| Wading through the myriad of choices in | | | | instruction that goes beyond the scope of |
| fishing gear can leave you with a headache. | | | | this article. |
| | | | |
| To begin with there are the choices between | | | | Fishing for Spanish Mackerel requires a |
| freshwater or saltwater fishing, light | | | | medium light to medium action rod at a |
| tackle, medium tackle, heavy tackle and even | | | | minimum as the fish can reach a weight of |
| fly-fishing. | | | | seven or eight pounds in schools of large |
| | | | fish. The reel of choice should be equivalent |
| When considering saltwater you also stop to | | | | to a Penn 4500ss or Penn 716 or better. |
| consider, am I going deepwater or am going to | | | | Almost everyone chooses spinning reels for |
| fish near shore. Do I need a rod suitable for | | | | pier fishing. You want a reel that will hold |
| boat fishing or a longer rod for the beach | | | | at least 200 yards of 10 to 12 lb. test |
| and pier fishing? | | | | monofilament line and tie a steel leader of |
| | | | 12-14 inches to keep them from biting through |
| We obviously cannot address all of these in | | | | the line. |
| one article, so let's take a favorite of | | | | |
| mine, saltwater fishing. For the purposes of | | | | When fishing for King Mackerel, you will need |
| this article we will assume we are choosing | | | | considerably heavier fishing gear as these |
| near shore and bay fishing as opposed to | | | | are considerably larger fish. King Mackerel |
| offshore, deepwater fishing. | | | | on the Upper Gulf Coast will average around |
| | | | twenty pounds but "smoker" Kings of over |
| This author grew up on the Gulf Coast of | | | | forty pounds are not uncommon and they can |
| Florida leading to a love of saltwater | | | | take out 200 yards of fishing line off your |
| fishing. We have always had a number of | | | | reel in seconds! When fishing for these |
| fishing piers in the northwest Florida area | | | | monsters you want to have a medium heavy rod, |
| where I was raised so having a boat was never | | | | seven to nine feet in length and preferably |
| a prerequisite. The main types of fishing we | | | | paired with a Penn 706z. We favor the Penn |
| do in the Florida panhandle are fishing off | | | | reels here on the coast because of their |
| the local piers extending into the Gulf of | | | | durability. The thing that is special about |
| Mexico and wading in the local bays. | | | | the 706 is that it has no bail, which makes |
| | | | for much quicker casting. This is crucial |
| When fishing off the local piers one will | | | | when you are competing with several other |
| need fishing gear from medium to medium | | | | fishermen all around you. As with the Spanish |
| heavy. Fishing in the Gulf of Mexico we | | | | Mackerel, you will want to tie on a steel |
| usually focus on the following migrational | | | | leader, but a much heavier one for the Kings. |
| species: Spanish Mackerel, King Mackerel, and | | | | Use a leader of a 40 lb. class or better. |
| Cobia. Cobia will require separate | | | | |