Check out Florida's Conservation dept. for seminars and how-to opportunities. I know Cabelas, Bass Pro offers the same.
Remember- in Florida, consider every body of water may have a gator, fishing for YOU. Have fun and be careful.

If your fishing from shore be very careful of gators they like to sit under water and wait for food to come close to the shoreline. We were at Markham Park given warnings about walking close to the shore line. A woman let her dog get close to the water lost her pet, and was almost pulled into the water.

Let’s see, explosives (dynamite or plastique), hand crank generator from an old telephone, yo-yos, jug lines, trot lines. So many choices.

Eventually, you’ll want to experiment with fishing with dynamite, but try not to become addicted to it.

An excellent reason to open carry.

quote:

Originally posted by ScooterX:

Remember- in Florida, consider every body of water may have a gator, fishing for YOU. Have fun and be careful.

quote:

Originally posted by Ironmike57:
An excellent reason to open carry.

quote:

Originally posted by ScooterX:

Remember- in Florida, consider every body of water may have a gator, fishing for YOU. Have fun and be careful.

Alligators are actually pretty tough animals to kill. There's a little spot on the top of the head where even a .22 will do the job pretty quickly. Anywhere else, the alligator might die eventually, but is going to be REAL pissed off for a while first.

Once you get accustomed to your baitcaster rod/reel set, consider buying an entry level fly rod/reel set. They can be had for under $100 to catch freshwater fish, and a 5 wt will also catch trout if you ever lose your mind and wander off the deep end.

My impression of fly fishing is kinda like a comparison on the hunting side: anything you kill with a bow and arrow is a trophy. Same with fly fishing, even a bream seems like a lunker when it's pulling on that line.

Congrats on the new adventure.

quote:

Originally posted by slabsides45:
Once you get accustomed to your baitcaster rod/reel set, consider buying an entry level fly rod/reel set. They can be had for under $100 to catch freshwater fish, and a 5 wt will also catch trout if you ever lose your mind and wander off the deep end.

My impression of fly fishing is kinda like a comparison on the hunting side: anything you kill with a bow and arrow is a trophy. Same with fly fishing, even a bream seems like a lunker when it's pulling on that line.

Congrats on the new adventure.

I've often made a similar comparison, fly fishing is to fishing what bow hunting is to hunting...although there are sometimes surprise strikes I often find myself stalking and targeting a particular school of fish, or even just a single specific fish....mano y fisho.

Consider joining "SaltStrong." It's a bit pricey, but it is a community with information like nothing I've ever experienced.

Are you good at telling wild stories about your catch or the ones that got away?

"I found a girl who loves to ...
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FISH"

Fresh or Salt Water fishing? I'm from Indiana so I don't know crap about saltwater, except that it rusts everything it touches. My few attempts at fishing off the beach in FL were completely unsuccessful...although some day I'd love to go out with a guide who can show me what to do.

We have a ton of lakes around us up in IN, and I imagine bass fishing in them is pretty similar to FL (except we don't have to worry about snakes and Gators!). I use a simple spinning reel with 12lb mono and a $20 rod. My favorite bait is a green pumpkin Yamamoto Senko plastic worm. We put rubber o-rings around them and "wacky" rig them...catch all kindsa bass that way. Cast around the edge of cover (I like shallow...1-5 feet of water), let them sink to the bottom, then jerk and repeat as you retrieve. The fish will do the rest.

We started fishing from the shore, then I found a 16' aluminum sea nymph with a 25HP Johnson outboard on Craigslist for $1800, with the trailer. I've had it about 5 years now, and knock on wood it's cost me very little money. I change the lower unit oil every year, drain the carb, repack the wheel bearings on the trailer, and I'm ready to go for the next year. I think I've put a battery in it, replaced bunk boards on the trailer,and replaced the impeller in the motor once...I think I have $2100 in it total over 5 years, which has been well worth the enjoyment we've gotten out of it. No, it's not as fast or flashy as my buddy's boats, but I I'm not making payments and I don't have to sink thousands into it annually for upkeep...and more importantly I'm not afraid to get in shallow and brush bottom with it. I guess that's all to say that you don't have to take out a second mortgage to get into fishing...but you can if you want to.

Congratulations!

First, find out if anybody ever catches anything where you are fishing. If yes, tie thingy on end of line and throw in. If no, find out where people do catch fish and go there.

No matter how long you sit there, or what bait you use, or how much $ you spend, you won't catch any if they're not there.