Any advice for fishing @ grayton beach?

[catweazl_2000]

Hello forum members.
My name is Henk and I am new on this forum. After looking up the net for days I gave up looking for info about fishing in Grayton beach. I only found commercial stuff. Until my partner tried finding out if there is jellyfish danger for our 4 year old boy while we are in Florida. Then she found this SoWall site. :clap_1: Hurray!!!
Then now the big Question;
Can anyone help me out what sort of fishing gear I best load on the airplane?
Here in the Netherlands I fish a lot for pike and walleye. I also have some gear for carpfishing and have two 5 yard surf rods those I usually use for bottom fishing from the pier to catch cod whiting flatfish and seabass(something like stripers but somewhat smaller)
We will be staying at grayton beach statepark camping just besides some lake with brakkish water. I have no Idea what sort of fish is present in your waters at the beginning of may. I prefer the predators for the shear fun of a good fight. but a good panfish to bring for the bbq is also very nice.
Is baitcasting from a sandbank a lot of good fun or is it a waste of time?

A little help would be very welcome. also advice on how to keep my son and wifesave from jellyfish and other hazzards is very welcome.
Thanks in advance,
Henk

[jdarg]

:welcome: Welcome Henk!

[kurt]

:welcome: Henk

In the lake you'll find Largemouth Bass, Bream (panfish), Speckled Trout, and Redfish - along with a few other types and an occasional gator and lots of crabs.

Use the search function on the menu to find info about what types of fish to catch in the lakes and the surf.

For instance, a search for "trout":
http://www.sowal.com/bb/search.php?searchid=87808

[Miss Kitty]

:welcome: aboard Henk!!! Enjoy your stay!!!

[jdarg]

Is Henk the first board member from Amsterdam?? Very cool! :biggrin:

[catweazl_2000]

Thank you for your welcoming reactions.
I wrote Amsterdam, sorry that's not entirely correct. I lived there for years but I bought a house just on the edge in a more rural area. I still work in A*dam though. So the wait for the first echte Amsterdammer is still on..
Concerning the fishing:
King mackerell and seatrout are on top of the wishlist. I guess I'll pack a 7 foot rod& reel with a casting weight of 50 gram for casting plugs and a 12 foot rod of 1.1/5 pound. Drilling northern pike up to 43 inch worked out fine with those.( in fact it works out so good that I sometimes catch the same fish again after release.( catch and release is very popular in the Netherlands). I'll bring some jigs, some spoons & spinners. Then I wonder what sort of weight is needed if you go fishing for pompano in the surf. Here in the Netherlands I need a good 100 gram at the least to stop my bait from rolling away in the tide. Sometimes 175 grams doesn't even do the job....
I heard on my local fish forum that the barracudas eat the fish of the line very often and that fishing without a steel tracer doesn't make any sense. can anyone confirm on that?
Oh bye yhe way, what ate gators??? those monsters with legs and loads of teeth , or the so called alligator gars?? Does it mean I can't wade safely in the western lake part???
T.I.A.
Henk

[jdarg]

Where is Aquaticbiology when we need him???:idontno: Yoo hoo!

[SlowMovin]

Hi Henk,
Surf fishing, you're most likely going to encounter pompano, whiting, catfish and ladyfish. The last two are not good for eating. Whiting are ok, pompano are excellent. You may also encounter some spanish mackeral, which are a smaller version of king mackeral. They do not put up much of a fight, but are good eating unless you don't like fish.

Both spanish and king mackeral do not come in real close to shore so you'll probably have to wade out near the edge of the sandbar. Even then you will need to cast pretty far, so your 5-yard surf rods may be useful there. Use bright, shiny silver spoons and plugs, fished fast to catch spanish. For kings, you'll do best with a small, live pinfish or cigar minnow...just hook near the tail and let it swim freely. You can probably catch pinfish in the lake using a sabiki rig.

For pompano, live sandfleas work well. Live sandfleas are difficult to catch and impossible to buy in the area. You can buy a little wire basket scoop at some bait stores to catch them with...they bury themselves in the sand at the edge of the surf. They are also known as 'mole crabs'. Fish them near the bottom in the surf using a typical weighted surf rig. You can catch pompano right from the beach.
http://www.mindspring.com/~sloan/SANDFLEA.jpg

Redfish, use gold spoons and chartreuse (bright greenish-yellow) soft plastics...tipping the plastics with a little piece of shrimp sometimes helps. Shrimp and live pinfish also work, but you tend to catch more catfish that way.

We do not have a true "seatrout" here, but we do have speckled trout (also known as "spotted seatrout"). They typically do not venture into the Gulf, but stay in inshore, brackish water such as the lake at which you'll be. Fish for them the same way you do redfish.

While redfishing, you might also catch a flounder...a flatfish similar to halibut only smaller.

You will need a license...they can be obtained at most bait/supply stores. Also, get a copy of the regulations and abide by the size and bag limits. The park officials do enforce the regulations and fines can be high.

Jellyfish--nothing much you can do. Hard to spot in the surf. The sting is painful but not dangerous (although I suppose it's possible some people may have allergic reactions).

Gators are alligators. They are not usually overtly aggressive, but there are sometimes attacks. I personally prefer to not wade in the lake, especially with the Gulf right there. It's mucky, there are stingrays and who's to say a gator might not decide to become aggressive that day? And, yes, I know shark attacks are possible in the Gulf, but they are extremely rare despite the media hype.

Finally, do NOT go into the Gulf when the surf flags are red. We have a lot of drownings here and most of them occur because of people going into the water during red flag days. Any doubts, ask the park rangers. They know what they're talking about.

[catweazl_2000]

Wow!!
Slowmoving, that's a very useful answer thank you.. :clap_1:
Baitcasting with those long rods must be tiresome. I am fishing-crazy enough to walk to a bank as far as I can. I guess my solution will be the 3.60 meter carp rod in combination with a 0.1 mm( 10/100 mm.) braided line of about 10 pound breaking strength. I found that with that combination I can get up to casts of 110 yards if the wind doesn't face me.
I wonder if the water is cold though. I remember feeling like a fish in the deep freezer in France last year when I tried to catch trout in a freshwater stream in the Dordonge. Although the wheather was pretty warm at the time( about 25 -30 celcius)
Henk

[SlowMovin]

The water will NOT be cold. Water temps will probably be in the low- to mid-70s, air temps in the mid- to high-80s.

[Smiling JOe]

The water will NOT be cold. Water temps will probably be in the low- to mid-70s, air temps in the mid- to high-80s.I think the current water temp of the Gulf is in the low 70's F. The Lakes are even warmer, somewhere around 76F.

I am in Western Lake all the time. You should be more concerned with septic leakage after hard rains than with alligators if you are a grown man. Sharks have been recently spotted around Grayton Beach, but that is very normal, most people just don't notice them. You are more likely to experience death from the Sun causing skin cancer from being here on vacation than you are to be bitten by a shark.

The easiest fishing in the Gulf consist of wading out to toss your Pompano rig, then walking back on shore to wait and relax. ;-) Depending on the roughness of the surf, you should use a 1 ounce (oz) weight on calm days, and a 3 oz weight on rougher days. If you get tired of fishing at the beach, you can go back to the Bay and fish for Redfish, Sheepshead and Trout, all of which are yummy. Live or dead shrimp work best and some people have success using Squid.

Good Luck!

[Franny]

Good info slow moving! The last time I was at the Grayton Market they were selling frozen sand fleas which have worked fine for us and the pompano did not seem to mind that they were frozen. Also wanted to add that if you are wading into the gulf please don't enter the water at sunrise or sundown. The sharks are feeding at these times. Have a great trip and :welcome:

[aquaticbiology]

Where is Aquaticbiology when we need him???:idontno: Yoo hoo!

here - working

i don't know much about fishing from the bank, but here's a few items

gator (aliigator) - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/Alligatoracp.jpg/180px-Alligatoracp.jpg

on florida pompano rigs - http://floridasurffishing.net/forum/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=100&topic_id=22543&mode=full

on florida surf fishing - http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Trails/2615/photos.html

enjoy

[catweazl_2000]

Once more thank you forum folks, I am amazed to find this good help with such late notice.

Slow movin,
Nice to know I won't be cold. If the water is that warm I'll be happy to be cooling down and fishing at the same time. :clap_1: Compared to the stagnated spring we have here(high 50 low 40s it is going to feel like being in the tropics. Apparently Florida aveage wheather is called heatwave over here ... :roll: I am looking forward to arrive at the beach on monday :floor:

Aquaticbiology,
Thank you too.
Very interesting is the fact that through your links I found a site( the wannadoo thing) that is Dutch and shows fishing is quite the same over the world but what the fish eats is different. I can just use the same paternoster rigs I make for fishing here. fish get hooked if you know what they want for supper, as long as they don't know what I want for tea. At Greyton beach the Dutch seaworms are sandflees.
How big are sandfleas actually? In the U.K. I have seen something like it and those didn't exeed over half an inch??? The pic with hook from SlowMovin makes them look like they are bigger then a whole inch!!!

Further on, the top ten things to do-list is very usefull too!!! :clap_1:
I'll be packing tomorrow. Thanks all for answers, I'll check out this site once/twice more tomorrow, And maybe we'll meet at the waterside.
I am pretty sure that I am going to be smiling so long and so bright I'll be having muscle ache in my face.

[SoWalSally]

There is a tackle shop in Grayton Corners market where you can get pompano rigs along with bait, hooks, line, rods, reels, etc. You might even be able to rent gear here and not have to lug it on the plane.

[catweazl_2000]

Oh, and in case you guys wonder whatever happened to the catweazl guy, I'll report as soon as I am back home. There is not going to be any pc's around at the camping. Maybe I'll even manage to make some pic's.
For the lovers of another spiecies of fish you guys propably don't catch yust click this link;

http://fotoalbum.roofvisforum.nl/index.php?p=bekijkalbum&user_id=400

or, if that doesn't work copy/paste in browser.
Greetings,
Henk

[jdarg]

Have a fantastic trip Henk! Make sure you get a SoWal.com sticker while you are there! Or maybe you will wake up and find one stuck to your tent.:clap_1:

[Miss Kitty]

Have a fantastic trip Henk! Make sure you get a SoWal.com sticker while you are there! Or maybe you will wake up and find one stuck to your tent.:clap_1:

Oh yeah....that's what I am talking about...a sowalled tent!!!

Henk...you are a great addition to the sowal family!!! And yes...you will be smiling the whole time you are here!!!! :D

[catweazl_2000]

Hi there,
I am back!!
Very sad that I had to leave the beach. I had a wonderfull time at Grayton beach and am already dreaming of going back..
I am so in love with your beaches....
Good things are that I know now how good pompano´s taste when brought fresh from the beach and grilled straight away on a bbq. The best fish I ever ate!!!!
Apart from that lucky catch,
I caught a redfish!!!
On a morning a friend who had been snorkling told me that there was no fish around in the shallow waters. Since I was there with a long fishingpole I decided to get out in the water and give a good far cast . the line was out for at least 170 yards. for a long time nothing happened, Apart for me and my son where playing in the surf.
A little later i was just back in the shade the rod suddenly bent in a tense 90%. I pick it up and see the 10 pound line running of the spool. I then have to stop it because there is hardly no line left on my spool. I hold, walk into the water to give me some play. 5 minutes later i have fought back about 50 yards of line. Then the fish runs again. I feel hopeless. for the second time the fish gives up right at the moment I run out of line. then i fight it with a bit more ease and 15 minutes later see the fish in the surf . When I land it I don´t know what sort of fish it is. One thing is sure, it looks good to eat. Then someone out of the crowd of about 20 people that gathered when I was fighting the fish tels me it is a redfish, to big to keep. That stuns me. TO BIG TO EAT??????
I never heard of such a thing. I then quickly mesure the fish and tel him it is 35 inch long. The man ensures me you have to release redfish when they are longer then 28 inch.Otherwise I´ll run a risk on a 1500$ fine. That convinces me, I am happy for the fish and let it go with good feelings. the release of a big fighter is a nice reward. Later I can´t help but thing of how it would have tasted. Later we try to buy some but we can´t find it in any of the fishmarkets we visit.
1-0 for the redfish.
I run out of time to tell more, a foto has been made, the lady who took it promised to sent it to me, If i get it I´ll do my best to post it.
See you later,
Henk

[Smiling JOe]

Congratulations on your catch and trip.

Yesterday, I saw some photos of a recent catch from the east end of Grayton Beach -- Two sharks!!! One was only about 4' long and the other was 7'-8' long and weighed a bit over 200 #. The larger one was pregnant and had about 10 pups in the belly.

:shock:

[SlowMovin]

Thirty-five inches is a big redfish. The man who told you about it being "too big to keep" was right. Legally they must be at least 18 inches and less than 28 inches. You caught a big one.

All the more impressive because this time of year redfish tend to move inshore. It's mostly winter time when you catch them in the surf. What kind of bait were you using?

How many pompano? How big and what were you using for them...sand fleas?

[Allifunn]

So glad you had a productive and enjoyable trip to SoWal..it is the best place on earth!

Sorry about the red fish...but it sounds like you had a thrilling "fight" on your hands...that is the main thing! :clap_1:

[taterbaby]

[QUOTE=SlowMovin]Hi Henk,
Surf fishing, you're most likely going to encounter pompano, whiting, catfish and ladyfish. The last two are not good for eating. Whiting are ok, pompano are excellent. You may also encounter some spanish mackeral, which are a smaller version of king mackeral. They do not put up much of a fight, but are good eating unless you don't like fish.

I gotta ask-are you referring to the catfish as not good to eat-is it the same catfish that we have here in Mississippi? Please let me know-cause as a Mississippi girl-I can hook you up with some awsome Mississippi catfish recipies-man -they are a delicacy here in our state.

[Donna]

Henk, you will encounter a very exotic species of Gator at Grayton Beach, if you frequent The Red Bar. They walk upright...sometimes. When the moon is full and the tunes are right, they will lie on their backs and scrape the sky with all fours. This is known as the "dirty gator." They drink beer and anything else that comes around after 11 p.m. Their diet consists of sushi or peel-and-eat shrimp at mid-day; paneed chicken or grouper with mashed potatoes by night, occasionally a crab cake of two if they're runnin', and a breakfast of 3 Advils and black coffee that will stand up without a cup. If you see one of these Gators coming, give him a wide birth. And if it's a "her," with or without babies, run fast and run far! :floor:

[catweazl_2000]

@ slowmoving:
the redfish and one pompano's fell for sandfleas. Theother pompano took a 2.5 inch pearlwhite rubberfish. Funny is that if a fish bites and the line comes to shore , you're almost for sure dealing with a pompano. I caught 2 of them and let a big one slip away in ankle deep water:-( those I landed where 12' and 15' long.
The redfish was caught when my bait was in the deeper part behind the sandbank, a good 150-200yards from the beach.

@Taterbaby;

The catfish I caught were grey of color and had a strong spike in the backfin.
they are pretty slimy on the skin...they seemed to be quite common, I caught about 5 of them. Getting the hook out is quite difficult. They have a very tough mouth. I don't think they will ever make a popular consumptionfish.

@ Donna;

I have seen those gators.. The redbar was a nice place. There was live music and loads of gators indeed.
Around our hollydayhome I heard some "real" gator growling around sunrise. Later that day we went to the western lake and saw one swimming around in a small freshwater lake close by it was around 4 foot long. There I also met a 5 to 6 inch turtle strolling on the banks.
Way more dangerous for tourists are chiggers. I personally found those animals that are invisible very irritating. luckily I seemed to get rid of them using chiggeraid...
It seemed though that my dad in law, who had been at the same locations was not bothered by them at all How's that possible???
Laterz,
Henk

[SlowMovin]

I gotta ask-are you referring to the catfish as not good to eat-is it the same catfish that we have here in Mississippi? Please let me know-cause as a Mississippi girl-I can hook you up with some awsome Mississippi catfish recipies-man -they are a delicacy here in our state.
I'm only talking about what are referred to as "hardhead" catfish, which is a salt-/brackish-water cat that are very common in brackish lakes and bayous. Extremely bony, extremely slimy and a finning feels like a wasp sting. Because of the boniness you get very small filets (even from large fish) and they don't taste that good anyway.

Other freshwater catfish species, especially blue cats, are great eating. I may be mistaken, but I think most of the catfish you see at the seafood section of grocery chains like Publix are farm-raised blues.

Sail cats are also good eating, but a lot of anglers tend to avoid them because they slime up everything and also have poisonous fins.

AquaticBiology probably has better information on them...just my observations.

[aquaticbiology]

http://sowal.com/bb/gallery/files/2/0/5/0/channelcat.JPG
"channel catfish"

http://sowal.com/bb/gallery/files/2/0/5/0/surfcat.JPG
"surf catfish"

large "blue" freshwater catfish, "sail" catfish (extremely long threadlike dorsal fin), etc. can be eaten (if you don't think about what catfish normally eat!)

skin, fillet then cut the fillet into small chunks, dip in lemon juice, toss in a mix of flour, black pepper, red pepper and salt, to cover the chunks completely with the four mixture, then stir-fry for 8 minutes in hot wok oil!!! (gets rid of all parasites due to extremely high heat)

[catweazl_2000]

It looks like the channelcatfish indeed

Graytonbeach, I mis your sunset.....

[kurt]

Redfish are sweet meat - you caught a monster. They are prized for their tastiness, fight, and beauty. Let us know when you are back.

[BeachSteelers]

As far as I know, so long as you are standing or on manmade structure you do not need a fla. fishing license.If your in a boat you need one unless it's a guided charter which that captain has paid the fees upfront. Unless that's changed this year.And if lucky you can get a king or spanish just off the beach although you usually wait for schools to show up. Now pray the june grass goes away.

[BeachSteelers]

I also think it's $305 per fish that's either under or oversized. Plus when those REDS get to big their not as good to eat plus they are now mature enough to make more REDS.

[aquaticbiology]

when in doubt, have a fishing license, it just makes for a much easier time - we got spot checked during this trip for the first time in years - they have a larger quota this year (thanks, Jeb!), so they're going to be out more - and yes, they read the sowal forum!

you can get a license for anything from a day to a week to a year at any wal-mart or bait/tackle store, or even online

[Smiling JOe]

As far as I know, so long as you are standing or on manmade structure you do not need a fla. fishing license.If your in a boat you need one unless it's a guided charter which that captain has paid the fees upfront. Unless that's changed this year.And if lucky you can get a king or spanish just off the beach although you usually wait for schools to show up. Now pray the june grass goes away.I, too, once thought that this was the rule, but later I learned it is true for Florida residents only. If you are a resident elsewhere, you need a license to fish from land as well as from a boat. ;-)

Also, keep in mind that even if a license is not required, you must still follow the rules regarding the catch.

[SlowMovin]

As far as I know, so long as you are standing or on manmade structure you do not need a fla. fishing license.
If you are on a manmade structure, I think you DO need one unless the structure itself is licensed (which all of the public piers you pay to use around here are). If you are surf fishing you also need one.

Exceptions are seniors over 65 and juniors under 16.

This is my understanding. If I'm wrong feel free to correct me.

[Smiling JOe]

SlowMovin, you may want to read the following from marinefisheries.org (http://marinefisheries.org/license.htm#Rec): (not the key word, "resident.")


Recreational Saltwater Fishing LicenseYou do not need a license if you are:

· Any child under 16 years of age.

· Any resident who is a member of the United States Armed Forces and not stationed in this state, when home on leave for 30 days or less, upon submission of orders.

· Any person fishing who has been accepted as a client for developmental disabilities services by the Children and Family Services (http://www.state.fl.us/cf_web/), provided the department furnishes proof thereof.

· Any resident fishing in saltwater from land or from a structure fixed to the land.

· Any person fishing from a for-hire vessel (guide, charter, party boat) that has a valid vessel license.

· Any person fishing from a vessel, the operator of which has a valid vessel license issued in the name of the operator of the vessel.

· Any person who holds a valid saltwater products license (SPL).

· Any person fishing for recreational purposes from a pier that has been issued a valid pier saltwater fishing license.

· Any resident fishing for a saltwater species in fresh water from land or from a structure fixed to land.

· Any resident fishing for mullet in fresh water who has a valid Florida freshwater fishing license.

· Any resident 65 years of age or older who has in her or his possession proof of age and residency. A no-cost license under this paragraph may be obtained from any tax collector's office upon proof of age and residency and must be in the possession of the resident during hunting, freshwater fishing, and saltwater fishing activities.

· Any employee of the commission who takes freshwater fish, saltwater fish, or game as part of employment with the commission, or any other person authorized by commission permit to take freshwater fish, saltwater fish, or game for scientific or educational purposes.

[SlowMovin]

I stand corrected.

If I'm surf-fishing and standing in the water does that count as "fishing from land"?

For me it doesn't matter anyway, I have a license and keep a copy in the tackle box. It's just easier that way.

[Smiling JOe]

I stand corrected.

If I'm surf-fishing and standing in the water does that count as "fishing from land"?
Yes, standing in the surf is fishing from land. You are standing on land. The distinction comes as opposed to fishing from a vessel.

[catweazl_2000]

You might try fishing from a hot airballoon, as far as I can see there are no rules concerning fishing from the sky. :funn:
It's not worth the trouble to avoid a licence if it costs only $17 for a weeklicence if you are a nonresident guest. on holliday I'd rather be relaxed instead of worried about being checked or not.