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 Henk!

 

[Kurt]

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]

aboard Henk!!! Enjoy your stay!!!

 

[Jdarg]

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

 

[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??? 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.

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.