New to the board, new to offshore

[Triedandfailed]

Hey there, BBF. Been reading y'alls psots on here for a while but this is my first post. Learned a lot from this board. I've been fishing inshore around here for a while, particularly the northern Apalachee bay area out of St. Marks in a smaller boat. We've recently acquired a larger boat (Key West 1720) and interested in running a bit further out and targeting some new species. Any advice on getting started in the nearshore/offshore department?

[foxtrotuniform]

Download my wrecks and reefs file for Northwest Florida at this link.

https://docs.google.com/uc?export=downl ... DA3ZTQ4Yzg

Read the installation instructions to transfer the waypoints to a smartphone or your boat's GPS. Then head out and start exploring.

Depending on the time of year, some good, relatively close spots to check out are Rotary Reef. Marker 24. Dog Ballard and the Oclockonee Shoal. (The shoal will be slow until it starts to cool off, though.)

A little farther out, I'd try OAR Wakulla, Rose City and the K-Tower.

Set up a couple rigs for bottom fishing, but whenever you're on bottom, you should always be freelining a live pinfish or a spanish sardine about thirty yards behind the boat. Just stick the rod in the rod holder and forget about it. That's a great way to catch bonus cobia and kings with almost no effort. Get a decent bottom machine and learn how to use it. Some of these reefs are nearly a mile long. It pays to circle around for a bit marking structure, looking for fish and figuring out the lay of the reef.

Oh, and be safe. Get a towboat membership, keep your boat tuned up, and don't screw around with nasty weather. It's dangerous out there.

[Triedandfailed]

Thanks so much, foxtrot. That's great information.