Or is the trick to catching more consistent fish due to high-end fishing gear/equipment?
While everyone has their own preferences on what they use to catch fish, or the type of equipment they may use, the single biggest factor that is going to help you consistently catch inshore fish is NOT live bait or artificial lures…
What is it then?
It’s TRENDS!
No, we’re not talking about the latest fashion essentials or the hottest topic on the fishing forums.
We are asking ourselves the following questions when it comes to finding feeding fish (to identify trends):
Where are the fish feeding depending on the time of the year?
Season?
Time of day?
Weather conditions?
These are just a few factors that will influence where various species of inshore fish will be on any given day.
It takes a lot of time, patience, and trial and error to become a master at figuring out these trends.
But once you get a grasp on knowing where fish will be holding at certain times of the year, you can apply this knowledge to different locations.
Are you sick and tired of getting SKUNKED while inshore fishing?
These fish can be found anywhere from Northern Mexico all the way along the Gulf Coast, and up the East Coast of the U.S. up to Maryland.
What does a redfish from Texas have in common with a redfish from Florida?
Everything!
A redfish will always be a redfish… no matter where it may be located.
They feed on shrimp, crabs, and baitfish.
They change their location throughout different times of the year because of the changes in water temperature.
They are cold blooded just as the baitfish are that they feed on, and fish seek warmth in the winter and cooler water in the summer.
Structure is also key for finding these fish, as structure gives them a place to hide to ambush their prey, and also gives their prey somewhere to hide from them.
Just this simple knowledge and understanding can help you locate fish throughout various times of the year, or even different times of the day.
You don’t have to fill your tackle box with all of the latest and greatest lures, or spend a day’s pay on various types of live bait for your trip.
Knowing where to find these feeding zones that hold fish is what is going to separate the ones who go fishing, and those who go catching.
Salt Strong Insider Member Jacinda Rose With a Beast of a Redfish
In the following video, I demonstrate how location is key as I caught multiple species of fish in one day and in one general area.
The type of lure really didn’t matter because fish were caught on a fly rod, and various types of soft plastics.
The key is that the fish were there and they were feeding.
How To Catch Inshore Fish Using Trends [VIDEO]
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Kayakers and shore anglers, this post is for you!
Fishing from a kayak or from shore can have its disadvantages when trying to store and keep bait alive.
Unlike most boats, we are restricted on space and how much we can carry.
For shore fisherman, it can be really tough lugging around a large bucket (along with all of your other gear) to your favorite fishing hole, especially if it’s hidden away and takes a bit of walking to get to.
And for kayak anglers, we are very limited on space inside of our small watercraft.
So this blog (and video) will address some of the best ways to keep bait alive without having large buckets and coolers (which add to the amount of weight in your kayak – making it dangerous and also make it tough to paddle).
Catch MORE FISH Or It’s FREE!
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Then see if you qualify to become a Salt Strong INSIDER.
First, I would like to point out some important factors to consider to help keep your bait alive, no matter what type of container you may be using.
Aerate Your Bait! – Believe it or not, fish need oxygen just like us! However, they acquire it from water. Dissolved oxygen in the water is necessary for fish and/or bait to stay alive. By attaching an aeration system, this will help increase the amount of oxygen in the water. This can be done by using an external pump and air stones, or any type of water circulation device. If you can combine the 2, that is even better (aeration and circulation).
Keep Your Water Cool – You want to maintain a cool water temperature for your bait. Hot or warm water has a lower dissolved oxygen content and will cause your bait to become very lethargic and die. Even if you have an aerator, the dissolved oxygen content depletes much quicker in hot water than cool water. A cool way to keep your water cooled down (pun intended) is to add a frozen bottle of water to your bucket or bait cooler.
Keep Your Water Fresh – You may have nice clean water before you put your bait in, then 30 minutes later you may notice it become murky and have debris floating around inside. Any debris or organic matter inside of your baitwell will also use up oxygen as it decomposes. This will reduce the amount of dissolved oxygen for your bait to use resulting in your bait starting to die off. Every 30 to 60 minutes it is wise to remove old water and add some fresh clean water to your bait container.
Don’t Overload On Bait – You may have heard the term “blacking out your livewell.” This sounds great and all because you’ll have bait to last you a week, but you are actually wasting way more bait than you need. Only keep what you need and don’t overload your bait container. This is especially important when using smaller bait buckets and/or coolers. This takes us back to fish needing oxygen. The more bait you have in a small container, the more oxygen that is being used up and it becomes a survival of the fittest in your bait bucket. In less than 10 minutes you may have a container full of dead bait. Bait can be very easy to catch, so if you need to refill, keep a cast net handy. Not to mention, you’re probably going to be fishing in an area with bait, if not, you may not be catching fish!
Remove Dead Bait – It is important to remove any bait from your bait container that has died. You may see one dead baitfish, and next time you look into your bucket you have 5 dead bait fish. Not only do these floaters or sinkers take up space, they can cause a chain reaction of death in your livewell or bait container from what I have experienced. Once a bait fish dies, it begins to decompose releasing chemicals into the water, such as ammonia, which will start to kill off the rest of your bait. Remove the dead ones and replace some of your water with fresh clean water.
Use a Dip Net – Since our hands can be pretty dirty at times, and you may also have sunblock on them, it is best to use a dip net to get bait out of your baitwell. Any chemicals we may have on our hands will transfer to the water and can kill off your bait.
Catch Your Own Bait – If possible, it can be better to catch your own bait. They will be much more lively. In addition, bait caught using a sabiki rig will stay alive much longer as opposed to catching them in a cast net. The net removes much of the slime coat from the bait and stresses them out much more. Being banged around in a net and on the ground is much more stressful than a tiny hook in the lip.
Those are some important factors to consider to keep your bait alive, so now let’s talk about some of the best items I like to use to store and keep bait alive on my kayak or when fishing from shore.
My Favorite Live Bait Cooler
My top choice is a Live Bait Cooler, such as the one made by Engel.
For one, it is a cooler, which helps maintain the water temperature inside.
It also comes with an aerator to help oxygenate the water.
This cooler is also available in a variety of sizes (13qt, 19qt, and 30qt). The 13 quart is a perfect size to carry in a kayak and can be easily slung over your shoulder using the shoulder strap that also comes with it – Great for shore fisherman.
When you are not using this bait cooler as a livewell, it can also serve as a great regular cooler, or a dry box to keep your water sensitive items dry.
Of course, this cooler isn’t cheap, so if you are on a tight budget, then this next option might be best.
My next top choice for storing bait is a standard Trolling Bait Bucket.
These are very affordable, easy to store, and are great in keeping your bait alive. Since these buckets can be placed in the water, you get a constant supply of fresh water to your bait.
They are also easy to store on your kayak and lightweight to carry if fishing from shore.
The only real downside is that they are fairly small and can’t hold as much bait as one of the coolers can.
Engel Live Bait vs Trolling Bait Bucket [VIDEO]
In the following video, I will be going over these 2 items – The Engel Live Bait Cooler and the Trolling Bucket.
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It’s live bait time!
In today’s live bait discussion, we are going to talk about the top live bait fish (not including shrimp) for catching inshore fish in Florida (such as redfish, snook, trout, tarpon, and cobia).
I will also do my best to clarify some of the confusion on the different types of names people use to refer to live bait here in Florida.
For instance, did you know that if you hear someone talking about pilchards, scaled sardines, or whitebait, they are actually all referring to the exact same bait fish?
Yep. Just depends on where they live and/or who taught them about live bait.
At any rate, let’s dig in.
Here are my top three go-to live bait fish for inshore fishing here in Florida.
1. Whitebait (aka Scaled Sardine or Pilchard)
Whitebait is my overall #1 pick for inshore live bait.
Here are some facts about whitebait (and why I choose this as my favorite inshore live bait fish):
Whitebait (aka pilchard and scaled sardine) are great overall because they last a long time and can catch pretty much any inshore fish you would want to target.
You can tell a whitebait from a threadfish by the size of its eye (the whitebait has a much larger eye, and is also much stronger and less scaly than the threadfin).
The whitebait is found in the shallow water (although you usually find the big whitebait on deeper flats), and I usually get my whitebait in grass flats that are in 3-5 ft of water.
Whitebait is a strong bait and can hold strong overnight if placed in a bait pen.
You can chum up whitebait near the boat to throw the cast net (but know that whitebait hug the bottom more than threadfins do – so if you see bait raining all over the surface, it’s most likely threadfins… not whitebait).
Whitebait are very shiny (attract predator fish).
Approx 2 to 5 inches long.
Just about anything you can target inshore (and even offshore) will eat whitebait. We use whitebait to catch our redfish, snook, trout, cobia, tripletail, and even tarpon.
2. Pinfish
Pinfish are my second choice in terms of the best live bait.
Here are some facts about pinfish:
Pinfish, like whitebait, are also a very hardy bait, so they will not die in the livewell.
Note: Do not put your pinfish with your other bait because they are known to eat the eyes out of weaker bait.
They have spiky fins (because it feels like you are getting poked by a pin).
Approx from 2 to 6 inches
Pinfish are usually very plentiful and easy to find on most grass flats.
These scaly bait fish are my third choice due to the following reasons:
They have a dark green back, and dark spots along the dorsal ridge, there is also a long thread-like fin on the back.
To find threadfins look for those in deeper water, they will show on your fish finder or can see the bubbling on the surface.
If you see bait fish “raining” on the surface, it is usually a school of threadfins.
You often don’t need to chum for these… usually you can simply find threadfins located around any structure (like Sunshine Skyway fishing piers the Anna Maria Island Pier).
You can also use a sabiki rig to catch the threadfins.
Threadfins are in high demand during tarpon season, but know that threadfins will not last all night in a bait pen (and in many cases won’t last all day in a livewell).
The threadfin’s scales come off easily and make a mess in your livewell.
Threadfins work great for cut bait as they release a lot of aromas (excellent for redfish).
Approx from 2 to 5 inches
Large threadfins can be awesome for big tarpon just offshore
Overall, threadfins are not very hardy, they die easily, but they are great and useful as dead bait and cut bait.
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Allow me to introduce you to one of the most misused and misunderstood phrases ever uttered by inshore saltwater anglers…
“Live Bait Is The Only Way To Catch Big Inshore Fish.”
Wrong.
Wrong.
Wrong.
Now, before some of you get your waders in a wad, let me say this:
Yes, live bait works incredibly well
Yes, we sometimes use live bait here at Salt Strong
Yes, I’ve caught some of the biggest fish of my life using live bait
But NO, live bait is NOTALWAYS better than artificial lures…
Yep, you read that last line correctly.
Live bait is not always the best option for catching inshore fish.
But before I reveal the three main advantages that artificial lures have over live bait, let me take a step back and tell you that twenty years ago my brother Luke and I would have thought you were absolutely crazy if you told us that someone could outfish either of us using artificial lures if we had fresh live bait.
You see, back then the only reason we carried around artificial lures in our tackle box while inshore fishing was if we:
Couldn’t find live bait
Ran out of live bait
Sound familiar?
But that mindset completely changed when Luke moved to a new city after joining the real world and had his first career job after college.
Because now that his free time to go fishing was more difficult to find, his days of being able to fish for a full day were few and far between.
Instead, his fishing excursions were mostly 2-hour trips after work in the summers and/or a half day trips on the weekend.
So all of the time used to find, catch, and manage live bait started becoming a huge burden given that it was taking up such a large percentage of his “fishing” time…
And when factoring in all of overall “fishing” time that catching live bait was taking up on his short trips (spanning from loading the gear, finding bait, to having everything cleaned, and set back into place), live bait was simply not worth the time and energy as it focused away from his core goal of exploring his new fishery along the Indian River and catching his beloved snook, redfish, and trout.
After forcing himself to leave the cast net at home to force himself away from losing so much time on bait, Luke started getting better and better at catching fish on artificial lures.
And after a while, he was confident enough in using artificial lures that he would even use them while competing in tournaments against anglers that were using live bait… and his net winnings from the tournaments more than paid for all of the entry fees.
Fast forward to today, Luke and I both believe that every serious inshore angler needs to know how to catch fish with BOTH live bait and artificial lures.
Because let’s face it, if you can only catch a fish using live bait, then you are missing out on tons of opportunities to catch fish… especially if you’re like us and most often have time for just a half day trip at best.
Let me explain below.
Side Note: Luke even teaches a proven online course that guarantees you catch more redfish while using artificial lures (you can find out more about it here)
Top 3 Advantages Artificial Lures Have Over Live Bait
1. More Fish In Less Time
Just like there is no denying that live bait works (and can catch some lunker inshore fish), there is also no denying that catching live bait takes some time.
Of course, if you are a fishing captain, or if you get to fish every day and know where the bait is at any given time, filling up your live well might only take you 10-20 minutes from start to finish.
However, if you are a “weekend warrior” like the majority of anglers, getting live bait can take more time.
On bad days, an hour (or two) has passed from leaving the marina or boat ramp to finally getting in your spot with bait in the live well or bucket.
And can you guess what a good artificial angler has been doing the whole time a weekend warrior live baiter is looking for bait?
He or she is covering ground, getting their lure in front of fish, and catching fish (assuming they know how to cast and properly retrieve an artificial lure).
It was how Luke, our father, and I were able to recently place (and win a cool thousand bucks) in an inshore tournament where we were the ONLY TEAM that used artificial lures instead of live bait.
How did we do it?
Well, we had some big trout and our limit of slot redfish before many of our competitors were still out tossing their nets looking for live bait…
And when you can master artificial lures, it gives you opportunities to catch nice inshore fish during times like these:
Before work when you only have 30-45 minutes to fish
On your lunch break
While traveling where you can only fish from land (and you don’t have any net, bucket, live well, etc)
You see, to me, fishing is similar to dating.
If you are looking to meet as many women (or men – not that there is anything wrong with that…) as possible, your chances increase if you cover as much territory as possible, while getting your smile and conversation (aka bait) in front of as many of the opposite sex as possible.
On the other hand, the guy or gal that shows up late to the bar and sits in the same chair the entire night hoping someone comes up next to him or her isn’t as likely to “catch as many dates” as someone that is first to the bar and covers and meets everyone in the place.
They might land a lunker or two, but it will take a lot more time and a lot more sitting around waiting.
Same goes for fishing.
More time + more territory + more presentations = more fish (assuming you know how to present your lure like a pro).
Which brings me to reason #2…
2. More Control
There are actually three reasons that artificial lures give you more control than live bait:
Control of your bait presentation
Controlling your time better
More Control & Freedom of not needing something to keep your bait alive
Let’s cover all three:
Control Of Your Bait Presentation
With live bait (or cut bait, dead shrimp, etc), you don’t have as much control over how your bait is moving or what it looks like underwater as you would with an artificial lure.
If the bait is dead, it simply sits on the bottom, goes with the current, or sits under your bobber.
But then again it’s dead. Not much control needed. You just hope for the best.
But if your bait is alive, it moves around in the area you cast it out to… sometimes getting wrapped up in the line, in the grass, in structure, etc.
Some could argue it doesn’t matter, but there are certainly many missed opportunities from live bait not looking like “live bait”.
But with artificial lures, you control the action.
If you want the bait to look like an injured fish, then you have the control to do that.
If you want the bait to pop off the bottom right in front of a tailing redfish, then you have the control do that.
If you want the bait to look like it’s running away from a monster redfish on top of the water, you have the control do that.
Now, I have nothing against soaking a live bait or cut bait, putting the rod in the rod holder, and sipping on a cold beer waiting for the line to start screaming out…
In fact, I think every angler should do that every now and then.
But I also know that I get more satisfaction from catching a nice inshore fish when I had full control of the situation.
There is something awesome about landing a trophy fish knowing that you controlled the entire presentation using a fake bait.
As one executive of a well-known lure company once told me,
“Anyone can catch a big redfish or snook using something they eat every day, but it takes a special angler to catch a big redfish or snook using a piece of plastic with a hook sticking out of it…”
Controlling Your Time
The second part of control is controlling the time.
Most inshore anglers will tell you that if they could only pick one time of the day to fish it would be the morning during the twilight hour (when the sun is starting to come up).
And if you miss the best time to fish (which in many cases is the twilight at dawn) because you are looking for bait, then you are definitely missing out on some nice fish.
Don’t be the angler that misses out on some of the best bites because you rely 100% on live bait and find yourself scouting around looking for live bait during the ideal fishing hours.
It’s just one other reason we believe all anglers should know how to catch consistent fish with BOTH live bait and artificial lures.
Control & Freedom Of Not Relying On A Live Well
Let’s face it, there are times when you don’t have time for a live well.
There are times when you are fishing from a kayak, or from a paddle board, or from land when you don’t want to lug around a net or a bait bucket.
There are times when you are traveling to a new area, state, or country and want to get some quick fishing in while exploring new areas and don’t want to have to carry all of the extra live bait gear.
There are even times when your live well breaks down (trust me, we know from multiple experiences) and you have no other option that to use artificial lures.
Also, many boats have livewell pumps that give off a lot of vibration into the water… this can spook many quality fish from a good distance away when fishing shallow flats (especially the big trout which are very spooky in shallow water).
These are the times when it pays to have confidence in your artificial lures.
When you know how to catch consistent fish with a soft or hard plastic, you have control and freedom in your fishing game.
3. More Bait = Fatter Fish
Let me say first and foremost that using live bait is part of fishing.
Not only that, but I want to go on record that we have no issues with anyone using live bait to catch fish.
But there is something that doesn’t sit well with me, and quite frankly, it should bother you as well.
It’s when an angler overloads their livewell with more live bait than they could ever use, just to “black it out”.
Not to mention the countless amounts of bait fish that die in the net when anglers are unable to match the mesh size of the net to the bait they are casting on (resulting is “gilled” bait).
To make this abundantly clear, I’m NOT talking about your everyday angler or fishing guide that uses the normal amount of live bait to catch fish.
I’m talking about the person that feels the need to kill 200+ bait fish in order to catch one redfish…
I’ve seen anglers pull up to a dock with hundreds of dead bait fish still stuck in their net hours after trying to get bait (I can only assume it took them so long to finally find bait that they couldn’t waste any more time to get to their spot…)
To me, that is not responsible fishing.
What ends up happening is hundreds of fish die for absolutely no reason.
Why is this an issue?
Well, if every inshore angler killed hundreds of baitfish on every single trip then eventually there would be no food left for the inshore fish that we love and cherish.
If we truly want to have our kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids to have the same fishing opportunities that we have had, then we can’t get sloppy on killing fish when we don’t need to.
It still baffles me to see all of the “Fishing Police” comments on Facebook and in fishing forums about someone holding a fish the wrong way or “rubbing too much slime off the fish,” but not a word is said when someone kills an entire school of baitfish just so they can prove they can toss a big net.
Big fish won’t be big unless they have lots of baitfish to eat…
And if you believe that there is an unlimited amount of any resource in this world, then you are mistaken.
Any resource (including live bait) that gets abused and wasted for too long will eventually be negatively affected.
Here is a great rule of thumb:
Only keep the legal fish you are going to eat
Only catch the baitfish you are going to use
If all anglers practiced just these two simple rules, our kids and grandkids will thank us for it.
It’s also just one more reason to learn how to fish BOTH live bait and artificial lures.
Conclusion
Facts:
Live bait works.
Artificial lures work.
And the angler that can master both will always be consistent at catching more inshore saltwater fish.
The truth is many live bait anglers don’t enjoy using artificial lures because no one has taught them how to do it the right way.
There is certainly a science to catching consistent inshore fish using artificial lures for sure.
If you have any interest in learning more about catching redfish quicker than you ever imagined, then click this link to take the redfish analysis tool.
Not only will you get a customized fishing tip, but you can find out if you are a fit for the private online redfish course.
Tight Lines.
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