Georgia/Northern Florida

[Lunker]

I will be stationed at Ft. Benning GA(west side of the state) for several months and am curious about fishing opportunities in the area. I will likely bring some of my own tackle to fool around with but wouldn't mind doing a guided bass trip or heading down to the coast(panama city beach for example) for some inshore fishing or shore fishing on my weekends. Anyone familiar with the areas or have any suggestions? Thanks

[AuggieDawg11]

My cousin lives down there. He is currently in Iraq but has told me about some of the places that he has hunted and fished. Next time I talk to him, I will ask him and get back to you.

[mainbutter]

I'm not familiar with the area specifically, but I've fished plenty of the gulf from texas through southwest Florida to know that it's all similar enough, at least for shore fishing, to tell you that you should have no problem finding some fish.

If you're going to do any saltwater fishing (which I highly recommend!) from shore, it can be some of the most simple fishing ever. Circle hooks, sinkers, and some bait are all you need for dozens of gamefish species. Bait can be shrimp (very good for many species), cutbait (for bigger fish including sharks), or live fish. Check into regs before harvesting live bait, but I'm pretty sure GA allows cast nets. I love cast netting for a small bucket of decent sized bait to use off of fishing piers, often under a bobber.

Bass fishing is a little tougher as you probably need a boat for a lot of that water, and there aren't as many lakes accessible to most metro areas.

There are a ton of bait shops in and near Columbus (just north of you I think?) Definitely check some out.

[Gunnin4fish]

I'd say definitely bring gear. I'm going to next time I go down to FLA. I'd bring basic bass catching rod/reel, the rest you can get from bait shops. there's a book ____ fisherman's guide to the Emerald Coast that shows you some fishing spots and is a good basic "how to" for seashore fishing. It's a good book and there's a number of super helpful threads below for FL shore fishing.

this is a helpful thread

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubb...nfo#Post1266680

Knock 'em out!