Anna Maria Island

[Stocker]

We are headed down for a week of so mid July. I’m not good at fishing beyond a worm and a hook in the creek I grew up by. My son is a fishing nut and has all these ideas. The plan is rent a few surf rods, and some other rods for casting. The 2nd full day we are there we are going on a charter so hopefully I can pick up some tips from the captain for fishing around the area. I just know absolutely 0 about surf fishing, fishing around piers, or canals. Really I know 0 about saltwater fishing.

Not worried about trophy fishing, it would just be nice to be somewhat consistently catching something for fun. Any tips are welcome.

 

[NoWiser]

I’ve done quite a bit of beach fishing a bit farther south. I’m definitely not an expert but I’ve learned a lot. I’ve never felt like I needed a surf rod. Most of the fish I catch are in the trough right next to shore.

Early morning and late evening, into the night, are when I catch 90% of my fish. Bonus if you have a good moving tide. 20-30# braid with 30# fluorocarbon leader. Mirrodine XL jerkbait tied on with a no slip loop knot has outfished every other lure I’ve ever tried. If you can cast-net some whitebait and throw that out on a circle hook, even better. Shrimp are fine but I catch as many and bigger fish using the jerkbait, without the hard head cats. Snook, trout, ladyfish, and some redfish and gaftop sails are mainly what I catch. If you get a 12-16” ladyfish, put it on a big circle hook and toss it out. Make sure you’re holding on tight. If you can catch a smaller blue crab, throw half of it out on the bottom for redfish or black drum.

I’m headed down at the end of April. Ive fished all over from Minnesota and Canada to Alaska. Florida is the most fun.

 

[Wild Bill]

Any tips are welcome.

Don't forget beers on the charter.

Maybe some grab some Zofran from your doc if you're prone to sea sickness.

 

[Bc1992]

Anglerup with Brant on YouTube has some pretty good videos you can learn from. Mid July will be pretty hot and the bite will be best right at daylight. I rarely use surf rods but there’s definitely been times when I wish I had brought them with me. Live shrimp and sand fleas are my favorite bait.

 

[CRJR45]

Google chicken foot rig and learn how to tie it yourself , save a buck or two . I also like the first trough , hard to believe at first that the fish are that close .