Just getting started saltwater fishing

[darryl]

Need some tips, i just traded my bass boat for a new 22ft kenner saltwater boat, and going this thursday to the panama city area to fish, and ideas on bait or lures for what fish ? i've been an avid bass fisher for 10yrs and thought i'd give this a try but really have no idea what i'm doing in the ocean, i have been told fish are fish and the same principles apply to saltwater fish like structure and drop offs and such but i have no idea what fish are in abundance or the best eating? any help would be appreciated. thanks. Darryl

 

[eddie102870]

depends on what your gonna fish for, bottom fishing or trolling, bottom fishing use squid, live bait or minnows trolling use mostly lures. off pcb youll need some good numbers to catch bottom fish(snapper,grouper), go to half hitch tackle (right off thomas drive)they have some public numbers you can get. most folks in that area guard their fish hole numbers with their lives ill ask mmy brother he fishes there almost every other weekend.

 

[eddie102870]

oh and certian times of the year the spanish mackeral(if thats spelled right) fishing in the bay is awesome, use a small gold or silver spoon and troll. we take the kids every year they love it.

 

[darryl]

i stopped in there week before last and bought a rod from half hitch, but didn't have my boat at that time, didn't really quiz them on what to use, we just bought some shrimp and fished off the piers and jetties, what size spoons like a 1oz or bigger or smaller?

 

[eddie102870]

not too big about the same size as youd use freshwater fishing for bass cant remember the weight. ill ask my brother tomorrow about the numbers i think there is a website too you can get public fishing wrecks and stuff to bottomfish off of. i know if your trolling you want to fins a trashline with bluewater on one side and greenon the other. this represents a temp change in the water, you can pull a lot of dolphin wahoo and tuna off of these trashlines maybe even something bigger we have caught some blue's too trolling. i always go with my father or brother, they are the deep sea fishermen in the family. my boat is for skiing and drinking beer so i just help them out with fuel and bait and let them tote the expense for the deep water boats. we used to fish the baypoint invitational every year but my dad is between big boats at the moment. most of the captians congregate at coram's to eat breakfast every day but they are tight lipped about the fishing spots. i wouldnt share info with them b/c they commercial fish too and will clean a hole out quick.