Minnesotan First Time Fishing Saltwater: Basic Equipment???

[AsianSensation89]

Hey Guys,

I'm suppose to be going on a retreat with my college some time after next week down to Biloxi, Mississippi. I figured if it's possible I wanted to try to bring some fishing gear down. Figure it's my first time being my the coast and maybe I can try to squeeze in a little fishing. Probably will also be a while until I get even that close to the ocean again.

So... I was wondering if I can get some input on what's good to bring down. I don't have anything big. Just a medium 6'6" action fenwick with a shimano sonora 2500 reel, but I've heard and read pretty good reviews about Shimano's holding up to Saltwater fishing. Thought about bringing my Sahara, but just got it fixed. My fenwick's still on warranty also so I can brave testing it out. Have also handled pikes and muskies up to 36" fine with it with only 8lb. I was only planning on doing some shore ocean fishing and feel my equipment should be enough? What do you guys think? (Seems most of the fish people were catching in that area were salwater drum, redfish, and this weird fish that looks like a larger version of a sunny).

As for tackle I plan on bringing some larger size hooks, heavier sinkers... and some nice size rapalas.

Thanks! Would love to hear your recommendations. Hope to hear from you guys...

[Nate McVey]

As I've never been down in that area I can't tell you what's going to work as well as some of the folks on here can. The one thing I will say is to make sure you rinse off ALL your equipment thoroughly with fresh water. I didn't do this once on a trip to Mexico and it cost me a reel.

Good luck and I can't wait to see the pics when you get back!

[AsianSensation89]

Thanks. To rinse with freshwater after I come back you're saying?

[tunrevir]

Most of you saltwater fishing near shore is going to consist of casting jigs or cranks or bottom fishing with a lindy type setup. depending on the area you are fishing. Pier fishing can be fun if you can find one in your area. Read the local papers for fishing reports and check the local baitshops for ideas where and when to fish and for the species your after. The rod and reel you mentioned should be fine for down there but like others mentioned, make sure you clean everything off after you fish with it. Clean the rod guides, the reel and any of the lures you use or they will be junk in a few months. I like to wash my stuff down and give everything a spritz of wd-40 as added insurance against corrosion.

Tunrevir~

[traveler]

Thanks. To rinse with freshwater after I come back you're saying?

No, after EACH use. Salt corrosion can start quickly; I bring my rods into the shower with me as soon as i get back to the hotel room. Everybody gets the salt washed off them, and it brings us closer:)

I wonder what the maids think...

I've done very little shore fishing in salt, but fish are fish. Match the size/weight of your tackle to the intended quarry and you'll be fine. Hook up with something much larger than you were targeting and you'll be overmatched. Oh well, it happens:)

[pulleye16]

Are you heading out in the deep waters? If so...Dramamine! I had one trip ruined and it wasen't pretty!

[mainbutter]

You have two options

1) go with what you have

2) buy equipment

option 1 -- With a medium action 6'6'' spinning setup, I'd stick to fishing with shrimp. You could try jigs or cranks as they do work, but I've found that particularly from shore, unless you have a 12' surf casting rod to cover lots of water, artificials just don't do the job for me. You can have plenty of action and target everything under 20lbs near shore on shrimp.

Spool up with 20-30lb braid or risk having all your line taken by something strong. A 15lb drum(aka redfish) can possibly take all your line and then some if you've got 8lb mono.

option 2 -- Frankly when I'm fishing the Gulf of Mexico, I wouldn't be caught without a stout rod, a Penn Senator, 30-80lb mono main line, large chunks of cut bait (ladyfish is my preference), ~12/0 circle hooks, HEAVY (100+ or heavier) mono or wire leader, and sinkers. I basically bottom fish for sharks, redfish, and snook. They will all take cutbait. Supposedly tarpon will take cutbait as well if they cruise through, but I rarely get to fish the gulf during the warmer months when they're around. My setup is definitely heavy, but there are big fish close to shore in the gulf. I don't want that 200lb bull shark to spool me again.

Thoroughly rinse your equipment after EVERY time you take it out. I also use a product called Reel Magic, an aerosol spray. It's marketed as something that lubricates line to cast farther, but it's essentially a petroleum based product and is great at limiting corrosion. I lightly spray the entire reel with this stuff after it's rinsed and dried.

edit:

P.S. As mentioned in a post above mine, hit up a bait shop, they'll put you on fish for sure and may have info on Mississippi regs as I've never fished that particular state before.

[popriveter]

Mainbutter is dead on!

I have done a decent amount of saltwater shore and pier fishing with my bass/spinning tackle. The most fun I have comes while bottom fishing shrimp and squid. I catch a lot of different types of fish that way, but they are rarely larger than 3 lbs, so I decided one time that I didn't need heavy line. I used 8 lb mono and kicked myself repeatedly for that decision when I broke of every decent fish I hooked. It turns out 2lb sheephead can find all sorts of sharp stuff (barnacles, oysters, etc) that make short work of 8 lb mono.

14lb Fireline is my go to saltwater line now.

Strategically, look for any access to deep water. Bridges, piers, or sharp-cut shorelines that can get you to 5+ feet of water without a long cast will be easier to fish than beaches/surf zones.

[AsianSensation89]

Hum. A lot of interesting info here. All of it really useful.

Cause I'm by the coast, is it also legal for me to just catch my own bait to use, such as crab and shad-like bait?

And I'm still a bit confused about "rinsing" my gear. More specifically, I understand rinsing my rod guides, lures, etc... but I'm wondering if just taking off my spool to rinse in water should be enough considering the rest of my reel probably won't be wet? Didn't want to get the whole system wet by rinsing if I didn't need to just cause the reel's still pretty new and I didn't want to mess with the nice lube it already has in it right now.

I'm also thinking about converting over to 10lb line. On a tight budget so can't really go to braided, but I think that should give me enough play on the fish. Have fought some huge carp that have taken out some line but I think I can try to learn to play the fish a little. Any line stronger than that I'm afraid will really test the limits of my rod and reel lol.

[AsianSensation89]

Do I have to go buy shrimp and squid as bait, or can I catch them on my own to use?

[AsianSensation89]

And what's considered a good "ideal" cast for ocean shore fishing?

60 yards okay?

[popriveter]

One more thing- You can buy a semi-disposable spinning combo at a Richard's, Bass Pro (or whatever they have down there) for $30 and leave it with some locals. It'll protect your freshwater tackle, make somebody happy and you won't need to worry about a rod on the plane.

[popriveter]

You might have trouble catching shrimp or squid for bait, but at a bait shop, shrimp should be about $3 a scoop and frozen squid is only about $3 a lb (try a an asian market if you can't find a bait shop.)

If you can find a pier, casting distance is a non-issue.

With line choice, just remember you are not concerned about the fish tugging, you are concerned about the sharp stuff they will drag the line across. The barnacles on pier pilings will cut just like muskie teeth.

[popriveter]

In february, I fished in FL and caught little crabs (about 1" long) by pulling rock and oyster clusters from the shoreline. I used these as bait and they were great for sheephead. I would put on a piece of shrimp and couldn't catch a sheephead, but suddenly, spotted trout and hardhead catfish would bite.

[AsianSensation89]

Thank you!

[smb1]

When you fish saltwater, you need to distinguish whether it's open ocean, bay, beach or estuary conditions because each has its own conditions. Toughest to fish is the beach and the sand and salt can tear up your equipment. It's not easy to use light tackle on the beach, but it can be done. Frequently you do need to make long casts and use heavy weights for surf fishing. If you check the local bait stores, and they say beach is best, so be it...but it's very likely they will point you more towards bay or estuary fishing. For that kind of inshore fishing, light tackle is perfect. 10-lb test line is fine, you can fight plenty of big jacks, trout, and redfish with 10-lb line if you're any good. Live bait is best and you don't need heavy sinkers, steel leaders or a bunch of heavy metal on your line. Stay light and simple and you will catch more fish. Most newcomers go too heavy and it cuts way down on the action. The other thing most newbies do wrong is to set up and then cast as far out as they can--that's not likely where the fish are (except in the surf). For instance, on a bridge there are more fish around the pilings and under the bridge then there are 40 yards out. Anyway, talk to the locals, they should put you on fish. And do always rinse your equipment with freshwater after every use.

[tunrevir]

You can dig for sand fleas along the water line, or try your hand at catching bait but it is easiest to go to the bait shop and pick up your shrimp, squid, fiddler crabs, ect. Rinse the whole reel, and the spool everything that is metal that you have near the salt water should be rinsed with fresh water after your done or you will get corrosion.

Tunrevir~

[Stringerless!]

You may want to check the regulations for the type of fishing you are going to do. I know in Florida when you are ocean fishing from a pier you do not need a liscense. If you were going to fish any fresh water in Fla you did need a non resident liscence. Check it out. Just trying to save you some money ( ticket or worse yet confiscated gear ). I just bring my reels to FLA and buy a $10 rod at wally world. Usually give it to hotel bartender when we leave but this year we bought a 2 piece and my son carried it on plane.

[AsianSensation89]

What if the reel is recommended to be saltwater?

[mainbutter]

On the subject of catching bait:

The only bait I catch and use is

1) bait I catch on hook and line. Usually this is ladyfish (imagine 1-3lb species of tarpon) that I use as cutbait.

2) bait I catch with a throw-net. Sometimes baitfish that are similar to freshwater shad are a great thing to use live (circle hook through the dorsal) and fish for snook. Throw nets are expensive, and take quite a bit of practice to throw correctly.

Always check up on regulations for catching and using stuff as bait, as I have no idea what they are in Mississippi.

[AsianSensation89]

Which commonly caught inshore saltwater fish would be best tasting anyway? I'm a bit excited to try cooking up one.

[popriveter]

I've kept snapper, sea trout, catfish, stingray and grunt. All were very good. Locals in Florida told me bad things about saltwater cats, but I trusted my research and gave them shot anyway. Very good to eat!

[mainbutter]

I'm another who heard that the saltwater catfish weren't great but tried 'em anyways and quite enjoyed it.

As for inshore fish to eat.. my favorites are both redfish and shark, if they're under 5lbs. Pompano are also great, and they should be around, but I've never caught 'em from shore, I've only found them on or just off of shallow reefs/flats a few hundred yards from shore. All mentioned above are white, flaky meat that cook up well.

I love eating red snapper, but I've never caught, from shore or boat.

There are probably other good eating fish, but I usually CPR anyways. A number of good eating fish are regulated pretty hard (like snook) and really shouldn't be (or can't be) kept. For instance, goliath groupers were fished so hard for their meat that they can no longer be kept in all states (I think). Redfish were almost fished to extinction some years ago by sportfishermen for their meat, but have made an amazing comeback, so keeping a small eater is just fine. The best (and most popular) way to cook up redfish is blackened with cajun seasoning. I go heavy on the powdered cayenne and lemon pepper, and less heavy on whatever else I have around, covering the fish in seasonings after dipping it in melted butter. Throw in on a HOT skillet and blacken the seasonings on both sides, cooking the fish through fairly quickly.

[smb1]

Even if a reel is flagged for "saltwater use", you should still rinse it off.

[tunrevir]

You will also have a chance to run into spanish mackeral in tidal pass areas along with the pampano and sea trout. Be very careful with the sea cats as they have barbs that have a poison that can be very painful if you catch one in the hand(I know from experiencing it)! Sheepshead are common in shore and are decent eating as well.

Tunrevir~