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[surffishkids]

Hello everyone,

Possible skyway newbie here. My kids, son 7, daughter 9) along with my wife will be visiting the gulf coast area the week of turkey day. We are veteran surf and pier fisherpeople from the coast of South Carolina, but inexperienced with the west coast of Florida. Does anyone have any recommendations for us to possibly get into a few fish this time of year? We don't want anyone's secrets or honey holes, just a few basic pointers to help us get the poles bent for the kids. I have read a lot of the information in this forum and have some tentative ideas. We have light and heavy tackle. I of course would love to catch a grouper, but not at the expensive of not spending time with the kids. I can't remember the last time I fished without them. A party boat would be an option too if a good recommendation was given (very sceptical of them). Thanks

[tears143]

If doing party boat, light tackle and go after keywest grunt and hogfish. If after grouper get some pinfish(catch them yourself not from bait store.) A good party boat and usually run winter special would be hubbard marina.

If not doing party boat go after sheephead. Read the sticky. There should be all over the bridges when you are down here.

[Mackerelman]

To catch some Pinfish, just grab a sabiki rig and put a weight on the end of it & tip the hooks with small pieces of squid.
This would definitely keep the Kids busy.

Most Party Boats supply You with Bait but check with Your Selection before You Book to be sure.

[tristan]

Good luck on your trip down! Don't know if there will be any Macks around at that time, but they're fun to fish for as well.

IIRC Hubbards can supply Pinfish for an additional fee, but you have to reserve them in advance. They supply other baits for bottom fishing.

I'm looking forward to trying Hubbards, but just haven't made it yet.

[snookninja]

Welcome to the Skyway forum.

I have young kids, you may want to charter a boat for a day or half day, it will be much for fun for the kids plus you'll they will learn a ton of new techniques. I'd rather do that than take my kids on a party boat. A little more expensive but way more fun. Another thing to try is taking them on Kayaks, you can hire a guide and if the fishing bores them they can still have fun paddling around.

I have younger kids, I tend to take them to the beaches to fish, at that age they tune out pretty easily as I'm sure you've experienced. Beach fishing near the inlets along the gulf coast is pretty productive, snook, redfish, trout, whiting, the odd mack, pompano, jacks and mangrove snappers and sheephead will be found. Try finding a beach near an inlet, the locals can recommend some.

Light tackle and shrimp is a sure way to catch on the beaches, 1/0 hook and 30lb flourocarbon leader a little weight to get it out there and hold on. You don't need to cast out far. If you want a tooth critter like a shark, some cut lady fish/mullet a little bigger than 4 inches will keep the catfish away. Heavy mono or wire leaders.

Have fun.

SN

[surffishkids]

Thanks everyone for your tips. It is greatly appreciated. Are Mangrove Snapper still around in good numbers this time of year? It seems yall down in FL use a bit bigger hook sizes than I'm use too, but the fish are bigger as well. I typically run 30 to 50lb power pro main line with a 20lb flouro leader. Should I use a heavier leader?

[georgekingfish]

Nov 7, 2017 18:49:36 GMT -5 surffishkids said:

Thanks everyone for your tips. It is greatly appreciated. Are Mangrove Snapper still around in good numbers this time of year? It seems yall down in FL use a bit bigger hook sizes than I'm use too, but the fish are bigger as well. I typically run 30 to 50lb power pro main line with a 20lb flouro leader. Should I use a heavier leader?

No, you're good! It was a good snapper season but not too sure about numbers when you are down. A decent possibility though if waters don't cool too much. But in a similar way, you can try for sheepshead. 20lb fluoro leader with #1 SHARP hooks will do. Drift a piece of shrimp toward them convicts feeding on the pillings. I use a splitshot or 2 depending on current to keep the hook down. Sometimes I use a chartreuse leadhead jig tipped with shrimp to keep it weighted. If you can get them, use fiddlers and sandfleas. Just be prepared to use a lot of bait.
Search the sticky notes for sheepshead. Good info. When you are down here mangos will be transitioning to sheeps so you may get both. Fish them similarly, tacklewise. Mangos use greenies or what's available. Match the hatch. Sheeps use "crustacean" baits.

Good luck!

GK

[georgekingfish]

I also second SN on party boats. I'd not take the kids on one. Too much a cattleboat when they are booked up. Too intense for kids IMHO. Chartering a private boat is nice and relaxing, more fishing and less stress.
Now before y'all start flinging fish guts at me, I'm not slamming party boats. Great for adults, kids 7-9 year age maybe not so great.

GK

[snookninja]

Nov 7, 2017 18:49:36 GMT -5 surffishkids said:

Thanks everyone for your tips. It is greatly appreciated. Are Mangrove Snapper still around in good numbers this time of year? It seems yall down in FL use a bit bigger hook sizes than I'm use too, but the fish are bigger as well. I typically run 30 to 50lb power pro main line with a 20lb flouro leader. Should I use a heavier leader?

#1 hook would be fine and a 20lb leader. You can go down to a #4 hook, I use the mustad demon short shank x1 strong circle hooks which are much smaller than some of the other brands. I like the circle hooks as fish hook themselves and it makes it easy for the kids, plus it's better for the fish as it avoids gut hooks.

The 1/0 I use is closer to #2 in most other brands. For big snook/grouper/tarpon I go up to an 9/0 and for sharks/Goliath's I use 13/0 to 22/0. 

15lb to 30lb leader would be work fine, unless the water is super clear I never really drop down to lower 30lb. If fishing the surf I'd prefer the heavier leader, never know what you'll hit. Macks make quick work of 20lb leader, so do snook. Most fish aren't really line shy. If they are hungry they won't care.

30lb main line is fine, heavier if looking for trophy fish. I typically use 15lb on my light spinners for casting distance, on medium spinners (5000 size) I use 40lb, on heavy spinners for sharks 6ft plus I use50lb to 65lbs. My conventionals I will use anything from 50lb to 130lbs. But to be honest you rarely need heavier than 50lb braid. The new braids are rated a lower than their actual breaking strength.


GK advise is spot on. The fishing here is easy if you do a couple of things, cover the water columns, if you see the fish crash bait on the surface free line, if not a little split shot and add weight to get you to the bottom, keep the bait moving to avoid catfish. Slow rolling a shrimp on a 3/8 or 1/4 oz jig head is a good way to catch a bunch of different fish. It's a good way to keep your kids interest for a little longer. In the winter, the late morning and afternoon bite is good due to water warming up, getting to the beaches early will help with getting parking.

Tight lines.

SN