SirSnookalot

Welcome to an over populated Florida. I first started fishing here in the early 80's there were many places I could easily fish that are now private. Back then it was saltwater and brackish water fishing for me, it was very good. It's no longer that way, lots of fishing pressure has made finding fish more difficult. Also with all the residential and commercial building quite a bit of crap floats out the inlets when the spillways are open. I love Delray Beach, lots to do here but the fishing stinks compared to other areas of Florida that I've fished.

Is the plan fishing a charter or private boat, I've done both for Aj's. If a charter you don't have to know a thing, the captain and the mate will. On a private boat we generally target them around wrecks and deeper reefs on a drift. Frozen sardine or live goggle eyes will catch most offshore species. A very popular offshore method is deep water jigging with lures like a butterfly jig, there are variations made by other manufacturers. My largest AJ (100+) was caught trolling in Banderas Bay, PV Mexico while trolling. Although I've caught bigger fish never caught one so tough to land. By the end of the day my muscles were strained I could not lift my arms high enough to comb my hair. I did catch many other good sized fish too that day, being a young guy in my early 50's it was great, I would not want to do it now.

I suppose you don't know if there is a difference unless you have both rods. Not a 3" difference but 6". I have a med 7' & 7'6 as well as a med/hvy 7' & 7'6, those 4 rods are the same brand and model. Do I think there is a difference............night and day. Longer casts but the bigger difference is the backbone.

Yesterday and today I did sight casting just like in the video. I only caught 1 pea yesterday as that's all I saw, today was different, there were fish. As the saying goes ya gotta find em to catch em, when you do it's game on. I caught maybe 8 or 10 of these tilipa (really nice fight too), the one in the pic I may have caught 3 times, plus a couple off peacocks. The fish are not on beds but caught them just like bed fishing, it's teasing them until they strike. I had a roostertail on and just jiggled in front of them, after about 6 fish I put on a crappie and caught them exactly the same way. Yesterday I jiggled a jerk bait, been my experience it isn't the lure but the curiosity of the fish. When opportunity arises this is a very easy way to catch fish and a lot fun, had a gar as well today it really works on many species of fish. In saltwater I've caught snook and barracuda with a very similar method of sight casting. Forget the picture it wouldn't upload.

I'm going for medical reasons, so it will be touch and go if I can fish. I'm taking a reel and a handful of lures, buy a throw a way rod if go.

Shimano may not care but people that buy reels seem to pay a lot of attention to reviews. His reviews are quite detailed, not a one liner based on a few outings. One may agree with him or not, but he puts a lot of time and energy into them. This is his last Stella review, just about all his reviews are similarly done in the same fashion. http://www.alanhawk.com/reviews/13SW.html

Spoons do come in a variety of styles, they all catch fish. A spoon may be more versatile than some people realize, they can be casted, jigged, and trolled. The depth can be controlled to a certain extent by positioning the rod differently. Down here Krocs are very popular, a local company sells one called a Gator, as nice as any other wide bodied flutter spoon I've used. I'm a bit more into kastamster type spoons, sling jigs and cripple herrings. One of my favorites is Wahoo redfish key spoon, I use those for bass.

I don't do myself but I see something similar nearly every day. Crappie jigs are widely used off the jettie, quite common to add an egg weight above a swivel for distance and depth.

I'm sure it's nice a reel but it isn't worth it to me. I've used a 4000 several times, a bit nicer than a stradic but not enough nicer to warrant the price for me. When it comes to a high end offshore reel the stella is a nice choice, but there are other very good options. If one is into reviews Alan Hawke gives some of the most comprehensive reviews I've read. His reviews are based on disassemble and examining the parts for quality, then field tested. At one time the stella was his #1 offshore reel, it no longer is in his top 5.

Sight casting is probably my most used technique for a variety of different species in both fresh and saltwater. Sight casting is self explanatory, seeing activity and casting towards it. The activity may be or may not be an isolated fish, it can be birds working, baitfish acivity or a school of fish busting on bait, or a bass ripple. One of my better ways to catch peacocks is to do pretty much the same as in the video. These fish are not always aggressive, when spotting one quite often they need to be "teased" to get a strike, sometimes I need to make over 10 casts. Not a whole lot different than bed fishing. The most prolific lure I use for both bass and peacocks is a crappie jig, IMO a very over looked lure. One would be surprised to see the popularity of them used in saltwater, certain times of the year they can be sold out in the stores around here. The pea in my avatar was caught on a crappie jig, wasn't sight casting at the time, it just nailed it.

I fished a good 340 days last year, this year the pace is about the same. I fish saltwater every morning, then go freshwater in the PM, I don't see a problem with that.

If I'm going to get real critical over balance and feel, I'd take it another step. In addition to putting a reel on a rod I'll tie a leader on a lure I plan on using, then hang it from the tip.

I'll be in Mexico 6/28. If time allows I plan on driving towards San Felipe or Puerto Penesco and do some surf fishing. Only taking my fishing fanny pack, I have more than enough lures in it, will buy a rod and reel and leave it there. Fished further south many times offshore but never have done inshore in that area.

The important thing to me with any braided line is the knot. I don't care about the line fading, I don't really notice any noise. I do have one reel spooled with 10# PP slick, it's nice and smooth but I see no real advantage in performance. Doesn't make any difference to me what kind of lure I'm using, it's 10 & 15# in fresh and 15 & 20# in salt. I have switched to a very inexpensive braid, the only one I've yet have wind knots in quite a few months of use. Strength with any brand of braid has never been an issue for me, my drag is never set any where near the breaking strength of the line. Being a spinning user I don't comprehend line digging in, 50# line is out of the question for me.

I cut my leaders for freshwater and inshore fishing, offshore I only use real leaders. Whether mono or F/C leaders are much tougher.

The end of the braid should tell you what went wrong. I fish every day and tie lots of joining knots, sure there is problem once in a while. I'm human and prone to make a mistake once in a while, it's usually my error and not the fault of the line. Couple days ago I had lure go flying as I was casting in the surf, looking at the tag end I could plainly see the knot gave loose. I had the same leader on for a few days with the same lure, caught fish so I saw no need to retie, something I have done many times with no incident. It was just "one of those things", I read nothing more into it. It will happen again one day and I'll do the same thing, examine the line to determine what went wrong. The line is curled and the knot came loose, clean break and something is severing the line, a jagged end and probably abrasion.

I've been told there are peacocks there.

http://www.reeldr.com/home/?wpsc-product=1248985-dust-cap Spirit lake should have it too.

I do a lot of inshore saltwater fishing, most fish I encounter will hit almost anything. Not a doubt in my mind I could catch many species using a lizard or a craw. With the exception of a few species I don't need anything but a spoon, top water or a bucktail jig, I learned that after spending hundreds of dollars. Good snook fishermen I know put a flair hawk on and never take it off. I'm real big on barracuda fishing, we make our lures from surgical tubing, going thru the water a 10" worm is going to have a real similar look to it. A cuda would jump all over it, that worm is not ideal as it won't withstand a cuda strike. That freshwater worm can be put on a beat up bucktail as a trailer, now you have a primo tarpon and snook lure. I can take just about any freshwater lure and catch saltwater fish with it. To answer a question why we use different lures, the primary reason is to just do something different, the fish don't really care.

They would for snook.

Don't think the dye should make any difference. I pick up snook all the time with 20# PP off a sea wall, knot strength isn't a problem. Knots aren't a problem using the same gear to catch tarpon, although I need net to land them. It just may be the knot you are using. Not saying my knots are the best but saying they work. My joining knot is simple, 7-8 wrap Albright with zero down, I've landed 70# tarpon with it. If I happen to be using a swivel I tie an improved clinch but with a second wrap. My lure gets 2 wrap loopknot, and jigs and jig heads just an ordinary clinch.

Brand of your choice, any 6'6-7' 6/12 rod is going to fish on the light side regardless of the ml or med rating. A med 8/17 rod has more backbone than a med 6/12 rod.

Look at the end of the line to determine whether a fish has cut you off, knot pulled thru, or the line just broke. Each problem should be recognizable. Do fish hit a swivel, you bet they do but the line will tell you that. A cut off the line should have a clean cut, a pull thru might have little curl on the end and broken line should jagged. Now that you have the problem isolated what to do about it. 15# braid on spinning IMO is near perfection. Not having experience with EZ braid can't really comment on the line, but can say of all the braid brands I've used knot or line strength has never been an issue. A pickerel should't be breaking 15# braid, you may want to check your drag and if there is any line abrasion. Perhaps different brand of line, different or better tied knot. You may singe the tag end and put a bead on it, this will help to prevent the line pulling thru the knot. Pretty much any fishing knot tied correctly should be fine, if that's where the problems lies. Lubing a knot is never a bad idea, but I don't do it. I only lube a knot that has coils like an alberto, clinch, etc., only mono, copoly or fc, and lines over 30#. I just cinch smaller lines down.