off-topic: saltwater panfish advice?

[troutcrazy]

Usually I don't like to travel.  I like VT more than anywhere else, and I usually like work better than vacation    This time around, I'm looking forward to travelling to Sarasota, Florida, for a week.  My mother moved there a few months ago.  Leaving tomorrow.
She wants to take up fishing, and she wants me to help get her started.  Problem is, I've never really fished saltwater. 

We like catching and eating panfish.  We'll be fishing from shore.

I know it's way off-topic, but does anybody have any suggestions, or links with good information?  I don't even know what species to target!  What's tasty?

Bonus:  my 2 year-old nephew will be there and it's going to be his first fishing experience.

[wmhunts]

Sheep's head and mangrove snapper will be on your menu. Sheepshead like the tiny crabs you can get at the bait shop, shrimp for snapper. Both like structure pier/bridges, rocks,oyster bars, Iam not an expert but that might help you get going. Small hooks and as little weight as possible depending on seas/current.

[wmhunts]

Public piers are all over and sometimes fishing is good

[shiveringjoe]

Public piers are all over and sometimes fishing is good

I haven't done much shore fishing in that area of the gulf, but in Texas there are several piers that charge $5-10 to go out on at night and they have powerful underwater lights.  That is the best way to catch a lot of fish! We would use a two hook rig with squid or shrimp, or use light line and a small octopus through the back of a live shrimp.  The live shrimp was the best way to catch speckled trout and redfish. I'm sure there are closer party boats, but I had a great trip on the angler's dream with my brother in law.  Its an hour south in Placida and was $65 for a 7 hour trip. Make sure you catch some fish and tell us how warm it is down there...jerk!

[JMailbox8]

x2 what WMHunts said. I've never fished from shore in Sarasota, but I have just south of there off the jetties at the Venice inlet. Caught some good sheepshead there. If you want a fun offshore trip, go on a party boat with the Flying Fish Fleet at Marina Jack in Sarasota. Had a blast with them fishing on some artificial reefs for snapper. Caught 52 between the 3 of us that went a few years back.

[Fish Farmer]

I was born north of Tampa and done a little bit of shore fishing down there when I was younger. I remember there was a long fishing pier off of Clearwater Beach(Tampa area?), where you could rent tackle and get bait. I was even seeing guys lined up along a channel to an inlet fishing, in the same inlet I saw a shark in about four feet of water. I went on a party boat once and the guys next to me did really well for porgies.

The fishing around Sanibel Island is supposed to be great, friends of mine have gone down in early spring I think, and fly rodded for snook right off the beaches.

[JMailbox8]

The Skyway Bridge north of Bradenton also has a pier you can fish from.

[dickbaker]

  Depends on where your Mom is located , but there are a ton of shore fishing spots for medium tackle hook and singer fishermen.
Remember that you have to get a Fla salt water fishing license except at the Venice fishing pier.   With shrimp and hook you can probably catch tons of what we would consider "panfish" but they think are to small to bother with?   I would probably take a day charter and go to the reefs(constructed) and bring back enough snapper fillets to last the week.
Dick

[gogetthegaff]

Usually I don't like to travel.  I like VT more than anywhere else, and I usually like work better than vacation    This time around, I'm looking forward to travelling to Sarasota, Florida, for a week.  My mother moved there a few months ago.  Leaving tomorrow.
She wants to take up fishing, and she wants me to help get her started.  Problem is, I've never really fished saltwater. 

We like catching and eating panfish.  We'll be fishing from shore.

I know it's way off-topic, but does anybody have any suggestions, or links with good information?  I don't even know what species to target!  What's tasty?

Bonus:  my 2 year-old nephew will be there and it's going to be his first fishing experience.

Options from shore or pier are Whiting (a.k.a. mullet),  Spot and Croaker.  Light-medium tackle and a bottom rig with dead shrimp, sand fleas, or cut squid will do it.  All good eating fish and usually willing biters. Sheepshead will be along jetties and other structure (bridge piers and abutments for example). Good luck! Love fishing saltwater.

[HardWater518]

Can anyone help me with posting a pic? I will share what we caught on our vacation in Florida last week. I clicked the add pic icon and then I am not sure what to do?

[HardWater518]

Ok i think i have a handle on how to post pictures, if they do not come through please bear with me, This is all new to me.

[HardWater518]

Looks like it worked. The first one is a saltwater catfish, and i was told the second one is a sheepshead. Both caught in brackish water, fishing on the bottom with a nightcrawler. The guy at the local bait store told me i would never catch any fish in saltwater or brackish water with worms. Guess he was wrong.

[fishy1]

i also caught fish on night crawlers down at sebastian inlet in florida. but caught bigger fish on clams.

[troutcrazy]

Nice!    Thanks fellas!
Sheepshead and mangrove snapper sound great! 
Thanks for the pier suggestions.  Looks like the skyway pier allows you to fish without a license, too. 
Nice fish Hardwater!

"Whiting (a.k.a. mullet),  Spot and Croaker"... thanks!

[wmhunts]

That's a nice sheepshead yum!