r/floridafishing

Heading to Destin Florida near Henderson Beach for a week. Ive really enjoyed fishing the past year and would love to saltwater fish for the first time.

I’m a complete noob and need some advice on 1) reel / gear needed, 2) where to fish on the beach or pier, 3) type of fish to go after, and 4) bait to use!

I want good value and something that will last a long time.

I have a Shimano Curado DC 150 as my sole reel but I’m willing to get a new one for this trip. Probably also getting a travel rod so I can bring it back with me.

Thank you so much!

Edit: Planning to fish the Surf!

First blueline tile, not huge but a good eater. 600’ of water out of Boca area

Here’s a few from this weekend. Bite was pretty slow on Friday but Saturday was fun. Tried to land a couple sharks in the river but my leader let go each attempt. Indian River on the treasure coast. All inshore.

I snapped my rod today and am looking at this Daiwa rod and am struggling choosing between the 7’ medium light fast vs. 7’6” medium fast.

I have a daiwa crossfire lt 2500 reel that I use 15lb braided on.

I mainly kayak fish in NE Florida inshore. Around oyster beds, grass lines, docks, creek mouths. Mainly targeting reds, snook, trout, & flounder w/ 1/8oz jigheads & paddletails. Topwater chug bug in the morning. Occasional live shrimp & mud minnows.

Any and all recommendations & advice is greatly appreciated!

This was caught this morning in a community pond in Fort Myers. What is this?

This is my current cart want a nice set up for reds and snook.

St croix avid inshore fisherman 7’6 medium fast
Shimano stradic 4k

Anyone try these bad bois yet?

Does your kid have one to try?

Get back to us poor fishermen. These are much cheaper.

Date recorded: May 21st
Location: west bay Galveston, Tx
Wind: 8-10mph
Weather: overcast w/ big storm on the way
Temp: 90ish
Tide: outgoing
Rig: Carolina rig w/ live shrimp

Quick rundown, I launched near a deep lake with some shallows and structure around. I usually make sure to start fishing the closest structure to my launch spot. There’s a cove with rocks along it and I’ve pulled out flounder, reds, and drum in this spot!
I fished this area for a while with small catches only. As the tide was going out I decided to fish some rocks at the mouth of the lake.
I positioned myself on the back end of those rocks so the outgoing tide could push the bait out, essentially making it a funnel of bait that fish wait on the other side for.. cus who doesn’t like a easy meal right?!
Caught a bunch of small trout here and with this tactic. The trout started getting bigger with every catch! Then I had an awesome thing happen, a fisherman rolled up on me in his boat to warn me about a big storm that was on its way and that they just missed themselves. I would have kept fishing if it wasn’t for him!
I wanted to keep fishing so I could get my keepers but I decided to be a responsible adult and head back in😪
Luckily the rain caught up to me by the time I was unloading the boat so I barely got wet!
Great day on the water even tho I didn’t have anything to take home!
Go get you some!!💪🏼

Throwback report from a trip to the Colorado River in Matagorda.
This one’s an older report, so don’t use it as a current fishing report—but the conditions are a good reminder of how redfish can behave during cooler weather or cooler mornings before the sun comes up.

Conditions:
• Stained water with about 2 feet of visibility
• Roughly 4 feet of water
• Incoming tide
• Fishing the shoreline near a creek mouth around sunken tree branches
• Winds started around 15 mph before laying down
• Cool morning that warmed into the high 80s with plenty of sunshine
A few buddies and I managed to put together our limits of redfish, all coming from the same general area.
The lure that consistently got bit was a Coastal Brew Darting Lure. The key wasn’t the lure itself as much as the presentation. A moderate to slow retrieve worked best, either slowly swimming it back to the boat or lightly hopping it along the bottom. The fish wanted an easy meal and weren’t interested in chasing something moving too fast.
One thing that stood out was how the fish positioned themselves on the incoming tide. Instead of pushing into the creek, they held tight to the shoreline structure and the submerged timber, waiting for bait to come to them. It’s a good reminder that an incoming tide doesn’t always mean the fish immediately flood into the back lakes or creeks. Sometimes they’ll stage on the first available structure and feed there.
Hopefully this helps someone put a few more fish in the boat.

Older reports may not tell you where the fish are today, but they can definitely teach you how they tend to behave under similar conditions.

How have y’all found redfish positioning on an incoming tide? Do you usually find them pushing into the creeks, or staging along shoreline structure first?

Purchased a new Star Rods about 4 months ago for a finesse setup. Fished it a couple times and really liked it. Then one day while fighting an overzealous lady fish the rod breaks. I figure no big deal they have a warranty. I go to the shop that I purchased it and they tell me I need to contact the manufacturer directly. Ok. Not super stoked about that but ok.

Attempt to contact Star through their website. Fill out the warranty information. Post the pics, receipt, etc. Nothing. No response for several weeks. I do some digging and found a contact link on stars actual website. Send an email about my warranty claim. After about a week I get a response. Sweet. Get a tube and send it out. 3 days after receiving it I hear back. They’re going to warranty it. Sweet. I’m told I should hear something within 10-14 business days. Never heard anything else.

Almost a month passes. I come home today to find this. I get that it’s the shipper who damaged it. However the tube I sent my rod in for warranty was much thicker and more rigid than the garbage they sent this back in.

*editing in an update*
My contact throughout this at Star emailed me first thing this morning apologizing. Right after 8am so shortly after she arrived. She saw the pictures and was very sorry. She told me to pick out another rod from the website that matched my needs since the one they sent was the last one available. I ended up choosing a rod that costs twice as much (it was the only spinning that was over 7’ and could throw 1/8oz). She didn’t blink. Apologized again and said it would ship today. We’ll see.