Late Winter Exploration Trip To New Territory In St. Petersburg, Florida
- By: Luke Simonds
- on
My trusty pal Otis joined me on a late winter exploration trip in St. Petersburg!!
There was barely a hint of wind and the skies were completely cloudless.
In my opinion, these are some of the toughest conditions to fish, but I managed to pull out a few fish.
Here’s how the day went!!!
Winter Exploration Trip In St. Petersburg [VIDEO]
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Equipment Used:
Deeper Water Setup (more than 3 ft)
- Rod/Reel/Line Combo: TFO Pro + Fuego + Lines Special
- Rod: TFO Pro – 7’6″ Medium Power
- Reel: Daiwa Fuego 2500
- Line: 10 lb J-Braid 8 Grand
- Leader: 20 lb Ande Monofilament
- Scent: Dr. Juice Inshore Slam Scent
- Lure: Power Prawn USA Jr rigged on Hoss Weedless Football (3/0 hook with 1/4 oz)
On-The-Water Action
This trip was in between cold fronts and in some new territory that I had never fished before.
Zero wind and blue skies are some of my least favorite conditions to fish.
Lots of times the fish are extra skittish and spooky in these conditions.
And to top it all off, I have Otis on the boat with me causing trouble!
Upon approaching the first spot, I shut the engine off about 100 yards away from the shoreline.
As I said, the fish are extra spooky given the conditions so I’ll do anything I can to minimize disturbing these fish.
Stealth was everything on this trip.
All the more reason to throw the Power Prawn USA underneath docks.
My thinking was these fish would be a bit more comfortable next to the dock pilings and willing to strike a nearby meal.
I only had about 2 hours of on-the-water time so I needed to move at a faster pace but carefully working each piling.
After casting around a few docks, I found a few snook way up in skinny water at a spot I had circled in my pre-trip plan.
Then my trolling motor started making a loud noise whenever I moved it and a pesky dolphin would not leave me alone.
At this point, I’m starting to smell that skunk creeping in.
But I pushed on and kept casting until I finally hooked into a fish.
These fish were incredibly skittish and easily spooked at anything.
I could barely get a line close to them, and when I did, they just bolted.
So I moved to another spot I circled that appeared to be a textbook spot for these conditions.
Finally, a solid redfish gulped down the Power Prawn USA!
That ended up being the last fish of the day.
But, in two hours, I was able to catch a few fish and get some tight lines.
Core Lessons & Takeaways
- Importance of Stealth
When the skies are clear, water clarity is high, and there’s no wind, you need to be stealthy.
In these conditions, the fish have a leg up on us anglers.
They can feel EVERYTHING!
- Fish Comfort Levels
When fish are spooked like on this trip, you need to target areas tight to structure because this is where fish feel most comfortable.
These fish were noticeably less spooky than those out on the open flats.
This is why it was no coincidence that the strikes I had on this trip were within 1-2 feet of dock pilings.
Tackle & Gear Discussion
We’ll start with the fishing rod because that is the most crucial part of the entire outfit.
I used the TFO Pro S 7’6″ M on this trip, which is my best all-time overall value rod coming in under $200.
This rod excels in both castability and feel.
I pair that with the Daiwa Fuego 2500.
The Fuego is Daiwa’s least expensive reel model that includes Magseal Technology.
I also have 10lb Daiwa J-Braid x8 Grand spooled on the reel.
That is a bit light for dock fishing but given the conditions, I had to go on the lighter side.
The leader is 20lb Ande Monofilament.
I like monofilament for dock fishing because it is a bit more resistant to abrasions than fluorocarbon.
Lately, I’ve been fishing with the Power Prawn USA Junior but on this trip, I went with the Original larger size.
This is because I knew those fish would be held closer to the structure underneath the docks and the larger size shrimp lure is better for skipping purposes.
I recommend using the larger size Power Prawn USA on your next dock fishing trip.
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I purchased the rod & reel from you guys for under $200. The drag on the reel keeps baking off. Is there anything I can do to correct this problem? Thanks.
Can you please help me understand how the drag is backing off? Is there any particular activity that seems to cause it (casting, fighting fish, etc.)?
I loved the report on the Flamingo area.
I also fish those same spots for the the same reasons youal do.
Could you please do more in Florida Bay?
Thanks for the great reporting.
Glad to see that you enjoyed the Flamingo report. I’ll be sure to add Florida Bay to the list.
I absolutely loved seeing Otis in that video. It has been a while since I have seen him and he really puts a smile on my face. Thanks for the excellent explanation on the differences between the power prawn and the pp jr for skipping under the docks. Also appreciate the explanation of the weighted hook vs. jig head for the shallow water.
Thanks so much for making time to post the nice comment David!
I know your a great angler Luke but I will never agree with you that the rod is more important then the reel to me unless an angler has all quality gear there chances of loosing fish is greater then an angler that uses quality tackle and im not saying that the tackle had to be expensive but you can’t tell me that a cheap reel that has a substandard drag system will work just fine as long as the rod is good?! To me that makes no sence at all because you can have the best rod and line in the world and if your reels drag is junk and slips or siezes yp on you in the midst of a big fish fighting in the end of your line chances are your going to loose that fish and alot of others unless the drag is fixed or maintained think about it without a good drag system on your reel how is the fish going to run without breaking the line that’s why I disagree with your idea that the rod is the most important between the 2 to me its ALL just as important because if it wasn’t we wouldn’t need it anyways thanks for the info and all you do👍😉
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Steven. I believe we are on the same page because a cheap reel with terrible drag should of course be avoided. The point I was trying to make was just that it’s best to pair a medium quality reel with a premium rod compared to the opposite… and I make that claim repeatedly because I personally spent way too much money on reels over the years when I was putting most of my budget on them vs. my rods.
For example, here’s a video showing my biggest snook ever on a lure that I caught while testing some tackle in spite of having Otis on the boat by myself (it was a ~$60 piscifun reel paired with a $200+ rod): https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/catch-big-fish-on-light-line/
For light tackle fishing, I feel just as confident when using my $79 Legalis on my $300+ custom rod compared to my $200+ reels. And if I were to put a $200+ reel on a $79 rod like I used to do, I’d have noticeably worse results since I could not feel strikes nor cast as effectively due to the mediocre rod.