Fresh water fishing chick Getting newly salty on South Padre Island, TX..

I am a Fresh water fisher from Michigan, I now live in the rio grand valley and plan to start fishing on the island.

What should I buy for basics in my tackle box? I am not asking rods.. I mean the true starter pack...

size hooks
types and size of sinkers
Line weight
type of stringer (how does that work with the waves?)
Best bait (I prefer live or once live)
How should I rig?
single hook? triple hook? how many hooks on line?

and of course.. any SPI fishers who would like to give me a general idea as to "where" to fish.. ie the state park, the rocks, beach access #, or the Madre? During which wind, temp, and sunshine...

I do not expect to "Bogart" anyone's hole.. and I also don't expect anyone to answer all my questions, but any advice or general directions would be sosososososo very helpful.. I plan to fish from shore, so any "get a boat" comments would not be all that helpful.. I know you read this.. please leave a comment before you leave..

Thank you all so much!!

Sassy New South Texan

Picture's .......just so we know your real .

LOL are there computer generated fisher persons that I don't know about?? I am usually solo on my fishing trips or don't wish to risk my camera around water and sand so I don't have any fishing photos... but here is me and 3 of my fav midgets outside the Toledo hands on museum..... is that what you meant? (not sure how to add a photo yet, i am new to the forum)

Lol, that will do .Welcome to Paradise .

Honestly any question you could ask has already been answered 40 times over . Just set back and read then read some more .

After that if you still have a few question's come on back and ask it .

Sasnshan, I will help you out. There is a quick read on my website regarding surf fishing and tackle. Check that out for general info. If you have specific questions, I will be happy to answer then for you - see my contact info. If you just google my handle here then you can find my website. I'm not trying to be difficult. I'm not listing my site because I don't want to be accused of advertising in the wrong place.

@ redneck - So is this how new folks are treated here now?? They ask for help and photo verification of existence is requested??

Then after complying, they are basically told to go read the entire site, then when they have a question, maybe you will answer it???

How VERY nice...

"@ redneck - So is this how new folks are treated here now?? They ask for help and photo verification of existence is requested?? "

That was for the guy's ,lighten up .
She handled it well & no harm was intended .

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, I too did the switch from Northern freshwater to Southern salty fishing and to me, it was a big difference. My wife has just started to make the transition from Minnesota and Midwest fishing to salt. So I might have a little fresh insite here.

My first bit of advice is to get a chart listing all the fish species that you may catch in your area and research them. Note on the chart wether they have teeth, sharp gill plates, or barbs. Some are poisionous and can really ruin a great fishing trip. Refer to this chart and look closely at each fish for any ways they can use to protect themselves, and handle accordingly. If you can't identify the fish, treat it with extra caution.

Blue gill, and ice fishing rods and associated weight lines just don't cut it. The first rod I got for my wife was graciously accecpted with the comment "Why do I need to fish with a broom stick?" It was an inshore rod similar in weight and action to a bass fishing rod.

I'm no super fisherman like the guys on here, but hopefully I can give you some more insite into what I have discovered, if you want, just post here.

@ Double-D-Extreme

Thank you for being the first cheerful response... lol (@redneck, I can take it very well but I dish up double helpings so game on) DD I really liked your rigs and I have to admit I have a very similar philosophy to catch and release for the big game... I don't trophy so much as fish to fish and to put something on the table that I caught with my own two hands.... There is still a primitive thrill to being a hunter gather rather then a coupon clipper.. ;-) I haven't finished reading your stuff yet, but I have the start of my shopping list for rigs and that was a huge help and one big thing off my list... I do have a few questions, but like I said, I am still Reading so I will ask all of them at one time.. So far.. very very cool... I would never have thought of the "Helicoptering" effect...

@redneck, I can take it very well but I dish up double helpings so game on..... lol

In that same light and with the same respect applied.. You have now posted 3 times on this thread and have yet to say anything truly useful... I do not know of even one fishing person alive who would tell another to go read a book (website) on how to fish...

Perhaps you didn't understand my questions? I will break them down for you specifically one by one.. We will start with the most basic... Of the 45 or so most likely species that I can catch from shore, Which are the very best for eating? For example if you were coming up to one of our lovely glacial potholes in Michigan I would tell you to skip the bass and go for the perch as to taste... Specific enough for you there Darlin'? See how I even gave you examples so you could "get" it better? Hope you can take it as good as you give.. cause that was a real question....

The Texas fresh water drum are awesome...AKA Gaspergoo

@ Pferox You are the man! You have the same back ground that I had.. Don't you miss the Gills? lol best fighting fish by weight.... The first bit of research I did was on poles... Not extensive, but Enough, I think, to have identified my starter rod about a month back at a local flea market... The gentlemen had a dry goods stall with some small amounts of kitchen gadgets mixed in , but three fishing rods out front.. two were obvious freshwater, very flexible, with some wear, but in excellent working condition. The third rod was fairly ridged and about 12 ft long with again obvious use, but just as obvious use care, ie well loved and well used. The reel was open face (my fav) with very smooth silent action and was rather beefy.. I am sure this will do me for my first rod, and there is a long 25 min history that went with it, but lets just say that he gave me an excellent deal because he knew that his Dad's gear would be well used and well loved... so I am good there.. I have my printouts on the fish.. about 45 or so with full i-dents and useful info.. now.. could u give me some direction on my tackle box contents.. I know #8's with 10# test ain't gonna cut it.. where do I go from there?

Lol,yea I can take it but you northern guy's sure gang up on a poor Texas guy just trying to help.
I was serious about what you would learn by reading that most would not think to tell you .
Now your question about taste is strictly a matter of preference .
I could tell you that I prefer the sheephead over all the others and the flounder second but there will be plenty to disagree with me like the poster above .
Now with reels I prefer Shimono but again there are going to be die hard's of other brand jump all over that .
Bait caster or spinning reel , I use both depending on what I'm doing . It's hard to beat a slot red on a medium action rod with a curado to handle the action .
You say you prefer live bait so get you a four foot cast net and do a search for learning to throw it. actually if you do the reading on here there are several video's here . Most of the year bait is easy to come by once you learn the spot's to catch it . For that ask a local where you fish .
Hook's I mostly use a 1/4 in. jig head .

As far as not posting anything useful . I'm far from a novice fisherman and I learn something on here on a regular basis just by reading .
Artificial I highly recommend the gulp curly tail shad . I have been killin Reds ,trout and flounder with them lately . I have also been testing some soft plastic's for Hagerty Lure's and really liking them . Pm me your address and I'll send you some free sample's .
Now Ya'll lighten up and let's go fishin .

With a 12 foot rod, I would say no more than 30lb if it is mono, I usually stay around 20. All of that depends on what the max reel capacity is of course.

Keep looking for a similar set up in about 7 to 8 feet long, a mdeium power is good. You can use this one when the big one gets too cumbersome. That one I would keep 12 to 20 lb mono on.

Lots of different line brands brands to choose, I like Ande and Berkly Big Game, a buddy of mine swears by Cajun Casting Red. Then there are the braids.

And the fish I miss the most from fresh water is Crappie, great eating.

Although small, almost the size of "hard water perch" Croakers are good table fare, very much like eating blue gill or crappie. You could almost catch them on an ultralight rod, with about 12 lb test. They also make great cut bait.

I like sheepsheads, drum, redfish, and flounder, myself. My wife likes sand trout, another smaller fish around my neck of the woods. But, man do we catch and eat the croakers.

This next rant, is off of the top of my head, sorry, and is pertaining to live and cut bait, tossing lures is quite a different story, but I'm pretty sure that you don't want to drag a lure with a 12 foot rod for very long.

I like circle hooks, especially the wide gap ones, my sizes range from #4 to #9/0, but I am fishing many different scenarios from deep water for big drums, down to catching bait fish with a little medium rod. I use 1/0s the most. The the size of the bait will actually dictate the size of the hook, more than the target fish, usually.

An assortment of weights ranging from 1/2 ounce to the largest size your rod will handle. Some in pyramid configuration, and the other in a disk shape or bank sinker, and some sliding egg weights I use a sliding rig with a clip so I don't carry egg sinkers much any more (my tackle bag was getting a little heavy), some split shot, If you are going to fish the surf, spyder weights, a lead weight with wire legs which anchor into the bottom are a very good investment. A few Popping bobbers. A couple good pairs of pliers, something to cut the mono and if you use braid with, a knife and cutting board to cut bait with. I keep a pair of leather gloves with me to handle rays with, I guess I'm still kind of chicken about them.

I don't use steel leaders or rigging much, but some People do. Most of the ones I have seen are like a drop shot configuration, and have either double or single hooks. I believe in using the least amount of weight as possible, lots of variables like casting distance, sink rate, holding power in current and wind will help you decide which type and weight works best.

I use spinning reels, ya know the ones you like, because of that I always use a swivle, it is important you use a high quality ball bearing swivle, the salt is pretty rough on even them, one rated for about 80 to 100 lbs is pretty small and works well.

A spool of 40lb and 20lb florocarbon leader material. Its pricy, and you can get away with clear mono, but floro seems to hold up better to crabs and toothy fish. You can actually fish with 12 lb line and bring in some pretty good sized fish as long as you use a heavier leader a foot or two long to counteract abraision, toothiness, and the damage crabs do to that end of the line.

I use Sibiki rigs, a very small hook and light rod, or a cast net to catch live bait or make cut bait out of the bigger ones, a 4 or 5 foot net is worth the investment down the line. I have a pier net when I fish the piers, and a regular landing net with a long handle I added to it for fishing on break walls, and around rocks.

So much other junk I can talk about, better quit before this thing becomes war and peace.

Oh one last important thing, live bait doesn't stay alive very long when it is on a 4 to 12 inch leash, they need to swim around.

Thats where a sliding rig really pays off, I won't tight line live bait, if on or near the bottom, it will be with a loose line and allowed to take some or all of that line, or it will be under a bobber or free lined with little or no weight.

Fresh dead, or cutbait dosen't matter really.

@redneck lol Thanks for the tip on the net... is there any restriction on what type of fish you can use as bait? I ask because there is in Michigan.. I know I will read the regs, but a yes or no now is all I need on that one.. I will be looking up the vids.. and to honestly address your "read" comment, I am on here for research.. I am reading as fast as I can but it is the sorting of useful information that is getting a tad frustrating.. I DO know you aren't a novice, I did actually check some of your postings before I would give you a picture.. ;-) sorry if i teased you too hard.. your level of sarcasm lead me to believe you would have tougher scales.. but if you are soft sided I will be all nice.. Promise.. I am done teasing you now.. really.. but you do seem a knowledgeable person.. so do you mind giving me an informed opinion??? Two words.. Red Tide... Is it going to let up? and what makes it go away.. how does it effect the fish? and the fisherman? I'll PM you the addy too.. free is always good, and I thank you for your Kind Generosity...

@Pferox I was right.. you really are a wealth of information.. Thank you so much!!! check DD's site.. he has some fairly gnarly rigs.. His smaller ones seem great, I am planning to order some... I am not into fabricating.. Aside from that.. do you have an opinion... Academy? Bass Pro? Walmart? I really miss living 7 miles from a Cabella's... lol the net thing will for sure be helpful.. Redneck mentioned that too.. btw I was wrong about how long the rod was.. I went out and measured it... 10 not 12 ft.. my hubby was making fun of me for that.. He does NOT fish.. lol but he had some fairly off color comments about women measuring rods.. I won't share them but I am sure you can imagine.. I am getting a nice shopping list going now... I assume you don't use stringers? or do you? and how does that work with the waves and sharks and such? Just use coolers? and not to worry about writing too much.. it would be a lack of posting that I worry about

I know a couple of guys that use stringers when applicable, but I just use a 48 quart cooler, if it is too big to fit in there, it is probably too big to be worth eating in my book.

I like Cabella's too, used to order salty stuff from them a whole lot, got most of my Penn Captiva'a from there. I do Bass Pro once in a great while. There is a new Academy here in Baytown, so I frequent there a lot, just because its close. Although I personally like the one in Galveston the best, it seems to have a whole lot more salty stuff.

There is a bait shop here who casts his own weights, so he is about the cheapest around for them.

Wal Mart is ummmm, well, ummm, some place I look at, but don't buy too much from them around here. The one in Baytown is pretty small, and isn't stocked very well in my opinion.

Most of my rods are 7ft, I have an 8 footer, and a couple of 9 footers in my arsenal. When I can I like to long cast with the longer rods, but many of the places I fish around home are a little tight, I could actually hit the people fishin across the bank from me with the 9 footers.

I used a stringer when I was wading a lot, (in FL) when that bull shark took me under and drug me a ways, thats when I gave up on both stringers and wading.

I will still float live bait in a floating net, or bait bucket, but I don't wade so it dosen't matter. Most of my fishing is bank, pier, or jetty, I don't surf fish much, don't know how much of that you will be doing, it is fun and a little different, when surf fishing I used to float a bait net and tied it to a tall aluminum stake out in the surf enough to keep them in enough water even at low tide, then just walk out to em and bait the hook.

I'm in a pretty good spot, I can fish back waters almost within walking distance from where I live. I have a couple decent bays within 5 minutes drive. Galveston is about 30 minutes drive from me, and all the great piers and fising spots between are less than that. I just have to watch out which fish I eat, and make sure they are younger, because of all the PCBs and other junk in em. But then again I'm old, something else will bump me off before the fish poison me I bet.

Get to know the tides, when high and low is, what the difference in height is, certian areas are more productive with certian species at different times in the tide. Usually though it is best when water is moving, slack or dead tide is pretty dead fishing wise. A long slow tide can sometimes kill fishing in a spot for the whole day.

I like this place for tide information, hope I'm not causing any problems with listing this link, if so, just delete it Mr. Moderator:

Texas Saltwater Tides.

If you're going to fish the jetties at SPI, then take the time to do a search for a "lemon rig", either on here or Google it. I don't recall who it was on here that pointed me to that rigging, but it's helped me immensely on the few times I manage to make it to the coast for some shoreline fishing.

@Greek.. does that rig really work? lol it sounds so makeshift.. I did look it up... can you tell me if you can sub another type of bottle? That would be one big bobber.. lol

To fish on jetty is better to use longer rods,so you don't need to use"Lemon rig"

If you aren't using Huge Shark sized baits, or heavy weights, you can use a slip bobber, and then can set it as deep as you want.

Sas,
Thanks for the kind words. I like to think that the short tutorials on my site are useful. If there are other areas I should cover, please feel free to suggest. The site is a work in progress and it has never been and will never be cast in stone.

The leaders and rigs I build are for the larger species so your 12 footer would be in order. The guys are right about you needing at least one rod @ 7 foot or so. Another tip is to always take some fresh dead shrimp with you to catch baitfish (croaker, whiting, pin and piggy perch) using that 7 footer. Whatever you are catching in the surf is usually on the menu for any larger fish. I am sure that most would agree with me that fresh is always better than frozen. As far as the line size on your 12 footer, I would NOT go any lighter than 30. I tried 25 big game on a couple or spinning setups and after an hour or so out, both lines broke trying to reel them in. I hate losing equip so I stick with 30, but I use 30-50 feet of shock leader (50# test mono or fluorocarbon) blood knotted to the end of the 30# line. I tie the shock leader to the rig.

Some folks here are big fans of the spinning reels (us casting guys call them "egg beaters") but I am not. If you don't know how to throw a casting reel, learn. I think they are better in the surf. In the right hands the can cast just as far as a spinning reel and personally I think they have better drag systems and more torque. I'm sure there are folks out here that would beg to differ, but thats just my 2 cents. You do what feels right to you.

Another thing you can do is listen to other fishermen about what works for them. Put their knowlege in your arsenol and use it to develop your own personal style. What I am saying is that what works for one, may not necessarily work for another. The best teacher on the beach is experience. You can get all the book knowlege in the world, but until you get some sand under your toes, its pretty much worthless.

Another thing is don't be hesitant about changing things up to match conditions. Go prepared to fish for at least couple different species at least 3 ways each. The more versatile and adaptable you are, the more successful you will be.

If you have questions, ask away. There are more than a few anglers here that will be more than happy to help.

sasnshan, You can go to Saltwater Reports and look at my post called South Padre Island Fishing and it will fill you in with the answers to all of your questions.

You all have been great resources!.. I will be going out in the next 2 weeks.. depending on conditions and schedule.. I will let you all know how I did... Trial and error now.... ya'll are really great!


If You Can't Be Good, Be Creative...

There is good fishing at Bahia Grande in between Brownsville and Port Isabel on the ship channel side. Get some mullet catch reds.

Are you a snowbird or will you be staying a while? The reason I ask is because target species change with the seasons.

If you're gonna set out and soak bait then a long rod is in order. 10' to 14' is in order. If you're fishing the surf set baits in the guts. Use spider weights.

Mullet, menhaden, whiting, pinfish, piggy perch and other small fin fish are great bait. Rig 'em on a single circle hook through the tail and free line them. Fish them in the guts (deeper areas between sandbars that parallel the beach).

The greatest obstacles in surf fishing is the wind and seaweed (Sargassum weed). The wind builds large breaking waves in the surf and drives seaweed onto the beach.

If there's lots of seaweed then forgo the long rods and stick to free lining live bait under the mats of floating weed.

Once the surf temps are over 70 degrees you'll find lots of trout and reds (June). Use a cast net to catch schooling bait. A Sabiki rig tipped with a small piece of shrimp will catch lots of bait too. Dead shrimp will catch larger baits.

If you're heading back north in the spring then just fish live or fresh dead (never frozen) shrimp.

Don't use stringers in the surf. Sharks are in there and thick sometimes. I've seen 6-7 footers in a foot or less of water.

Trout are best early and late. The darker it is the shallower they'll be generally. I've caught them in ankle deep water often.

Good luck.