How To with Big Dave's land based lessons. How to get tight!

We may have covered this before but I feel it bears repeating. When most folks fish with lures, they rarely consider how the fish they were targeting was hooked. It all boils down to types of strikes, a predation strike and a reaction strike. Understanding the differences between these types of attacks can help you improve your catch rate with lures of all types.
By definition, a predation strike is what happens when the fish has actually tried to eat your lure. This means that you successfully fooled the fish into thinking your lure was actually a prey item. A predation strike is most often made obvious by the fact that your lure has either mostly or completely been engulfed by the fish. Fish like snook or trout are famous for utterly inhaling lures. When your lure is deep inside the fish's mouth, its hard to deny that it was truly trying to eat it.
A reaction strike is what happens when you have either triggered a fishes aggression or curiosity. An aggressive reaction strike is hard to miss. These are hard, often savage strikes leading to excited squeals of joy from the angler. A reaction strike stemming from simple curiosity is often far more subtle. Barely a light tap on the line or unmistakable heaviness on the retrieve when there should be none. Reaction strikes are often signified by the fish being hooked on the lips or even just outside the mouth.
Lures such as swimming plugs or top water poppers in bright, flashy and unnatural colors are designed to achieve a reaction strike. Soft plastic shrimp, jerk baits and suspending twitch baits or buck tails in natural colors are designed to imitate natural prey items.
Generally, when the fishing is tough such as when the water is clear and calm, you'll want to choose natural colors to trigger a predation strike. When fish are in stained or rough water, flashy or noisy lures often prove to be the better choice to trigger a reaction strike.
Tight lines friends!

Sebastian Inlet Report

                               

07-20-17 THURSDAY: A FEW MANGROVE SNAPPER, SPANISH MACKEREL, JACKS, BLUE RUNNERS AND SPADEFISH 

We have light winds blowing out of the East-Southeast this morning that are predicted to increase in the afternoon. We have no NOAA advisories this morning but chances of showers and thunderstorms are likely after 2:00 p.m. today. The water temperature is bouncing around due to cold water pockets that are typical for summer. 
  We received an update from inlet regular Mike Ricciardi of Vero Beach who fished the north jetty yesterday morning. Mike hasn't been having a lot of luck lately. He reported a slow bite for most of the inlet anglers with an exception of inlet regular Tony Swiderski of Sebastian. Tony landed his limit of Mangrove Snapper early yesterday but everyone else had only one or two. The Spanish Mackerel bite has died down as well. An occasional Lookdown, Jack or Blue Runner will come over the rails. On Monday an angler was casting pretty far out into a school of Atlantic Spadefish and brought in four of them. That was the exception to the species that were coming over the rails. 
 Our angler of the day is recent newcomer to Indialantic, Chris Ward. Chris has already discovered the joys of fishing the Sebastian Inlet, our local gem. Chris fished the south side and reported big schools of Snook of all sizes were pushing mojarra up against the rocks all week. What a great week of fishing! The big Snook was released unharmed right after the photo. 

Beach Fishing With Paul Sperco Palm Beach/Martin County Area

                               
My son Randy and I fished at Dollmans Beach today and managed to put some nice whiting in the cooler along with catching and releasing some small palometa. Fishbites were the ticket today and should be your go-to bait for the near future as this is the time of year when live shrimp become tough to get. The water today was not the clear green that was along our area yesterday, when Randy was able to find some great catch-and-release snook fishing at Dollmans right around high tide. Live majorras were the ticket for success on the snook. Reports that I received when I was was gone last week had some some folks catching a few pompano and jacks at Santa Lucea and Tiger Shores. The weather looks good this week and live bait school schools that were in the Sebastian and Vero Beach areas last week should be headed our way . Its time to bring your cast net and sabiki rigs to the beach with you as tarpon, jacks, and snook will be targeting these baits. Having some in a bucket with an aerator will put you in a position to bend a rod with those species. A CP Rig or a sinker slide bottom rig will be the rigs to use during the day with these live baits. I will be fishing Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and will post all results on those evenings. Good luck this week and catch em up.

From Capt. Charlie @ Fishing Center - Ft Pierce

Inshore:

Water temperatures continue to be near ninety degrees most days.  Chances of rain will remain high throughout the month of July.  Plan your outdoor adventures carefully and watch the conditions out there.  Storms can develop and move in quickly.  Have fun and be safe! 

The grass flats will be hot once the sun rises, so get out early or late in the day to have a chance at working top water lures when the fish are in the shallows.  Move to channel edges, mangroves, deep cuts or the inlets once the sun is high. 

The snook bite has been good around the jetties and bridges.  Live bait or DOA Bait Busters are good choices.  The turning basin should be ready to go off soon as the bait schools filter into the river.  It's always fun this time of year when the glass minnows arrive.  Our trout bite has slowed with the water temperatures, but get out early with top water lures for your best chances.  Look for redfish to be hanging around mangroves and docks this time of year.  Summer might be hot, but so can the fishing!

Sebastian Inlet Report

                                   

07-18-17 TUESDAY: SPANISH MACKEREL, JACKS, MANGROVE SNAPPER, BLUE RUNNERS AND REDS 

We have a still morning at the inlet which makes it seem hotter! Also, no wind = no see 'ums, be sure to take insect repellent with you if you head to the inlet today. Winds are predicted to pick up a little in the afternoon and shift to the Southeast. There is a light chop on the water, we have no NOAA advisories.

Sarah Sams at the Sebastian Inlet Bait and Tackle Shop reports a lot of bait schools swimming around both jetties. That is good for bringing in the bigger fish that prey on them. Spanish Mackerel are still active as are Mangrove Snapper, Jacks and Blue Runners. Reds have been hitting on the outgoing tide and C/R Snook are hungry. This is snook spawning season and its best not to target them as the fight exhausts the fish but there are times you just can't keep them off the line! If that is the case, please handle these breeders with special care. 
 Our first photo features inlet regular Paul Szoke of Palm Bay. Paul landed his Spanish Mackerel from the north jetty. 
Photo two is of another inlet regular (when he's not traveling the globe) Mike Ricciardi of Vero Beach. Mike landed his Mackerel on the same day. The bite was hot that day!!

Orlando Bound

Ha last post for a week, headed to ICAST, the biggest Fishing Expo around. Will be back with photos and info. on new fishing stuff to share with you.....

Sebastian Inlet Report

                                  
07-10-17 MONDAY: MANGROVE SNAPPER, SPANISH MACKEREL, BLUE RUNNERS, REDS AND JACKS 

Winds are blowing out of the East-Southeast at 2 mph this morning and gusting to 4. There is a light chop on the water. There are no NOAA advisories this morning but we have a chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms. 

Tommy Turowski at the Sebastian Inlet Bait and Tackle Shop reported a decent bite over the weekend. The summer Snapper have been keeping anglers busy along with Spanish Mackerel, Blue Runners, Reds and Jacks. We have a lot of greenies and glass minnows swimming around the jetties. Thanks Tommy!

Our first photo today features Nelson of Kissimmee. Nelson landed the 38" C/R Tarpon off the north jetty. He was using a Gulp white pearl swimming mullet to get the attention of this big fish. Nelson carefully released the Tarpon unharmed after the photo. Tarpon rules are very strict, see the top right corner for FWC regulations on all saltwater species. 

Photo two features inlet regular Wes Szuba of Sebastian. Wes landed his Spanish Mackerel off the north jetty.