish mackerel successfully raid the schools for a meal, they often stun and maim a few of the baits, which fall to the sea floor. That’s when fishing a mullet head on the bottom can be extremely effective.

Snook on Artificials

Fishing around the rocks at the mouth of Stuart’s St. Lucie Inlet, Capt. Greg Snyder uses a D.O.A. plastic shrimp to catch all sizes of snook. He fishes the shrimp on a spinning outfit with 30-pound braided line and a 40-pound fluorocarbon leader.

“They use the rocks as a trap,” Snyder says of the snook. “The bait hits the rocks and gets confused, and the snook take advantage of it.”

Let the shrimp drift with the current and be aware of any taps or hesitation in the drift, because that means a snook has taken the lure. “Let the tide do the work, and keep in contact with the shrimp,” he says, “because you need to be able to set the hook when they eat.”

Why would a snook eat a shrimp when mullet are abundant? I posed that question to D.O.A. luremaker Mark Nichols. “During the first of the mullet run, the fish are all over the mullet,” he says. “But after three weeks of eating mullet, they’re ready for something different.”

I witnessed that fishing with Nichols in the north fork of the St. Lucie River on the last half of a falling tide. His flats skiff was surrounded by mullet and rolling tarpon, but after we threw some D.O.A. soft-plastic mullet imitations such as a Bait Buster and a TerrorEyz without a bite, Nichols switched us to D.O.A. glow shrimp.

Standing at the front of the boat, we waited until a tarpon rolled within casting distance. Then we cast the shrimp just ahead of the tarpon. Instead of steadily twitching the shrimp back to the boat, Nichols advises working it slowly.

“You want the shrimp to go down,” he says. “Then snap the rod and jerk the shrimp sharply, but don’t crank the reel and move the shrimp away. You want it to stay right where the fish was.”

Picture it in these terms: Here’s a shrimp, slowly sinking in the water. Suddenly it jumps up, then sinks right back down. The next time it jumps, thinking it might get away, the tarpon eats it. Using that technique, Nichols and I enjoyed about two dozen tarpon bites.

“I think it’s just easy for them to eat a shrimp,” he says. “They have to work hard to catch a mullet. It doesn’t take anything for them to catch a shrimp.”

Read Next: Mesmerizing Drone Video Shows Tarpon Attacking Mullet

Two other advantages of fishing an artificial shrimp around a mullet school: Bait stealers don’t peck at a plastic shrimp like they do a live shrimp, and Nichols can fish his shrimp exactly how he wants.

To make a D.O.A. shrimp more appealing to a fish keying on a school of mullet, Nichols fishes it below the school or on the edge of the school. That makes the shrimp look vulnerable, which makes it an easy target.

“If you’re not catching fish with a shrimp, you’re fishing it too fast,” Nichols says. “No matter how slowly you think you’re fishing it, fish it slower.”

The post Fishing Florida’s Fall Mullet Run appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

“That thing looks like a lobster,” I said.

“I feel like we should be eating these shrimp, not the fish,” joked Mike Rice, senior vice president at Quantum.

The live shrimp Capt. Jon Lulay had in his livewell were on steroids. He knows a guy. And that bait guy netted some of the largest shrimp I’ve ever seen on Florida’s Space Coast. Those big shrimp were the key to success on our day’s fishing along a stretch of Indian River Lagoon shoreline. If the shrimp are running at night, that’s what inshore gamefish want, so utilize ‘em during the day.

Anglers in the South Atlantic and Gulf Coast should always be on the lookout for “select” live shrimp in bait shops. It’s like having a cheat code.

“Yes, we catch snook, redfish and seatrout on lures too,” said Lulay. “But large shrimp give you the best shot during a moving tide up against the shoreline. If the tide is flowing, I have confidence fish will eat a live shrimp.”

Jumbo shrimp are a top bait anywhere shrimp runs occur. For example, triple-digit tarpon explode on shrimp in the bridge shadow lines of crowded Miami. Louisiana’s largest red drum suck down shrimp under a popping cork when schooled up in Gulf outer bays. And ferocious speckled trout push shrimp to the surface in Texas shallows, attracting both wade fishermen and birds. 

How to Best Rig a Live Shrimp

For many, a frozen piece of shrimp is the first bait they used when fishing in saltwater. That’s not what I’m talking about here. If it’s dead or frozen, rig a new bait. A shrimp-tipped jig has its place, but not in this setting.

When it comes to pitching the banks for species that lurk near mangroves, oysters or fallen trees, keep it simple. Pick a circle hook sized to the fish species you’re targeting. I like a 4/0 circle hook when targeting trout, reds and snook. Tie 30 inches of fluorocarbon leader to your main line, then tie the leader straight to your hook. No sinkers, split shots or popping corks needed.

“You really have to be able to cast into small windows to get that shrimp in front [of the fish],” said Lulay, of 2 Castaway Fishing Charters. “When anglers come on my boat, they can have wildly different experiences. The anglers who can’t make pinpoint casts catch more jacks, ladyfish and mangrove snapper, while the anglers who are able to reach under the mangroves or next to that log are more likely to catch a snook or seatrout.”

In my mind, fishing with live shrimp is just like skipping a weedless fluke under the trees. We were trying out brand-new Quantum Strive and Benchmark reels, sizes 4000 and 5000, paired with 7-foot Quantum Myth rods. The Benchmark 4000 handles 300 yards of 20-pound braid, with 25 pounds of max drag.

“Going with a light leader is a must,” said Lulay. “You lose some fish, but a light leader allows the live shrimp to swim freely with a light-wire hook. I don’t even start the morning with a heavier leader anymore because I know I’ll be going as light as possible soon enough.”

How to Fish Live Shrimp

Getting that natural presentation is more important than a heavy leader, so we used 25- to 30-pound-test fluorocarbon for most of the morning. Paired with a hook that pokes through the top third of the shrimp’s carapace — stay in front of those dark spots — this is the best way to keep a live shrimp kicking. Hitting the dark spot of a shrimp kills it. So does using too large of a hook, or a hook with too heavy of gauge. A dead shrimp is just not as productive, so we rebaited as necessary.

Cast your bait side-arm under the overhangs; utilize a shorter, stout rod for even better accuracy. Then, let the bait drift with the current, with no tension on the line. If you don’t get bit quickly, work the shrimp slowly like a soft-plastic. Get the bite first, then figure out how to get them to the boat.

When a snook picks up your shrimp, the solid thump is unmistakable. Those first few seconds are always a rush against a tight drag. Our fishing tackle held solid, but sharp snags found our leaders at times. That’s the price you pay for fishing in the jungle. The speckled trout cooperated, but it took a couple of breakoffs from unknown behemoths before we finally landed some lindesiders. Tight drags early on, plus a rod with backbone, helped pull fish out. Once away from the shore, there were also pesky porpoises looking for a free meal.

We had a blast fishing in the morning before the tide quit on us. The action was solid, and Rice and I even cast some baits at rolling tarpon. Common with tarpon during the day, they had no interest in feeding. At one point, I hooked up near a pod of school-size tarpon — nope, it turned out to be another snook. The few boats around us weren’t having much luck.

“They’re probably fishing with live baits like croakers,” explained Lulay. “Those baits can be great sometimes, but they’re not going to outfish a jumbo live shrimp.”

The post Make Mine a Jumbo appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

The lexicon used to describe where anglers fish is confusing, even frustrating. “Inshore” or “coastal” often describes fishing in estuarine waters, at least in my stomping grounds, where fishermen target species like speckled trout, redfish, and flounder in rivers, creeks, and bays. In the Northeast, an “inshore tuna bite” might be 10 miles offshore.

“Offshore” fishing begins once you leave the inlet and make a run for blue water. However, offshore fishing is not dependent on the length of the run to the fishing grounds or how deep the water is — offshore fishing might start just a couple of miles (at ports such as South Florida, Panama or the Bahamas) or hours off your coast.

Even with those broad designations, the fish don’t always cooperate. There are no fences in the salt, so inshore species often leave inside waters for the Gulf and Atlantic. Usually these movements coincide with spawning rituals, an exciting time of year to target oversize specimens, at least for catch-and-release fishermen. So the next time you want to catch a trophy species, consider heading out of brackish areas and into open waters. Think differently on your next trip — consider it a role reversal — and you could score the “inshore” fish of a lifetime offshore.

Catch Snook on Nearshore Wrecks

South Florida fishermen regularly target snook up rivers, on mangrove-lined flats, and in passes and inlets. But not many know that offshore wrecks attract snook each summer, starting as early as late spring.

“My favorite spots average about 5 miles offshore, in anywhere from 20 to 60 feet of water,” says Capt. Glyn Austin, of Sebastian, Florida. “Most people don’t really target them because it’s all catch-and-release fishing June through August. Most people want kingfish or cobia, something they can take home.” Austin says all the fish are all longer than the 32-inch slot maximum, so the oversize linesiders can’t be kept no matter if the season is open or closed.

“Typically I use the same tackle at the wrecks as at the inlets,” says Austin, “a 7- to 8-foot rod, 20- to 40-pound braid, and baits like threadfin herring and pogies.” Austin fishes mostly from Port Canaveral to Sebastian, but snook exhibit the same behavior farther south on both Florida coasts around barges and reefs. “The snook are definitely attracted to structure and hang on the bottom,” says Austin. “We often catch giant jack crevalle, goliath grouper, cobia, redfish, black drum and flounder out there, along with the snook. That’s plenty of species that we see both inshore and offshore.”

Deep Water Flounder Fishing

Heading north along the Atlantic Coast, a different inshore species replaces snook around offshore structure. And this species is available from Florida to the mid-Atlantic states: flounder.

“In spring and especially fall, flounder are available in 60 to 85 feet of water out of St. Augustine and Mayport inlets, about 6 to 15 miles offshore,” says Capt. Stephen Szczepanik, of Mayport, Florida. “Those offshore fish just taste so much better than the inshore fish; it must be something about the sandy bottom they’re sitting on.”

Szczepanik has learned over the years that flounder are more likely to hang near metal structure, such as barges, instead of concrete rubble. The flounder group together in masses around the base, likely preparing or concluding their spawn. Still, Szczepanik admits that most of the flounder he catches and fillets don’t have roe.

“Offshore, an average fish is at least 22 inches and 3 pounds,” he says, “but 8-pound fish are also pretty common. Inshore, an 8-pound flatfish is an uncommon catch.”

One top tactic is vertically jigging a live mullet with a 1-ounce jig, making sure the line stays tight. He specifically shies away from stinky artificials because they attract undersize black sea bass and beeliners (vermilion snapper). Szczepanik prefers to use 20-pound-braid main line for its toughness and ability to cut through the water. Once you hook into a couple of flounder, chances are there are plenty more in the same spot.

“The best days are when it’s flat calm, and you can use a trolling motor to stay on top of the spot,” says Szczepanik. “Mark the structure with your finder, and then throw out a jug to mark the wreck.”

Stripers Near the Beach

Role Reversals

What happens when the biggest inshore fish are off-limits offshore? Chesapeake Bay captains deal with this every winter when targeting monster striped bass.

“In past years, cold winters pushed the bait off the beaches 10 to 15 miles, taking the stripers with them,” says Capt. Jake Hiles, of Virginia Beach. “But because striped bass are designated game fish in federal waters, fishermen can’t target striped bass, even for catch-and-release, in the Exclusive Economic Zone (more than 3 nautical miles offshore).”

The ocean season for migratory stripers ranges from about mid-December to February. Late February into March, the migratory striped bass head up Chesapeake Bay to spawn in the rivers, says Andrew Turner, a fisheries biologist with NOAA’s Chesapeake Bay office. Late May and June see the fish head north of New York to Maine to summer in the cool waters, usually within 3 miles of shore. Over the past couple of seasons, many Virginia anglers have not seen good numbers of stripers like they used to, whether that’s because of migration changes or increased fishing pressure.

When warm winters bring baitfish schools and mature stripers within a mile or two of the beach, Capt. Herb Gordon fishes the eastern shore of Virginia.

“You have to find the birds to find the fish,” says Gordon. “Finding birds is easy with the use of a good radar, one at least 6 kW. The bottom machine helps, but it’s not as dependable as birds. Some areas with structure always hold bait, which in turn, hold fish.”

Gordon usually trolls just four rods, while some of the other charter boats troll as many as 20. “On our rigs, we use double parachutes, 9 ounces each, with rubber 9-inch shads,” he says. “Our lines are staggered to fish different depths, and we also vary our trolling speeds.”

For anglers fishing in and around the mouth of the Chesapeake, it’s a matter of finding rockfish before they head too far offshore.

The post Where to Catch Trophy Inshore Fish appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Striped Bass: 81 pounds, 14 ounces

• Gregory Myerson
• Long Island Sound, Connecticut
• August, 4 2011

Who better to ask about the next World Record striped bass than the current record holder. It’s been over a decade since Greg Myerson caught one of the world’s most famous fish and he’s ready to set the next mark. “If they ever lift the slot limit, I’ll catch the next world record, too,” he says. His boasts aren’t hot air, Myerson holds the several striped bass records and striper tournament trophies. Myerson credits the deep ocean bottom and strong tidal currents off Connecticut and Rhode Island for bringing a steady stream of bait and big bass. “Big bass don’t like to move a lot so they are looking for a live lobster.” Myerson even predicts how the next world record bass will be caught; he has developed a rattling sinker that imitates the sound of a startled lobster. “The fish hears the sound and comes to investigate, that’s where he finds my eel.”

Red Drum: 94 pounds 2 ounces

• David Deuel
• Avon, North Carolina
• November 07, 1984

Forty years ago, Frank Folb was working at the tackle shop that weighed the World Record red drum. Today, Folb has retired from tackle shops and taken up gardening, but he remembers the day the world’s biggest red drum was hanging from the scale. “Gosh, it was a fat fish,” he recalls. He says David Deuel fought the trophy drum down the Hatteras Island beach almost a mile before landing it. Due to the current slot limit on redfish, the red drum record will most likely never be broken. Back in the heyday of beach drum fishing, Folb rigged up a mobile scale to weigh a potential record on the beach. “We never had a fish large enough to break the mark,” he says. Folb has heard credible stories of redfish passing the length and girth test, but the fish were released. Despite the difficulty in setting a red drum record, Folb believes a 100-pound redfish is swimming somewhere off the Virginia or North Carolina coast.

Common Snook: 53 pounds, 10 ounces

• Gilbert Ponzi
• Parismina Ranch, Costa Rica
• October 18, 1978

The oldest record on the list is one of the most coveted. While Florida accounts for the largest population of snook anglers, Costa Rica holds the all tackle world record. Stuart-based Capt. Mike Holliday has landed snook up to 40 pounds, but beating the record in his home waters is almost impossible to imagine. “The next record will come from Costa Rica,” he says. Holliday explains the warm Latin American climate allows the snook to feed year-round and reach extraordinary size. Why hasn’t a bigger fish been caught in Costa Rica? Holliday says the fish in the 1970s and 80s were bigger. “People used to brag about the 40-pound club, now they brag about the 40-inch club.” Once again, fishing regulations are the biggest obstacle to breaking the record. Slot limits throughout the snook’s range keep the record safe from American anglers.

Spotted Seatrout: 17 pounds, 7 ounces

• Craig F. Carson
• Ft. Pierce, Florida
• May 11, 1995

Capt. Mike Holliday has personal experience with the World Record spotted sea trout. “I interviewed the guy who caught it,” he remembers. The long-time contributor to local and nationwide publications was on the beat when the fish was caught. “Craig Carson was visiting from Daytona and caught the fish on a Zara Spook off Dynamite Point.” Even though he didn’t witness the weigh-in or see the actual fish, looking at photos of the catch gives Holliday suspicions. “It doesn’t look like a 17-pound trout,” he insists. And the angler weighed the fish on a grocery store scale. And then there’s the incredible size. Holliday shakes his head, “I’ve never heard of a trout even close to 17 pounds.” The speckled trout record has stood for almost 30 years and Holliday thinks it will never be broken. “I’ve fished the same area for decades and caught one fish over 13 pounds,” he says.

Tarpon: 286 pounds, 9 ounces

• Max Domecq Rubane
• Guinea-Bissou
• March, 4 2003

Close your eyes and picture a 300-pound tarpon jumping through the air, diving under the boat and rolling on the line and you’ll understand the difficulty in breaking the silver king’s world-record mark. Zack Bellipigna, angler recognition manager at IGFA, is confident the record can be broken. “As sure as I’m sitting in my chair, there is a 300-pound tarpon swimming off the coast of Africa right now,” he insists. Bellipigna attributes the long-standing record to a lack of angler interest. “Hardcore tarpon anglers are more interested in setting line-class records in the Keys or along the Gulf Coast than going to Africa and catching a giant tarpon.” Bellipigna says IGFA’s Grand Slam awards are also seeing a lot of interest. “Catching a tarpon and two other trophy species in one day is a hell of an achievement but it is achievable.” Still, many of the line class records pale in comparison to the massive 286-pound beast.

The post Waiting for a World Record appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

New regulations for snook fishing in Florida, effective January 1, 2024, establish nine snook management zones around the state along with seasons and slot limits for each zone. The new zones, like those established by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) for redfish in 2022, allow for a more regionalized and responsive approach to managing snook fishing in Florida’s waters, FWC officials say.

“These regions and regulations are part of our holistic management approach for Florida’s most popular inshore fisheries,” said Emily Abellera, FWC’s Public Information Specialist. “Through this approach, seven metrics are used to evaluate the snook fishery by region, which adds a holistic perspective to management decisions and allows our fisheries managers to be more responsive to regional concerns.”

Those considerations for management of snook include fishing pressure, relative abundance, habitat, stakeholder feedback, spawning potential ratio, air temperature, and harmful algal blooms in local waters. Assessments of these factors will be registered in the annual review of the fishery, which is available for each zone on the FWC’s website.

These localized annual reviews contain vital information about snook in each management zone in a brief, condensed, and graphic format. If an angler wants to know more about a local region’s fishery — possibly their home waters — these reviews are a terrific place to learn. They’re also available for redfish.

The FWC’s approach reflects the increasingly important role of habitat quality in fisheries management in contrast to the overwhelming importance of population assessments that dominated management policy in past years.

“It’s good to see FWC is managing snook through specific regions,” said Giles Murphy, owner of Stuart Angler Bait and Tackle in Martin County. His local waters of the southern Indian River Lagoon are known to produce some of Florida’s biggest snook. “In our area, the seagrass is extremely vital in our ecosystem, and it’s been dying off for 20 years. Now it’s completely gone. The redfish and seatrout fishing has suffered because of it. The snook can adapt and live through it, but that might not last forever with development increasing faster every year,” Murphy said.

The new zones will provide geographic boundaries for any urgent regulation changes caused by local conditions. In 2018, snook and redfish were declared catch-and-release only along parts of the west coast due to red tide. Extreme cold weather has also caused emergency closures to snook seasons in parts of Florida in the past.

Years ago, Ron Taylor, the snook researcher who helped guide the FWC’s snook management for decades, told me that management aimed to produce consistent numbers of all size classes of snook including slot-sized fish for anglers to keep and over-slot, trophy fish that anglers can brag about.

“Those goals haven’t changed,” Abellera, of the FWC, assured me recently. “What’s new with the holistic regional management approach is that we are judging whether our regulations are meeting those goals using more metrics, and we’re evaluating our success on a smaller scale that better reflects the anglers’ experiences,” she said.

At this time, the main change to last year’s regulations in the new management zones affect two areas on the Gulf Coast.

“For the Charlotte Harbor and Southwest snook management regions, the summer closure now includes the month of September,” said Abellera. “This is one month longer than the other Gulf Coast management regions. Extending the summer season closure provides additional protection for snook during a portion of their spawning period that overlaps with the typical occurrence of red tide in these regions.”

Snook season opens Feb. 1 in the three east coast zones (Southeast, Indian River Lagoon and Northeast) and snook season opens March 1 in the rest of Florida’s zones. Slot and catch limits remain the same. The slot limit is currently 28 to 33 inches across the state, except for the three east coast zones that have a limit of 32 inches. Check the FWC website to see descriptions of the nine zones.

The post New Florida Snook Zones in Effect appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Forty knot southeast winds drove torrential rains into our faces, soaking us to the bone at 2 a.m. in the dark of night. Crazy Alberto Knie and I were working one of Florida’s inlet jetties, punching 1-ounce bucktails through the spitting snot, fully realizing nobody with any sense would be out on the jetty rocks targeting snook during the ungodly hour and conditions.

The casts barely made it past the rod tip, plunking only 20 feet from the rocks into white-capped froth. Once the slack line was reeled up, my bucktail only sat 10 feet from the jetty rocks. A quick twitch, a little lift of the rod, and the magic happened — every time. In a three-hour span, Crazy Alberto and I landed 17 snook, all between 8 to 36 pounds, one cast after another. 

Was this just a lucky night? Or are there serious snook secrets to be learned about Florida’s inlet jetty rocks?

 Florida East Coast Jetty Fishing

Captain Ed Zyak’s snook playground is the St. Lucie Inlet jetty rocks.

“The prime run of big snook at St. Lucie Inlet is during the spawn, mainly from June through August, but really stretching from May to September, though you can find fish as early as February,” said Zyak. “They are moving through the inlet during the spawn, and that’s when you can really play catch and release with the spawning fish in the 20- to 40-pound class.”

St. Lucie Inlet’s north jetty rocks are jumbled puzzle pieces, many of which have crumbled down into the inlet channel and along the oceanside waters to provide new underwater structure.

“I tend to fish the incoming tides on the outside of the jetties on the oceanside,” he says, “but on outgoing tides, as the water turns and dumps out, they lay more on the inside notches inside the corners of the jetty rocks.” 

Zyak will cast artificial baits off the rocks such as 3-inch soft plastics, fixed on a ½-ounce jighead which he says resembles a sand perch or croaker.

“When there is a lot of boat traffic at the mouth of the inlet rocks, that’s when I go to artificials, as those snook are hunkered down deeper. Cast toward the rock, drift with the tide and give it quick snaps, such as 1-foot hops off the bottom,” says Zyak. “Pressured fish will tend to go for smaller baits like a 4-inch shrimp too. You want to be bombing the bottom with the baits. Sling the bait up-tide, and give it an aggressive hop with slow, sharp twitches.” 

Fishing Jetty Rocks for Snook

Captain Glyn Austin, of Going Coastal Charters, works Florida’s Sebastian Inlet rocks for his snook success.

“I’ll work the outer jetties via boat July through October, casting bucktails, Rapala X Raps or subsurface baits toward the tip of the north jetty on the outgoing tide,” says Austin. “During the summer months, snook will spread out along the beach as they hang around the pier north tip feeding on glass minnows as they spill out with the tide.”

Austin notes the average size of summer snook run in the 28- to 35-inch range, with larger model fish pushing the 40-inch plus mark. Snook will feed aggressively when water temps are anywhere from the low 70s to high 80s. It can be a year-round bite.

“If winter waters never get below 70, we can have snook along the jetty rocks all winter long.” Austin will also opt to go on the troll when the conditions are right. “I’ll drag lipped Rapalas around the tip of the north jetty and along the oceanfront to find snook lying close to the rocks.” 

Livebait fishing for Snook at Jetties

“Live bait really works best when there is minimal boat traffic and less pressure,” says Zyak. “When drifting the inlet with live bait, I like to get up high on the boat to get a visual of the snook — you can see their shadows lying on the bottom behind rocks and off the jetty.”

Don’t be afraid to check the dock or bridge pilings right inside inlet areas, not far from the rocks. When fishing around docks, or when the water is dirty in the inlet, try using side scan imaging to locate snook.

For live baiting, Zyak usually goes with threadfin herring, pilchards or live croakers, but notes croakers are best as they seem to be genetically programmed to swim straight to the bottom. Zyak’s drift rig consists of 30-pound braid main line to a 48-inch section of 50-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon, then a loop knot to size 4/0 or 6/0 Eagle Claw Trokar hooks. Zyak hooks the bait right under the bridge of the nose or underneath the belly just in front of the tail. He freelines the bait without any weight.

“Usually we are fishing 6 to 12 feet of water, and the bait swims straight down.” Average size snook are 10 to 25 pounds at St. Lucie Inlet, with Zyak recommending you concentrate your efforts around the approaching new moon for best results.

“I will also look for structure around inlet areas,” adds Zyak. “Those fish will come off the inlet rocks and explore the immediate area. When I find a nice piece of structure like a fallen tree or submerged rocks, I spot-lock the boat with my trolling motor and pitch baits back to it.”

Drift Fishing Inlets for Snook

Captain Austin also likes to drift live baits inside the inlet waters when the conditions are right.

“Snook stacked up along the bridge fenders and outgoing tides are best to fish with live bait,” says Austin. Live pinfish or pigfish are his preferred baits, with the rig consisting of 30-pound-braid running line, a surgeon knot tied to a 24- to 36-inch section of 40- to 50-pound fluorocarbon leader, and then a size 5/0 to 6/0 VMC circle hook to finish it off.  He will pinch a ½- to 1-ounce split shot about a foot above the bait to get it down into the zone.

“Sebastian has about 12- to 15-foot depths in the middle of the channel, so I will motor up about 2/3 of the way back into the inlet, up to the bridge, then make the drift,” he says. “The bottom structure is very sticky inside the inlet with plenty of rock hang ups, but the key is to drift into the holes between rock boulders.”

Find the right balance between bouncing over the rocks while still letting the bait near the bottom without snagging. Though morning and afternoon hours are prime times, Austin suggests not to overlook drifting live baits during the night hours.

“Those nighttime shifts are also real solid for guys fishing around the south jetty, with both live baits and bucktails,” he says. “You’d be surprised how hot that action can get in the middle of the night.”

My magical night casting bucktails on the rocks opened up a whole new world of snook fishing for me. Mangroves, fallen trees and docks are notorious snook haunts, but next time you’re milling around any inlet jetties that line Florida’s East and Gulf coasts, start thinking about rockin’ some snook.

The post Conquering Florida’s Jetty Snook appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Tucked away in the southeastern corner of the Yucatan Peninsula, this tiny Central American nation (about the size of Massachusetts) was known as British Honduras until 1973. Belize boasts the second largest barrier reef in the world (after Australia’s Great Barrier Reef) with dozens of cays and islets. The country’s 174-mile coastline offers huge areas of sandy flats dotted with patches of turtle grass — ideal habitat for bonefish and permit.

Among anglers, Belize is known for its consistently productive, year-round fishing for both of those prized inshore trophy species. Add tarpon to the mix and it’s understandable that Belize ranks near the top of places in the world where anglers can accomplish a coveted shallow-water slam: permit, bonefish and tarpon in one day. But don’t limit yourself! Belize boasts a good population of snook in its rivers and mangrove-lined bays. Add snook to the other three species and join the ranks of super-slammers. Slam or not, fishing Belize is particularly popular with fly fishermen.

Unique among Central American nations, at least 40 percent of the country’s mainland and coast is protected. The barrier reef system has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1996. The reef runs for more than 180 miles, in places only 1,000 feet from shore but in other areas 25 miles out.

Some popular areas include Turneffe Atoll, the country’s largest atoll, located about 20 miles off the coast, near Belize City. It’s renowned for big schools of bonefish, but also numbers of permit. A marine reserve, Turneffe remains pristine, with vast expanses of mangrove and seagrass habitats around the island. Ambergris Caye is Belize’s largest island, famed for white-sand beaches and turquoise shallows. It’s perennially popular with tourists, being a mere 15-minute small-plane flight from Belize City. Nevertheless, it remains a solid spot for inshore fishing, particularly for sight-casting to tarpon on its extensive flats. Some of Belize’s other outstanding spots for anglers include the Placencia peninsula, and Hopkins and Glover’s reefs in the south.

Planning a Trip

When to Go

As noted above, this is truly year-round fishing. Larger tarpon tend to be more seasonal, given their migratory nature; late spring and summer is a peak time but smaller fish can be caught anytime on flats, in channels, creeks and bays. Winter can be tougher for bones, while fall is prime time for permit. Because fishing can be good throughout the year, timing a trip may come down to weather more than anything. Spring tends to be a bit windier (prevailing trade winds are generally from an eastern quadrant). From late February into May is the dry season, and June through much of the fall, is the wet season. It’s worth noting that the northern part of Belize receives considerably less rain than the south. Also keep in mind the possibility of hurricanes summer and fall. Direct strikes on Belize are rare, but tropical wind and rain spun off by big storms can hinder fishing.

Where to Go and How to Get There

Major airlines offer regular flights from several U.S. cities into Belize City’s international airport. Once in Belize, there are regular flights and ferry service to Ambergris Caye, but more distant resorts are reached primarily via chartered flights that the resorts provide or arrange.

Grand Caribe Belize is a beautiful resort in San Pedro Belize, located 2 miles north of town on Ambergris Caye. The condo style accommodations cater to anglers and families, plus the barrier reef sits just a half-mile offshore their beaches. This year, the resort hosted their 7th annual Deep Sea Classic fishing tournament in July.

What to Expect

English, for one thing: While you’ll hear Spanish and creole, English is the primary, official language, making Belize the only country in Central America where this is true. You’ll find plenty of hotels in Belize City. Most resorts provide tackle, though serious fishermen often bring their own (and fly fishing is particularly popular in Belize’s shallow waters). Though largely overlooked, reef and bluewater fishing await just beyond the flats. Besides fishing, in Belize’s forested interior you can plan visits to the country’s amazing Mayan ruins, remnants of a great ancient Maya empire. Note: upon leaving, you’ll need to pay a departure tax (unless included in the airline’s fare), and only cash is accepted.

Helpful Links

• For general information: travelbelize.org
• You’ll also find more good information at: travel.usnews.com/belize

The post The Beauty of Belize appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Oyster bars attract more cruisers than a sports pub on a Saturday night. In fact, these natural “watering holes” rank as top pickup spots for many inshore gamefish species from Maryland to Texas. Hang out at the right time, and you’re all but guaranteed to catch fish. Baitfish and crustaceans are also bar regulars, prompting a variety of predators to take advantage of ambush spots in and around oyster reefs. Choose the right tide and properly present the right bait, and you’ll increase your odds.

Pick the Right Tide to Fish

“Tide is critical,” says Capt. Jordan Todd, of Saltwater Obsessions in Port St. Joe, Florida, who fishes Apalachicola Bay in the state’s Panhandle. “We have oyster bars in different depths of water, so there are oyster bars that’ll be out of water on low tide and covered up on high tide. Then there are others in 5 to 6 feet of water that are covered up all the time.

“For redfish, you want a low tide that’s starting to rise. The first half of the incoming tide, those redfish will start swimming into it and start feeding around those exposed bars. I normally like to start fishing just as they start to get covered up.”

Todd anchors downcurrent of a bar and throws topwater plugs — ­chartreuse- or bone-colored Rapala Skitter Walks are his favorites — on top of or beyond the bar, working them back with a walk-­the-dog retrieve. He also buzzes weedless, non-weighted soft-plastic paddle-tail lures across the top of a bar.

As the water deepens, Todd switches to a shrimp jig or a D.O.A. or Gulp! shrimp under a popping cork. “A good angler can use a quarter-ounce jig head or D.O.A. shrimp, and bounce it across the bar,” he says. “Hard twitchbaits, like a MirrOdine or Rapala Shad Rap, work very well.”

“We fish a lot of oyster bars ­whenever we’re fishing for snook, redfish and trout,” says Capt. Brian Barrera of South Padre Island, Texas, who likes to anchor his boat by barely exposed oyster bars on a rising tide in the Lower Laguna Madre bay.

“When the tide’s just high enough, big schools of mullet will feel safe right on top of the bars, and the snook, trout and redfish won’t have enough water on the bar to come in after them. They’ll be hanging right around it, waiting to get in there.”

Barrera’s go-to bait in that situation is a D.O.A. PT-7 topwater lure. “Since it’s weedless and floating, you can get right on top of the bar. As you retrieve it, the PT-7 looks like a mullet venturing off the bar, and the fish come up and explode on it,” he says. “I’ll also do that with a D.O.A. C.A.L. 5.5 jerkbait and rig it weedless with a 6/0 screw-lock hook. You can drop that over those oyster beds, and it looks like an injured mullet.”

Oyster Bars Attract Bait and Gamefish

Capt. Brian Sanders, who fishes the Ten Thousand Islands in Everglades National Park out of Chokoloskee Island, Florida, uses live finger mullet, pilchards, threadfin herring and shrimp. He catches the baitfish with a cast net and buys the shrimp.

“The oyster bars in Chokoloskee serve a big purpose,” Sanders says. “They harbor a lot of crabs, shrimp and small baitfish. Raccoons eat the crabs and shrimp at low tide, and as the tide rises, fish come in to eat them too. I’ve seen redfish bellies that are packed full of small little crabs. It almost seems like the redfish use the oyster bars to eat the crabs.”

Sanders positions his bay boat in front of oyster bars over dark bottoms with turtle grass. He says redfish, snook, sharks and jacks cruise over that bottom, and his customers also catch reds and seatrout on top of the bars where they’re mixed in with mullet. Oyster bars also attract black drum, sheepshead, ladyfish and mangrove snapper, which will all eat a live baitfish and a live shrimp.

“The colder months, when there’s not a lot of live bait around, fish a shrimp under a float on a higher tide on top of a bar, and on the edges of the bar when the tide is lower,” Sanders says.

Todd says Apalachicola Bay features a shrimp hatch in spring, so from that time into early summer, he fishes live shrimp under a popping cork. In June, July and August, he switches to small menhaden or cut menhaden for trout; he goes back to shrimp in fall during the white shrimp hatch.

Fish Deeper Oyster Bars During Outgoing Tides

Bar-hopping begins as oyster reefs overtop with rising water or become exposed as the tide drops. Knowing the depths of different bars allows anglers to fish all of them when the conditions are optimal for each. Barrera prefers to fish a falling tide for five or six hours, so when the water drops too low at one bar, he moves 20 or 30 yards to a deeper bar, and makes repeated casts as he waits for the water depth to get right.

“If we hook one or two and it’s pretty fishy, we’ll stay,” Barrera says. “What’ll happen lots of times is we catch one or two and spook the fish, and they’ll ­scatter. Then we’ll move to the next patch.”

Todd also moves to deeper oyster bars on a falling tide and targets seatrout “because those trout will stack up on those deeper bars as the bait comes to them.”

The best bars are not solid masses of oysters but rather clumps of oysters that offer multiple ambush spots for game fish. Bars with sandy spots also can be productive.

“Oyster bars with character, ones that are broken and have little pockets, tend to hold more fish,” Todd says. “I also look for bars that have breaks in them or are horseshoe-shaped or have little holes in the middle of them. The fish can stay in the holes in the bars.”

Says Sanders, “I don’t concentrate on big, giant oyster bars, but scattered oysters near a beach or an island.”

Fishing Tackle for Oyster Bars

Anglers need tough tackle to pull hooked fish away from oyster bars. Barrera uses 20- or 25-pound leaders on his 10-pound braided line and 7-foot, 6-inch G. Loomis inshore rods when fishing in Texas bays. He upgrades to 30- and even 40-pound fluorocarbon leaders when fishing oyster bars.

“A 32-inch snook will pull you into the oysters,” he says. “I tell my clients to try to keep the fish out of the bar as much as possible. As soon as I see it in the bar, or they feel it, I tell them to open the bail, and I’ll use my trolling motor to go up to the bar and get the line out of there.”

Read Next: How to Fish Marshes and Creeks

If you do hang up on a bar, “point your fishing rod at it, grab the spool and pull back slowly, and you’ll usually roll over the oysters, then the hook comes free,” says Sanders, who outfits his southwest Florida anglers with 7-foot rods with 3500 or 4000 spinning reels spooled with 20-pound braid and 40-pound fluorocarbon leaders.

Todd uses a 7-foot medium-heavy rod in the Panhandle, with a 4000-class spinning reel spooled with 20-pound braid and usually a 25-pound ­fluorocarbon leader. When he’s targeting bull reds around deeper bars in 6 to 8 feet of water, he ties on 30- or 40-pound fluorocarbon leaders.

The post How to Fish Oyster Bars appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Most folks might believe you can only chase snook in the U.S. in the southern waters of Florida. That’s not quite true. The southern Texas coast also has snook, with some guides getting pretty good at targeting them.

Captain Brian Barrera, of South Padre Island, Texas, is coming off his best-ever snook fishing trip. “We caught 151 snook between four people,” he said. While those numbers are unprecedented, he has been averaging a dozen snook each trip.

Texas snook fishing is never going to pass up Florida snook fishing; most of Texas isn’t warm enough year-round, so the snook numbers and areas to catch them will always be limited. When Barrera isn’t targeting winter snook, he goes for redfish and speckled trout on the shallow flats of Lower Laguna Madre. “We’re limiting out, with plenty of over-slot fish released too,” he said.

Barrera says winter is the best time for snook and trophy speckled trout. As the water cools through January into March, snook congregate along deep channel ledges while the reds and trout move onto grass and sand flats.

To target snook, Barrera fishes waters as deep as 30 feet. Using his fishfinder, he looks for the thermocline where the warmer surface water changes to cooler deep water. “There is a 3- to 5-foot area where the fish are comfortable,” he explained. With side-scan sonar on his Humminbird finder, he can see snook hanging in specific depths of the water column. 

When he marks the fish, he works a 3-inch D.O.A. lures shad tail on a 3⁄8-ounce jighead. He works the optimal temperature zone by jigging the lure or using a fast retrieve.

Seatrout and Redfish Reign Supreme in Texas

On warm days, Barrera fishes for redfish and trophy seatrout on the extensive shallow bars and grass. “When the wind is light, we wade, but when the wind is blowing, I’ll drift in the boat,” he said. 

In the morning, he looks for fish on the grass flats near the west side of the bay. In the afternoon, he moves to the east side of the bay to fish sand flats behind the barrier islands.

On the grass, he looks for the fish to hang over open potholes waiting to ambush a bait. In the clear water over sand flats, he sight fishes for trophy trout and redfish. He uses ⅛- to ¼-ounce jighead and a 4-inch soft plastic jerk bait. “My favorite color is purple and chartreuse,” he said, emphasizing the chartreuse. For topwater, he likes a walk-the-dog style lure in pink mullet. 

Barrera expects the winter action to continue until spring. He says this is the time for trophy trout, with recent catches of seatrout up to 30 inches. “People come here to catch the trout of a lifetime,” he bragged. 

The post Texas Snook Fishing in Winter appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.