Every so often someone asks me what kind of fishing I like to do in
my
spare time. I get kinda tired of Grouper fishing day in and day out
most of
the year, burned out on Cobia after! catching a hundred or more per
year and
wiped out by Kingfish during their runs so I go "PIDDLE FISHIN." I
don’t expect to catch big fish, just lots of em’. "PIDDLE FISHIN"
is a great
way to get kids interested in fishing too but be advised that you
won’t
have time to fish yourself because you’ll be too busy landing fish
for the
kids.
I’ve done this "PIDDLE FISHIN" out of a dozen ports in Florida,
Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas. I’ve done it out of Prince Edward
Island in
Nova Scotia and Walker’s Cay in the Bahama’s and it always works.
Here’s how to rig: I use light tackle. 20# test line on a bait
caster
or spinning rod is as heavy as you should ever go and 8-12# works a
lot
better. My rig consists of about 5’ of 30# mono with a jig on the
bottom
and 3-2/0 hooks on evenly spaced dropper loops above the jig. I
generally
use a Pompano Jig on the bottom and a curly tail plastic grub on
each hook.
The weight of the jig is important because it should be heavy
enough to
keep your lures close to straight under your boat. YOU DON’T NEED
BAIT. If
you must use bait, put a small piece of shrimp on the Pompano Jig
but don’t
bait the other lures. Colors? Whatever turns you on. I use rootbeer/gold
glitter, chartreuse, white, clear/silver glitter etc. My son swears
by
dark green. I’d be willing to bet that one of the large Sabiki rigs
would
work great too.
&nb! sp; Fishing is simple. I try to fish areas 10-20’ deep but it
works in
30-80 too.. This is drift fishing. Simply drop the rig over the
side until
the jig hits bottom. Close your bail and jig every few seconds.
Your jig
should contact the bottom occasionally for best results. If you
arn’t
hitting the bottom pretty often, you may need to use a heavier jig.
What do I catch??? Darn near everything that swims where I am
fishing .
Flounder, Trout, Grouper, Mangrove Snapper, Lane Snapper,
yellowtail
Snapper, Blowfish, Catfish, Mackerel, Pompano, Sea Bass, Pinfish,
Grunts, Drum, Cobia, Squirrel Fish, you name it and sooner or later
you will
catch it. Sometimes I catch 4 Black Sea Bass at a time. Every day
you
hook something too big to handle. That’s the time to hit the save
button on
the GPS.
Where: Clearwater Pass is hot for Pompano, Snook and lots of
Whiting.
Around Marker 39 on the ICW and Marker 10 in Anclote Sound for
Trout,
Flounder, and lots of other species. Around Marker #2 off the north
end of Anclote Key for darn near every species mentioned. West of
Black Rock
Hole off Chassawhitzka, off the deeper flats off Homosassa and
Crystal River
for Trout, Sea Bass and lots of others. Drift from SW of marker 28
all the
way back into shallow water off Crystal River/Yankeetown with an
incomming
tide and hook everything from Trout to Gr! ouper way too big to
handle.
Spotty Bottom off Cedar Key and the 10-15’ deep flats of Waccassa
yields
Trout, Mackerel and loads of Sea Bass.
If you’ve never eaten a Blowfish or Sand Perch (Squirrel Fish) you
are
in for a pleasant surprise. Lots of folks around here have never
seen a Lane
Snapper or Yellowtail Snapper. These two species have moved north
in
recent years and add a lot of color to your catch, pretty fish that
are
great eating.
By the time my son Rhett was about 5, he caught as many fish as I
did.
Now, he’s 22 and out fishes me most days. Remember this is FUN
FISHING not
SERIOUS FISHING. It gets to be work when you get too serious. You
will enjoy fast action, a lot of good pan fish fillets for the pan,
and most
of all the variety of fish you catch, and it doesn’t get any easier
than
"PIDDLE FISHIN
