Going salt water fishing for the first time - tips?
 

Ok, I'm almost embarassed to admit this: I'm an avid fisherman
(bass/catfish/panfish), but despite living only 6 miles from the
coastline (South Carolina; about 90 miles south of Myrtle Beach), I've
never gone sal****er fishing. All I've ever done is freshwater.

That being said, my brother and I have decided to go this coming
weekend to give it a try. We'll be fishing small streams and jetties;
nothing too deep or far out as we'll just be in a 14' jon boat.

From my reading, I'm thinking that our most likely catches will be
sheepshead, maybe some drum. To tell the truth I'm not really
concerned with any particular type. Basically, I just want to get a
good recommendation on gear setup and bait to use (for whatever might
be caught in these areas during this time of year). I've got some
larger reels/rods that I use catfishing, and I've also got a few other
bass combos that I use. I normally spool the catfish rods with 30lb
test line and the bass setups with 12lb test. Any advice as to how to
set these up for sal****er?

Thanks for any help offered. I'm hoping to get a little more
experienced with this and hopefully make a hobby out of it. For the
moment I know next to nothing though :).

"Mike Gaskins" wrote in message: "Ok, I'm almost embarassed to admit this:
I'm an avid fisherman (bass/catfish/panfish), but despite living only 6
miles from the coastline (South Carolina; about 90 miles south of Myrtle
Beach), I've never gone sal****er fishing. All I've ever done is
freshwater.

That being said, my brother and I have decided to go this coming weekend to
give it a try. We'll be fishing small streams and jetties; nothing too deep
or far out as we'll just be in a 14' jon boat.
From my reading, I'm thinking that our most likely catches will be
sheepshead, maybe some drum. To tell the truth I'm not really concerned
with any particular type. Basically, I just want to get a good
recommendation on gear setup and bait to use (for whatever might be caught
in these areas during this time of year). I've got some larger reels/rods
that I use catfishing, and I've also got a few other bass combos that I use.
I normally spool the catfish rods with 30lb
test line and the bass setups with 12lb test. Any advice as to how to set
these up for sal****er?

Thanks for any help offered. I'm hoping to get a little more experienced
with this and hopefully make a hobby out of it. For the moment I know next
to nothing though :)."

I fish sal****er in Louisiana and this is my recommendations.

For sal****er fishing, I prefer a medium heavy action rod in 7 foot length.
I use both spinning reels and baitcaster. I prefer spinning reels. I use
my baitcasters for throwing topwater lures for trout and redfish. I am a
braid line fan. The area I fish in Louisiana is full of oyster reefs so I
find I get less break off using braid line. I prefer Power Pro. I not sure
of the test but the diameter is the size of 12 LB mono.

For lures, I use the following: Sal****er Assassins or Bass Assassin lures,
Deadly Dudley, DOA shrimps, gold and silver spoons (weedless), Cocahoe
Minnows and sparkle beetles. I also use top water lures top dog by
MirrOlure. I also carry a few rattletraps for trolling near pilings of
bridges. I carry a variety of colors in my boat but very seldom switch from
a chartreuse color lure. Any soft plastic lure is slid on to a 1/8, 1/4 or
3/8 unpainted jig head. Shape of lead does not matter but I prefer a round
head since it tends not to hang up as often if caught on the bottom.

Live baits I use are Cocahoe Minnows, croakers and shrimp. I usually hook
them onto a lazer hook by Eagle claw. Hook size number 4.

Fishing methods.
Freeline: cast out and retrieve back. Speed depends on time of year.
Winter I retrieve slower since the fish are more lethargic. I usually cast
into the current and let the lure fall with the current. You can also try
this by bounce the lure off the bottom back to the boat.

Under cork (float): Depending on area and depth of the water I may use a
sliding cork, rattling cork, Cajun cork or a styrofoam clip on cork. If I
fish under a cork, I will pop the cork a few times to create a noise.

Troll If a bridge is present that runs the length of a lake or bay, I will
troll using rattle traps. I let out about 75 yards of line and pull lure as
near to the pilings as I can get at 3 to 5 miles per hour.

I never tie a lure on with a swivel. I always tie it directly to my line.

When out in the boat, I look for bait fish activity along the shore lines.
I try casting to the shore and working the lure back to the boat. Look for
reds along shorelines also. Sometimes you will see there fins sticking out
of the water and other times you may see there wake as the patrol the
shallows.

Try fishing downstream side of poinst by throwing upstream and letting your
lure float downstream.

Species you may catch fishing in the marsh are speckle trout (spotted
seatrout) redfish, flounder, black drum, croaker and sheephead. You may
also catch hard head catfish (trash) and sail catfish (edible). Sail cat
are very slimely. Depending on the area you may even snag a few sharks and
stingrays.

You may want to try and bring market shrimp to tip your lures with to
improve your chances of catching something even if it is not edible.

Sarge

"Mike Gaskins" wrote in message
oups.com...
Ok, I'm almost embarassed to admit this: I'm an avid fisherman
(bass/catfish/panfish), but despite living only 6 miles from the
coastline (South Carolina; about 90 miles south of Myrtle Beach), I've
never gone sal****er fishing. All I've ever done is freshwater.

That being said, my brother and I have decided to go this coming
weekend to give it a try. We'll be fishing small streams and jetties;
nothing too deep or far out as we'll just be in a 14' jon boat.

From my reading, I'm thinking that our most likely catches will be
sheepshead, maybe some drum. To tell the truth I'm not really
concerned with any particular type. Basically, I just want to get a
good recommendation on gear setup and bait to use (for whatever might
be caught in these areas during this time of year). I've got some
larger reels/rods that I use catfishing, and I've also got a few other
bass combos that I use. I normally spool the catfish rods with 30lb
test line and the bass setups with 12lb test. Any advice as to how to
set these up for sal****er?

Thanks for any help offered. I'm hoping to get a little more
experienced with this and hopefully make a hobby out of it. For the
moment I know next to nothing though :).




One thing,

Anytime I take avid freshwater fishermen sal****er fishing,
they never set the hook hard enough.


Oh ya,

once the salt gets in your blood, you'll realize you;ve been
just *playing around* in the freshwater my friend.



:)

db

Mike Gaskins wrote:
Ok, I'm almost embarassed to admit this: I'm an avid fisherman
(bass/catfish/panfish), but despite living only 6 miles from the
coastline (South Carolina; about 90 miles south of Myrtle Beach), I've
never gone sal****er fishing. All I've ever done is freshwater.


FOR SHAME,, Shame, shame

Man you have so limited yourself.

While I lived on the beach, I never went fresh water fishing, the size
of the fish in fresh water were considered bait to what I caught out front.

That being said, my brother and I have decided to go this coming
weekend to give it a try. We'll be fishing small streams and jetties;
nothing too deep or far out as we'll just be in a 14' jon boat.

I'm not sure about S.C. but don't expect having a great day in the
inland waters this time of the year, unless you really know where to go,
and what to target. When spring and summer arrive the fishing will
really pick up, as many species will move into those waters, that are
not there now. (if you get skunked, don't give up on salt water fishing)
instead find some locals who really know the waters, and learn where,
when, and how.

From my reading, I'm thinking that our most likely catches will be
sheepshead, maybe some drum. To tell the truth I'm not really
concerned with any particular type. Basically, I just want to get a
good recommendation on gear setup and bait to use (for whatever might
be caught in these areas during this time of year). I've got some
larger reels/rods that I use catfishing, and I've also got a few other
bass combos that I use. I normally spool the catfish rods with 30lb
test line and the bass setups with 12lb test. Any advice as to how to
set these up for sal****er?

Stick with the smaller gear,, you will have more fun in the inland waters.

WASH DOWN YOUR GEAR, AFTER EVERY TRIP, I MEAN REALLY WASH IT DOWN from
rod tip, to the butt, and really spend time flooding the spooled fishing
line. Don't put it off until tomorrow, do it as soon as you can get to
some fresh water. Some people actually dunk their reels in a bucket of
fresh water, to make sure that all salt residue is removed, water does
not hurt reels,, it's the salt that does

--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Long Shot "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,StandOut Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, Decoy Activator
and the EZKnot http://www.ezknot.com

Mike Gaskins wrote:
Ok, I'm almost embarassed to admit this: I'm an avid fisherman
(bass/catfish/panfish), but despite living only 6 miles from the
coastline (South Carolina; about 90 miles south of Myrtle Beach), I've
never gone sal****er fishing. All I've ever done is freshwater.


FOR SHAME,, Shame, shame

Man you have so limited yourself.

While I lived on the beach, I never went fresh water fishing, the size
of the fish in fresh water were considered bait to what I caught out front.

That being said, my brother and I have decided to go this coming
weekend to give it a try. We'll be fishing small streams and jetties;
nothing too deep or far out as we'll just be in a 14' jon boat.

I'm not sure about S.C. but don't expect having a great day in the
inland waters this time of the year, unless you really know where to go,
and what to target. When spring and summer arrive the fishing will
really pick up, as many species will move into those waters, that are
not there now. (if you get skunked, don't give up on salt water fishing)
instead find some locals who really know the waters, and learn where,
when, and how.

From my reading, I'm thinking that our most likely catches will be
sheepshead, maybe some drum. To tell the truth I'm not really
concerned with any particular type. Basically, I just want to get a
good recommendation on gear setup and bait to use (for whatever might
be caught in these areas during this time of year). I've got some
larger reels/rods that I use catfishing, and I've also got a few other
bass combos that I use. I normally spool the catfish rods with 30lb
test line and the bass setups with 12lb test. Any advice as to how to
set these up for sal****er?

Stick with the smaller gear,, you will have more fun in the inland waters.

WASH DOWN YOUR GEAR, AFTER EVERY TRIP, I MEAN REALLY WASH IT DOWN from
rod tip, to the butt, and really spend time flooding the spooled fishing
line. Don't put it off until tomorrow, do it as soon as you can get to
some fresh water. Some people actually dunk their reels in a bucket of
fresh water, to make sure that all salt residue is removed, water does
not hurt reels,, it's the salt that does

--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Long Shot "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,StandOut Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, Decoy Activator
and the EZKnot http://www.ezknot.com

WASH DOWN YOUR GEAR, AFTER EVERY TRIP, I MEAN REALLY WASH IT DOWN from
rod tip, to the butt, and really spend time flooding the spooled fishing
line. Don't put it off until tomorrow, do it as soon as you can get to
some fresh water. Some people actually dunk their reels in a bucket of
fresh water, to make sure that all salt residue is removed, water does
not hurt reels,, it's the salt that does


Some reels use a very light lubricant that will float out if the reels are
submerged so if you do this make sure you know how to dissassemble them and
relubricate them, and do it right away. I had some spinning reels destroyed
by being submerged, and then not lubed right away. (not cheap ones)


--
** Public Fishing and Boating Forums
** www.YumaBassMan.com

Mike Gaskins wrote:
Ok, I'm almost embarassed to admit this: I'm an avid fisherman
(bass/catfish/panfish), but despite living only 6 miles from the
coastline (South Carolina; about 90 miles south of Myrtle Beach),
I've
never gone sal****er fishing. All I've ever done is freshwater.

That being said, my brother and I have decided to go this coming
weekend to give it a try. We'll be fishing small streams and
jetties;
nothing too deep or far out as we'll just be in a 14' jon boat.

From my reading, I'm thinking that our most likely catches will be
sheepshead, maybe some drum. To tell the truth I'm not really
concerned with any particular type. Basically, I just want to get a
good recommendation on gear setup and bait to use (for whatever might
be caught in these areas during this time of year). I've got some
larger reels/rods that I use catfishing, and I've also got a few
other
bass combos that I use. I normally spool the catfish rods with 30lb
test line and the bass setups with 12lb test. Any advice as to how
to
set these up for sal****er?

Thanks for any help offered. I'm hoping to get a little more
experienced with this and hopefully make a hobby out of it. For the
moment I know next to nothing though :).

Mike, if you really want to learn how and where to fish your best bet
is to get someone that knows how to show you. For that you should
charter a local boat that caters to the kind of fishing you want to do.
They can show you more in one day than you can hope to learn on your
own. Watch what they do carefully, and ask lots of questions. Most
charter guy's have no problem showing you what to do. They want you to
enjoy yourselves, so you come back, and you might, to learn more.

I used to run charters many years ago in NY, and we had lots of guy's
that really wanted to pick our brains, so they could do it on their
own. And we would explain everything to them, most of those guy's
became regulars, once or twice a year, differant kind of targeted fish.


Good luck!