St George Island

[Duayne]

My new bride, (hot but taken, loves to fish) and I are staying on SGI this week for our honeymoon. I brought no tackle at all in an effort to be romantic. Now she has given me the green light to fish. So if anybody wants to take us on a fishing trip of any kind, even sharks in the surf, i will buy your gas and food or trade you a guided trip on Dale Hollow Lake for trophy smallmouth. If you can fish all day with me on Dale between November and March I will practically guarantee you will see one over four pounds and probably a five, slight chance at a six pounder. My number is 502-500-3969, and i will gladly give you references from accomplished tournament fisherman who will testify to my smallmouth guarantee.

This might be your guy, if you can reach him outside of Robinson Brother's. I don't have his number..

http://flaredfish.com/captains.cfm?id=83

He's a part time guide, part time working for the Florida marine biology department. The guy loves to striper fish and is the premier guy for Apolachicola River stripers but knows pretty much everything that's going on with the flats, bay and the river and can fish for whatever is on the menu, including tarpon. I have no idea if he would be interested in smallies but I know he likes to fish other places when he can. His wife is the manager of the ACE hardware store in Apolachicola if you can't find him in the book.

[Budro3434]

All,
i have never fished salt water before and I'm looking for all the info I can get.

i.e.: rod reel combo, bait, weight, tips, line, just pretend I've never fished anywhere before.

Im going the second week of August and I'm leaning on the experts on here, any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks ahead of time.

Ps: I have $150.00-$200.00

[Duayne]

Survivors is the best tackle shop on the Island. Your best bet is to get what you need from them. The basics: Seven foot plus surf spinning rig. You can get a functional one from them for 30-40 bucks. A little better one will last longer but how often will you use it? Mine cost $200+ each but I plan to use them every year. A rod tube. Stick it in the sand and stick the butt of your rod in it to keep the rig out of the sand. Dual hook Pompano rigs. These will be pre-rigged with two hooks on leaders and a snap to add weight. Pyramid weights 1-3 ozs. Get 1, 1.5, 2 and 3 oz weights. You won't need a lot of them if fishing the surf. One or two each. Tie the pomp rig to your line, snap a weight on the bottom based on how heavy the surf is or how far out you want to fish. Add bait and cast it out there. Drive your rod tube in good or hold the rig in your hand but keep rod tube handy to hold the rig when re-baiting. Bait to use: Fresh shrimp, squid, sand fleas (if they have them) live shrimp (also, if they have them). The sinker will dig into the sandy surf. Keep the line pretty tight so the breakers don't mess with it much. Fish at different distances from the beach until you find what they want. Some cast as far as possible and slowly bring it in giving it a few minutes after each retrieve. I prefer to cast to the different distances so I know exactly where I am. If the surf is really calm, the better rig would be a 1 oz barrel weight on a Carolina rig with a 2/0 hook on 20-40 pound floro or mono leader. Concentrate on the tide changes, dawn and dusk.

Wash your rig(s) out with fresh water completely immediately after each use. Wash everything. Reel, rod, guides, line, hooks, swiviles, everything. That's the best tip in this post.

[skrez]

Is there anywhere on the Island to buy live bait fish, or is just best to buy a net and catch your own?
thanks,
Frank

[Duayne]

No where to buy bait fish that I know of. You can get live shrimp if they have them. They did not last July forth. The bait, then, was not coming close enough to shore to net but that may be different this year. I have successfully netted bait at the cut before, but you stand a high risk of losing your net there. Conditions have to be perfect, with the bait being just off the rip rap and on the surface with low surf.

A better option might be to take a sabiki rig and tip them with very smalpieceses of shrimp for pin fish. You can use pin fish live or as cut bait.