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Post by skywaypa on Nov 30, 2015 12:39:55 GMT -5
We are booked to come down in April from PA. Staying in Palmetto, nice < 10 min drive to the south pier. Our rental is on the water, so we'll split our fishing time between the rental and the pier, depending on the bite. Haven't quite decided on driving (16 hr drive from PA), driving with boat (19' fishing boat) or flying (2 hr direct flight to Tampa). The choice is fly down and work with limited gear or drive down and be able to take any/all gear I already have. Like my bait jaccuzzi, pier and landing nets, endless tackle. The boat thing would also be nice, since you can fish a ton of water down there with a small boat, but it would double the fuel cost and the whole point of staying so close to the SSP is to fish from it. Such a hard choice. I have a friend in Tampa, and last year before we left we stashed 3 or 4 rods and a cast net in his attic. So I have a bit of gear down there. The big thing I don't have is a good live bait solution. I have two wonderful bait jaccuzzi tanks at home that I use for fresh water (and I've used in NC OBX for mullet). But shipping them would cost a mint. I'd almost be better off buying a third one for Florida. Was thinking I could just pick up a cheap 20/30g trash can and one of these portable pump jobbers: www.keepalive.net/portable.htm. That'd be $60 for the pump, plus a can and a battery. Creeping up into the $100 range pretty quick. Also, the closed tanks are so much better at hauling water without spilling everywhere. I anticipate being able to catch bait a lot easier at the pier than the rental. I mean you can always sabiki up some pins, but whitebait is just better. Anyway, just yapping a bit to pass the time at work. Plus there isn't a whole lot of activity on here in general. Hoping most of you lucky locals are out fishing. It is 40 degrees here. Bleh. |
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Post by shadowxmas on Nov 30, 2015 23:57:50 GMT -5
We are booked to come down in April from PA. Staying in Palmetto, nice < 10 min drive to the south pier. Our rental is on the water, so we'll split our fishing time between the rental and the pier, depending on the bite. Haven't quite decided on driving (16 hr drive from PA), driving with boat (19' fishing boat) or flying (2 hr direct flight to Tampa). The choice is fly down and work with limited gear or drive down and be able to take any/all gear I already have. Like my bait jaccuzzi, pier and landing nets, endless tackle. The boat thing would also be nice, since you can fish a ton of water down there with a small boat, but it would double the fuel cost and the whole point of staying so close to the SSP is to fish from it. Such a hard choice. I have a friend in Tampa, and last year before we left we stashed 3 or 4 rods and a cast net in his attic. So I have a bit of gear down there. The big thing I don't have is a good live bait solution. I have two wonderful bait jaccuzzi tanks at home that I use for fresh water (and I've used in NC OBX for mullet). But shipping them would cost a mint. I'd almost be better off buying a third one for Florida. Was thinking I could just pick up a cheap 20/30g trash can and one of these portable pump jobbers: www.keepalive.net/portable.htm. That'd be $60 for the pump, plus a can and a battery. Creeping up into the $100 range pretty quick. Also, the closed tanks are so much better at hauling water without spilling everywhere. I anticipate being able to catch bait a lot easier at the pier than the rental. I mean you can always sabiki up some pins, but whitebait is just better. Anyway, just yapping a bit to pass the time at work. Plus there isn't a whole lot of activity on here in general. Hoping most of you lucky locals are out fishing. It is 40 degrees here. Bleh. If you fly down that will give you more time down here to fish or do other things. You can also look in to possible boat rentals or chartering a boat with a Captain. There are many charter captains in the are some boat rental clubs as well. Going out with a licensed Captain if you are not familiar with the area will be good as it will give you some ideas of areas to fish and how to fish for the different fish in our area.
Bait tank/bucket options are a plenty. You can hang a bucket off the pier with live bait in it. Be prepared to get your bucket out of the water ASAP if you see dolphins around. Mackerel Man lost his bucket about a month ago due to a dolphin biting through the rope and swimming off with his live bait in the bucket.
There are the tank options such as you mentioned with a garbage can or barrel and a marine or car type battery with a pump. There are also smaller pumps that attach to the side of the bucket and work on C or D batteries.
Re fishing on the SSP. You can also fish the NSP on the same pass and the passes are good for 24 hours so if you want to fish in the morning then go back later in the day you do not have to pay again except for maybe the toll for the bridge when you first go on. Seabird and I as well as others from the North side of the pier only pay the toll to go South and can access both piers. You will be able to do the same when approaching from the South. When switching piers just show the pass at the entrance/admission booth.
You will have lots of options.
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Post by seabird on Dec 1, 2015 10:51:46 GMT -5
We are booked to come down in April from PA. Staying in Palmetto, nice < 10 min drive to the south pier. Our rental is on the water, so we'll split our fishing time between the rental and the pier, depending on the bite. Haven't quite decided on driving (16 hr drive from PA), driving with boat (19' fishing boat) or flying (2 hr direct flight to Tampa). The choice is fly down and work with limited gear or drive down and be able to take any/all gear I already have. Like my bait jaccuzzi, pier and landing nets, endless tackle. The boat thing would also be nice, since you can fish a ton of water down there with a small boat, but it would double the fuel cost and the whole point of staying so close to the SSP is to fish from it. Such a hard choice. I have a friend in Tampa, and last year before we left we stashed 3 or 4 rods and a cast net in his attic. So I have a bit of gear down there. The big thing I don't have is a good live bait solution. I have two wonderful bait jaccuzzi tanks at home that I use for fresh water (and I've used in NC OBX for mullet). But shipping them would cost a mint. I'd almost be better off buying a third one for Florida. Was thinking I could just pick up a cheap 20/30g trash can and one of these portable pump jobbers: www.keepalive.net/portable.htm. That'd be $60 for the pump, plus a can and a battery. Creeping up into the $100 range pretty quick. Also, the closed tanks are so much better at hauling water without spilling everywhere. I anticipate being able to catch bait a lot easier at the pier than the rental. I mean you can always sabiki up some pins, but whitebait is just better. Anyway, just yapping a bit to pass the time at work. Plus there isn't a whole lot of activity on here in general. Hoping most of you lucky locals are out fishing. It is 40 degrees here. Bleh. skywaypa, You will many options for types of fish as Spring is one of the best times to fish. You will have a combination of the winter fish and the warmer water fish. Keep track with this web site to see what is being caught. That's what I do. There are many experienced anglers here that are very helpful. Still learning the ropes myself.
I catch bait with the sabiki, I can get greenbacks, sometimes even whitebait, pins and pigfish. Shadowxmas and I have encountered cast netters that give you some of their catch of white bait.
Since you are staying in Palmetto, there is a small pier in Anna Maria Island called the Merry pier. It looks pretty good and there was an eatery located at the end of it. We have noted the clarity and beauty of the waters south of Tampa Bay. Also check out the Mote Marine labs in Sarasota as well as the Pelican Man bird sanctuary next to the lab.
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Post by tears143 on Dec 1, 2015 11:17:06 GMT -5
April =
sheepies, macks, pompano, bonita, maybe king...
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Post by skywaypa on Dec 1, 2015 12:21:17 GMT -5
Appreciate the posts guys. I'm not a fan of the floating bucket deal... seems like it would be super inconvenient to re-bait. And be in your way when fighting fish. Also, I'm looking for a solution that will transport bait back to the house for use and keep it alive for a couple hours. The shame of it is my 12g bait Jacuzzi (http://www.baitjacuzzi.com/products.html) is ideal, but it won't exactly fit in the overhead on the plane. I didn't have any problem cast netting bait last trip from the bridge, even using the wrong net. I throw a 6' 3/8" standard weight net. If you really want to crush the bait you'd be much better off with one of the extra heavy nets, and even better with a bigger mesh size. The smaller nets are super easy to throw; the bigger nets (I have an 8' heavy net also) take a bit more technique and effort. As for sharing bait, if you see a big guy out there who looks like a tourist I'd be happy to throw the net for you.  Sabiki rigs certainly work good, really anywhere. I've always found that if you want pinfish or pigs, you need to tip the sabiki with something (small cutbait, squid, shrimp, etc). Whatever you have lying around. Squid tentacles are the perfect size and stay on the hooks for several drops. If you want greenies or whitebait naked flashy sabikis work fine. You end up snagging as many as you hook in the mouth. Haven't caught a decent pompano. I've caught little guys in the surf in the Outer Banks before, nothing bigger than 7 or 8 inches. Assuming they eat sand fleas/crabs/shrimp? Hard to keep shrimp on a hook with clouds of pins around that bridge though. I'd have to find some sand to dig fleas. |
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Post by shadowxmas on Dec 1, 2015 20:32:58 GMT -5
We are booked to come down in April from PA. Staying in Palmetto, nice < 10 min drive to the south pier. Our rental is on the water, so we'll split our fishing time between the rental and the pier, depending on the bite. Haven't quite decided on driving (16 hr drive from PA), driving with boat (19' fishing boat) or flying (2 hr direct flight to Tampa). The choice is fly down and work with limited gear or drive down and be able to take any/all gear I already have. Like my bait jaccuzzi, pier and landing nets, endless tackle. The boat thing would also be nice, since you can fish a ton of water down there with a small boat, but it would double the fuel cost and the whole point of staying so close to the SSP is to fish from it. Such a hard choice. I have a friend in Tampa, and last year before we left we stashed 3 or 4 rods and a cast net in his attic. So I have a bit of gear down there. The big thing I don't have is a good live bait solution. I have two wonderful bait jaccuzzi tanks at home that I use for fresh water (and I've used in NC OBX for mullet). But shipping them would cost a mint. I'd almost be better off buying a third one for Florida. Was thinking I could just pick up a cheap 20/30g trash can and one of these portable pump jobbers: www.keepalive.net/portable.htm. That'd be $60 for the pump, plus a can and a battery. Creeping up into the $100 range pretty quick. Also, the closed tanks are so much better at hauling water without spilling everywhere. I anticipate being able to catch bait a lot easier at the pier than the rental. I mean you can always sabiki up some pins, but whitebait is just better. Anyway, just yapping a bit to pass the time at work. Plus there isn't a whole lot of activity on here in general. Hoping most of you lucky locals are out fishing. It is 40 degrees here. Bleh. skywaypa, You will many options for types of fish as Spring is one of the best times to fish. You will have a combination of the winter fish and the warmer water fish. Keep track with this web site to see what is being caught. That's what I do. There are many experienced anglers here that are very helpful. Still learning the ropes myself.
I catch bait with the sabiki, I can get greenbacks, sometimes even whitebait, pins and pigfish. Shadowxmas and I have encountered cast netters that give you some of their catch of white bait.
Since you are staying in Palmetto, there is a small pier in Anna Maria Island called the Merry pier. It looks pretty good and there was an eatery located at the end of it. We have noted the clarity and beauty of the waters south of Tampa Bay. Also check out the Mote Marine labs in Sarasota as well as the Pelican Man bird sanctuary next to the lab.
Merry Pier is in Pass a Grille (South end of St Pete Beach) in Pinellas County. City Pier is on Anna Maria Island and they had a restaurant on the end the last time we were there. I do not know if the restaurant is still there. The restaurant was popular and the pier is a good place to fish. |
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Post by montylfl on Mar 20, 2016 14:16:56 GMT -5
When I go to the jersey shore to fish from Florida I mail my gear to the rental place. I have it delivered the day after I arrive. When I ship it home I don't care when it gets their. For an extra $10 you can insure it for up to ab$1000,00. Sometimes I even mail home my luggage. Just an option. Beats carry all those polls on the plane. So how do you ship the rods? I go to Home Depot and get 5 foot long pvc pipe and take the real off. That goes in a separate box with my tackle
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