saltwater newbie

pmed8 · Post by **pmed8** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 10:26 am

hello everyone. i am new to kayak fishing along the coast. thought i might be able to get the overall opinion of what would be the best way to start? artificials? live bait? which ones work better? i would appreciate any info along these lines. also, i am new to this site and have to say that i have learned a great deal from all the postings already. everyone has been great and the info even better. hope to see some of you out on the water in the near future. stay safe.

Hookem · Post by **Hookem** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 11:03 am

I cant tell you whats best for you but I can tell you what I did.

I started kayak fishing using only live bait...mostly shrimp...and finger mullet after about a month of that I started to use arties, but I alwayz took fresh dead bait out with me so I could keep myself interested. then after about a month of using both I stopped buying bait all together and used only arties, It took me a while to start catching fish so dont be discuraged if you dont bang em up the first time you devote yourself to arties.

the best tip I could give is to read...read the fishing reports....read saltwater fishing mags. get a feel of what it working!!! I hoped I helped!!!

ryderredfish · Post by **ryderredfish** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 10:58 pm

hookem wrote:I cant tell you whats best for you but I can tell you what I did.

I started kayak fishing using only live bait...mostly shrimp...and finger mullet after about a month of that I started to use arties, but I alwayz took fresh dead bait out with me so I could keep myself interested. then after about a month of using both I stopped buying bait all together and used only arties, It took me a while to start catching fish so dont be discuraged if you dont bang em up the first time you devote yourself to arties.

the best tip I could give is to read...read the fishing reports....read saltwater fishing mags. get a feel of what it working!!! I hoped I helped!!!

I totaly agree, when the fishing gets real tough nothing beats the real thing. Using artificials is more of a challenge but the feeling of putting the right bait, at the right speed, in the right place(u get my drift) is incredible. No matter what you are using, you have to be where the fish are. Like Hook-em said read the fishing reports, talk to the guys at the takle/bait shops, the more info you have the better chance of finding fish.
Even when I plan to use live bait, I always have a very small selection of my go to's: (2)1/2 oz. gold spoon,(1) bone-n-(1) chartreuse/gold top-dog jr, (3)1/4 oz. jig head and a handful of softies. A rattling cork may also work when using fesh dead shrimp. Throwing a plastic on the rattler can really work em up too.

pmed8 · Post by **pmed8** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 12:08 am

thanks for the info. been hearing a lot about corkeys. how do those stand up against your listed reliables?

Hookem · Post by **Hookem** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 10:29 am

From my experience corkies are either way on....or way off. I think the corkies ability to allow the user to fish extremly slow is one of its best qualities.

I know people who use only corkies.....mostly the devil eye "slow and low". But I have yet to meet anyone who dose not like them, and wont use them.

IMO corkies are hot in the winter!!!!

ryderredfish · Post by **ryderredfish** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 12:35 pm

I have always had better luck with the corky's when the fishing is slow. Cold water, low pressure so forth and so on...