Reel Repair by Alan Tani

I'm going to be driving down to Florida this winter. Going to be travelling around the state camping and fishing. I plan to leave here around Feb. 15th. Will be down there for a few weeks.

If I can get my act together, I'm going to purchase a small boat to tow down.

The two main areas that I plan to visit are Vero Beach and down near Flamingo. I might end up going down to the keys if I can find a reasonable place to camp down there.

What types of combos would you guys bring? I'd like to be prepared for anything but I'm limited on space. I'm not even sure what kinds of species that I will be able to target down there in winter. I've only fished FL a few times. From the research I've done, I know there should be pompano on the beaches. I've also read that there is really good winter fishing down in whitewater bay. Possible tarpon, trout, redfish, snook, sharks, grouper, etc.

I'm going to assume that I have room for about 6 combos.

If you are fishing from shore or beach you are going to need a 2 pc. 10 ft. surf rod with a 7500 series spinner. Also a 7 ft. rod with a 4500-5500 series spinner. They will both work from the beach, pier, inlet, or any shore. If you take a drift boat trip anything like a Longbeach 60 to 67 or S. Senator 112H or 113H or similar conventional & 7 ft. rod. If you take a charter they will supply the gear. You won't need much more except for special applications.     Rudy

I live on the space coast an hour north of Vero Beach. Florida has what I consider to be an extremely diverse fishery. You can catch bass in freshwater, then walk down the street and catch inshore saltwater species in the lagoons, and another walk could put you at the beach fishing in the ocean. There are inlets and many miles of water to fish all around. The best way to know what gear to bring, is to answer it based on the type of fishing you want to do and for what species.

I've been in that boat - trying to fish in FL with no local knowledge. Starting from [] 1. Still am actually. 

Geoff Quatraro @ White's tackle helped me a lot - he's a tackle industry lifer and every time I visit their shop I see him spending tons of time helping people learn what fish are where and when, and what works and what does not.

He's not going to try to sell you a bunch of stuff either - he'll just steer you in the right direction. Not trying to plug them, just my honest take on a guy who's doing it for the right reasons, and one I think will help you out without expecting anything in return.

It's an awesome store too - the one in Ft. Pierce.

I use the following on the west coast (Tampa Bay Area).  The suggestions are based off limited space and most common species you might encounter.  Inshore and beach 2500-3000 spinning reel loaded with braid. My braid strength varies from 15lb to 30lb depending on what I am targeting. The rod is a lot about preference. Most locals use 6-7 foot rod. This should cover whitings, sheephead, red fish, snook and most inshore fish. If going off shore, pier or bridge fishing for bigger species such as grouper. 4/0 size reel. Rod of choice, needs some backbone. I use Avet LX loaded with 50lb mono on penn boat rod.  Pulled tons of grouper, red snapper, and big deep water mangroves.

I lived and fished in Florida for 12+ years and you can get away with 2-3 set ups based on your mentioned locations....

Set-ups...

1) 7ft M or MH rod with 3000-4000 sized reel spooled with 20# braid...use this for inshore, beach, wading, shallow/light tackle bridge and pier fishing. This set-up is perfect for anything up to 30# tarpon

2) 7-8ft H rod with 5000-6000 sized reel with 30# braid...use this for inlet, deep channel bridge, beach and pier fishing. This will cover big snook, bull reds, big tarpon and smaller sharks

Alternate set-up

3) 8-10ft XH rod with 8000-10000 sized reel with 50-65# braid...this will cover anything from 30# snook to jewfish up to 150#....


Leaders...

Carry all sizes from 20# on up....I mostly used 20, 30, and 40# on the 2 set-ups listed above and it worked great on everything except big snook. If targeting big snook jump up to 50-60#

Lures...(i'm not a bait guy)

DOA....3" shrimp in glow and near clear (use near clear especially in the Keys if water is clear)
DOA...TerrozEyz 3/8oz in red head/white body (snook and small tarpon slayer at shallowish bridges around Everglades City, Naples area and Keys channels/bridges)
DOA...CAL shadtail in Key Lime and Figi Chix color on varying sized jig heads
DOA...Baitbuster (any model based on depth or current...fast current or deep channel/bridge use                                                         trolling model) Pearl/Green/Red Chin, Pearl/Black Back and Pearl/Purple (at night)
Topwater...Zara Spook Jr in bone
Mid-water column...Mirrolure 17MR

That's exactly what you'll find in my tackle boxes from 10+ years of fishing Florida...

Hope this helps and good luck

PJ

It's always great to get advice from the locals. Thanks a lot.

I was planning on bringing at least one light tackle setup for bridges, mangroves, etc. I have a 7' St Croix tidemaster medium-heavy paired up with a battle 4000. I also have a 7'6" tidemaster medium-heavy paired up with a Penn battle 2 4000. I will most likely bring one of those two setups. Both have 30lb powerpro. The 7'6 is a beefier blank and I get a little more casting distance with it.

As far as bottom fishing setups go, I have a few Penn 113Hs, one saltist 35, and a fathom 25lw. 113Hs are all stock, the saltist is a high gear ratio, the fathom levelwind is a low gear ratio. I have those reels paired up with Shimano trevala and tallus bluewater rods.

I have a really nice 8' tidemaster heavy paired up with a Stradic 6000. I love that setup. I have a newly acquired calcutta 700. Just finished the rebuild. All brand new gears. I'm thinking the 700 might be a good tarpon reel. I also have a few Shimano baitrunner 8000D/7'6" Tallus bluewater heavy setups. Those are all spooled with 20lb mono.  

I have a few 10' surf rods. Both are currently paired up with Shimano baitrunner 4500Bs. I'm thinking that 6500Bs might be more appropriate down there though.

I'll probably bring one dedicated sabiki setup. Most likely a Penn 500 on an Ugly Stik tiger light. Perhaps a 320GT2 on a Star deluxe.

What about trolling gear? Will I have any shot at catching king mackerel or other nearshore species that time of year?  

Any chance of catching sharks from the beach or is that a summer thing? I have a bunch of appropriate reels but I will have to get setup with some proper rods. I have an old school Penn 115 with a chrome over brass spool, upgraded gear sleeve. I have a Penn 114H with the stock aluminum frame. I also have a big boy 14/0 senator.

Even though it's sunny Florida, the winter weather can be garbage. You really need to decide what type of fishing you want to do. The beach will be less fishable during winter. How long will you be fishing? A week? A month? Do you want to target trophies and possibly get skunked or do you want to just get a rod bent? Will you be fishing from shore or boat?

Shark fishing on the beach in February can be outstanding. The blacktop migration is usually around that time. A 4/0 loaded with braid on a 8 ft rod  is all you need.

Quote from: rippin_lips on November 01, 2016, 11:39:15 AM
Even though it's sunny Florida, the winter weather can be garbage. You really need to decide what type of fishing you want to do. The beach will be less fishable during winter. How long will you be fishing? A week? A month? Do you want to target trophies and possibly get skunked or do you want to just get a rod bent? Will you be fishing from shore or boat?

Going to be there for about a month.

I plan to have a small boat. I've been searching everyday. I just sold my 25'. Looking to get some around 18'-20'. Will have it on a trailer.

I will be doing a little bit of everything. Beach fishing with surf rods if I just feel like relaxing. If I'm feeling really motivated, I plan to do all day trips. Typically I'm after bigger fish. Slow trolling live baits, etc. I'd really love to catch and release some nice tarpon.

I heard that winter is the dry season down there but it's also the windy season. That's part of my motivation for doing trips down to whitewater bay. I heard it's warmer down there and it's more protected from wind. The fishing apparently is supposed to be really good.

Quote from: fishgrain on October 31, 2016, 02:18:35 PM
I've been in that boat - trying to fish in FL with no local knowledge. Starting from [] 1. Still am actually.  

Geoff Quatraro @ White's tackle helped me a lot - he's a tackle industry lifer and every time I visit their shop I see him spending tons of time helping people learn what fish are where and when, and what works and what does not.

He's not going to try to sell you a bunch of stuff either - he'll just steer you in the right direction. Not trying to plug them, just my honest take on a guy who's doing it for the right reasons, and one I think will help you out without expecting anything in return.

It's an awesome store too - the one in Ft. Pierce.

Good honest tackle stores are disappearing, and with them goes volumes of local knowledge. It's good to know a few still exist. If I'm ever in Fort Pierce I will definitely make time to go to Whites Tackle, it sounds like my kind of place !!

The cooler weather usually clears up the lagoons and makes them better for redfish. I can't speak to other areas as much, but for the space coast and treasure coast I can tell you the following.  If you will have a boat, you could do a ton of fishing at the Ft. Pierce Inlet just south of Vero Beach, or drive north to Sebastian Inlet. The wind makes for rough ocean conditions, which can calm, but I would recommend the inlets and lagoons.  Tarpon are incredibly annoying and hard to catch, if you actually try to catch them.  Drifting the inlets with live bait can bring big snook and big redfish.  If its a particularly windy day, fish the mangrove shorelines near the inlets. A 3000 size spinning reel on a medium or medium heavy rod is a great all around tool. For the current in the inlets most step up to a 4000-6000 spinning reel on a medium heavy or heavy rod. You could take those same 6000 sized reels and put them on a 13 ft rod for soaking pompano rigs on the beach.  Big fish live in the small water as well here, but local knowledge comes into play a lot.  Mangrove shorelines all over the lagoons hold fish, and the 3000 sized rig would be a good choice for that.  In the colder weather a lot of big fish push up into freshwater tributaries and muddy mangrove areas to stay warm.  If you get the weather you can head out the inlets into the ocean.  A couple 6000 sized spinning rigs with live bait will catch king mackerel or cobia, or anything that swims by.  I really don't know if the tarpon will still be on the beaches, but look for mullet pods cruising the beaches if the weather is calm enough. It wouldn't hurt to bring a baitcast and/or conventional rig either, but I wouldn't bother lugging any really heavy gear around personally.  If you make it to south florida you could always try to get on some peacock bass. There is a ton of fishing you could do on a road trip down the florida peninsula, and a handful of rigs will get the job done.

i agree 100% T - fortunately for south FLA there is sufficient demand to insulate many of the shops (to a degree) from the changes in the market. Not so elsewhere  

local knowledge, as well as history and community ties are at risk.

You walk into some of these stores and there is literally 3 generations grandson, father, and grandfather all behind the same counter. it's pretty awesome

sorry to get off subject but my dorsal fin (ie atenna) goes up when I hear the subject mentioned

Rippin lips, thanks for that write up. That helps out a lot.

Do you think a 10' rod will suffice for pompano? I don't have anything that long. I fished for pompano once a while back. I used a high low rig with float hooks attached. Fished with shrimp and sand fleas.

I'll plan to leave the big reels back home.

I definitely plan to fish the inlets. Do you guys like to weight your live baits, do you slow troll them, drift on floats?

Tackle shops up north are starting to get muscled out. The season is much shorter up here and online competition leaves them less opportunity. Cost of rent is very high here as well. I like to support the small family owned operations. I'll be sure to gear up at some local shops.

I tried to fish FT Pierce inlet a few times.

started on the south side, and there was people everywhere. easy access you can park right there - decent looking water but not the most peaceful setting.

from where I stood the north side looked much better (green grass syndrome) - ft pierce inlet state park

so i drove around, think i paid to get in, and although I didn't spend much time exploring i had a hard time finding a good place to toss a plug