What tackle/bait should I get?

[bohman]

So, I haven't been fishing in a few years. Life's been busy with job, marriage, kids, etc. But I'll be doing some fishing this weekend around the solomons area. Will be casting off a sailboat docked in Town Creek, and won't be going too far from there before we start fishing (top speed of 6 knots will do that). Anybody care to tell me what's running right now? Thinking that I might be able to catch croaker around the mouth of the river, either Drum pt. or Cedar Pt.

I still have some rigs & line left over from the last time I was out, but I think a small shopping trip to get some tackle is in order. What's my priority - what do I absolutely need to have to fish off a slow boat? The rigs that I have are what I was using when I used to cast off the pier at Pt. Lookout.

I might go out there & get skunked because I have no clue what I'm doing (I've fished a lot of freshwater), but at least I'll be out there. Bad day of fishing still better than a good day at work.

TIA

 

[Dutch6]

So, I haven't been fishing in a few years. Life's been busy with job, marriage, kids, etc. But I'll be doing some fishing this weekend around the solomons area. Will be casting off a sailboat docked in Town Creek, and won't be going too far from there before we start fishing (top speed of 6 knots will do that). Anybody care to tell me what's running right now? Thinking that I might be able to catch croaker around the mouth of the river, either Drum pt. or Cedar Pt.

I still have some rigs & line left over from the last time I was out, but I think a small shopping trip to get some tackle is in order. What's my priority - what do I absolutely need to have to fish off a slow boat? The rigs that I have are what I was using when I used to cast off the pier at Pt. Lookout.

I might go out there & get skunked because I have no clue what I'm doing (I've fished a lot of freshwater), but at least I'll be out there. Bad day of fishing still better than a good day at work.

TIA

I recommend the lures with long fuses!


j/k

If you are going to be trolling at that speed I would use small gold spoons for mackeral.

 

[toppick08]

Med/Heavy..

action spinning set-up will do just fine...Beetle spins, live bait set-up..bloodworms, peeler crab, will yield you ample amount of bites, and flesh..........

Good Fortunes.

 

[AK-74me]

Blues have been breaking lately, if you can find some it is a ton of fun but messy. Use a spinning rod and small spoons as most of them are under 20", if you use any plastic/rubber artificial lures they will get torn to shreds.

 

[kom526]

For perch- 5'0" St. Croix UL fast action 2# line and 1/8oz beetle spin (any color)

Croaker- (Rock, blues, skates) 6' St. Croix ML fast action 6# standard bottom rig w/ squid and or shrimp. Managed a small blue w/ squid in front of my place last week.

 

[unixpirate]

So, I haven't been fishing in a few years. Life's been busy with job, marriage, kids, etc. But I'll be doing some fishing this weekend around the solomons area. Will be casting off a sailboat docked in Town Creek, and won't be going too far from there before we start fishing (top speed of 6 knots will do that). Anybody care to tell me what's running right now? Thinking that I might be able to catch croaker around the mouth of the river, either Drum pt. or Cedar Pt.

I still have some rigs & line left over from the last time I was out, but I think a small shopping trip to get some tackle is in order. What's my priority - what do I absolutely need to have to fish off a slow boat? The rigs that I have are what I was using when I used to cast off the pier at Pt. Lookout.

I might go out there & get skunked because I have no clue what I'm doing (I've fished a lot of freshwater), but at least I'll be out there. Bad day of fishing still better than a good day at work.

TIA

Going out on a sailboat is your first problem.

 

[AK-74me]

Going out on a sailboat is your first problem.

What I was thinking but didn't say anything..... "blowboater"

 

[spinner]

Too funny, I was going to ask almost the same question. My daughter and I have discovered we like fishing so we go out in the kayaks at Forrest Landing or Clarks Landing, but we really don't know what we are doing. Just having fun. She was using a litle beetle spin with a grub on it, I tried a couple of different things, but we didn't catch much on Tuesday. What we did was really small, not that it mattered everything gets put back anyway.
Is the live bait set up the same as a bottom rig?

 

[wollybugger]

Thinking that I might be able to catch croaker around the mouth of the river, either Drum pt. or Cedar Pt.

I.

TIA

Good bet you can catch fish at those locations.

Go to the Tackle Box and tell them "I'm new to this ... can you outfit me with some new equipment" Just Kidding ... just kidding

Actually, go to WalMart and buy some double-bottom-rigs and some wire leader hooks (no 2 hooks will be fine).

Then buy some blood worms ($10/doz)

Then head out to the spots you mentioned ... and look for boats. Fish in that vicinity. If no boats ... fish in about 30 ft depth

Good luck and let us know how you made out

 

[wollybugger]

Too funny, I was going to ask almost the same question. My daughter and I have discovered we like fishing so we go out in the kayaks at Forrest Landing or Clarks Landing, but we really don't know what we are doing. Just having fun. She was using a litle beetle spin with a grub on it, I tried a couple of different things, but we didn't catch much on Tuesday. What we did was really small, not that it mattered everything gets put back anyway.
Is the live bait set up the same as a bottom rig?

It could be, sometimes flounder is great with live minnows of bottom rigs.

But those beetle spins are great fun for kids.

What happens is there are things called "tide lines". These tide lines are small debris, limbs, leaves, etc that sit on the bottom and are formed by the rising/falling tides ... and are about 6 ft from the shoreline. Small minnows and grass shrimp hand out in those tide lines ... and the perch and small stripers feed on them. The beetle spin targets those fish

Also, the puppy drum (red fish) are up in the creeks around solomons. My son caught a 16" and had a great fight. Keepers are 25" and I've never heard of one that big around here ... but they're fun for the kids

 

[bohman]

Going out on a sailboat is your first problem.

:shrug: What can I say, I'm not as serious about fishing, as sailing. If you're sailing, you don't need to get to the destination faster - you're already there. I'll buy a small powerboat for fishing someday, but it's not in the budget right now. Just started paying for infant daycare again.

In the meantime, I appreciate the suggestions & will try my luck soon.