Three Tips for Catching Florida Saltwater Fish

Florida is without a doubt the best place in the continental United States to go saltwater fishing. You can fish both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico in the state of Florida; it is the only state that can make that claim.

You have access to a large variety of species and can fish using a large variety of techniques. This article will discuss three tips that will enhance your fish catching prowess while angling in the state of Florida.

Use live shrimp for bait.

If there is one sure fire way to have constant action while fishing it is putting a lively shrimp on the hook while fishing Florida waters. You can catch just about any variety of fish from a six inch long Mangrove Snapper to a Tarpon that weighs one hundred pounds or more.

It is critical that you keep your bait fresh and lively. You certainly can catch fish with dead or even frozen shrimp, but live shrimp will work much better. I recommend using an aerated bait bucket kept in a cool location.

Shrimp are best fishing on or near the bottom of the water; you will need sufficient weight to hold the bait in place. This is determined by the strength of the current where you are fishing.

I like to hook a shrimp once near the top of the tail. This differs from the standard approach of hooking them through the head. I feel this causes the shrimp to swim in an erratic manner that attracts larger fish from greater distances.

Fish near wrecks

The water near the coasts of Florida is filled with shipwrecks. Most of them are natural and some are man made to create fishing areas. A depth finder is crucial in finding these areas to fish. You can also buy books that have listing of all the known ship wrecks in the area. GPS coordinates are given for each wreck, if you own a GPA unit and a depth finder they are relatively easy to find and fish successfully. These wrecks can be in water as shallow as ten feet.

It is near these wrecks where the whole food chain develops. Small organisms use the cover to hide from predators. Creatures such as barnacles and other shellfish attach themselves to feed off the wreck. Small fish feed from these creatures and medium to large fish feed off these smaller fish. You can catch Snappers, Groupers, Sharks and a variety of fish near the wrecks.