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First time at Oyster bay and decided to go with live pinfish for bait. Watching the bottom structure on the fish finder I did not see grass. This is where I usually get the bait. Any suggestions where I should look for grass bottom in the oyster bay area? Should I use other bait for this area?
Have done very well with pinfish fishing in Dickerson Bay off Panacea catching a 7lb sailcat and a 26" red of live stuff.

IMHO,

You can save time, effort and money- and just use a topwater and a gold spoon. Also in that area, the redfish magic spinnerbait works really well.
I stopped using live bait years ago- 99% because all I ever did was feed baitstealers or catch trashfish with it. That whole time first thing in the morning, instead of throwing a net- I now throw a Zara spook.

Ymmv.

Thanks for your feedback. Lately topwater has done well and I expect that as the water cools it will get better. Gold spoons-- what kind? Have been using johnson weedless but they don't seem to get much action.

i like to throw topwater spook jrs, or an aqua dream spoon in the smaller size; I've had luck with the bone coloured topwater and gold and chartreuse spoons. i like the mr. champ spoon too, but the treble hook catches grass pretty often in the flats.

I don't think there is much grass in oyster bay. If you see it at a very low tide you would understand. It looks like the surface of the moon

ertauber wrote:Thanks for your feedback. Lately topwater has done well and I expect that as the water cools it will get better. Gold spoons-- what kind? Have been using johnson weedless but they don't seem to get much action.

I've been using Capt. Mike's/Aqua Dream weedless spoons for years in my charter business and personally. They have an enticing wobble and the single hook versions stay relatively clean with the wire hook guard. I use the 3/8-ounce size from spring to fall to "match the hatch" and give a bigger profile but scale down to the 1/4-ounce in the winter months when the bait is scarce.

I've caught fish on the holographic baitfish patterns, but my favorites are gold and pink for tannin-stained water like Oyster Bay and silver and chartreuse for clear areas like Lanark/SGI. I modify all versions by adding a 35-pound test ball bearing swivel to the spoon's original nose split ring (remove the aft swivel ring and connect directly) to prevent line twist. The swivel also allows me to use a improved clinch knot since there is plenty of movement already with the split ring.

Great probing bait or as an alternative when the fish come up behind the topwater and won't strike. The spoon mimics a crab or wounded baitfish, so retrieve in a slow cadence so it's just off the bottom. If you tick grass or oyster shells occasionally, you're in the zone.

Nothing wrong with the Johnson Silver Minnow. They've caught millions of fish since they were invented. But Capt. Mike Hakala is a retired Florida guide and his spoons flutter in a way most redfish find irresistible. I've caught numerous trout up to four pounds on them as well.

Well, I will say this. Capt mikes aquadream spoons are the best spoon around by far. For one use.
Then, the very next time you go, that hook WILL break off. Doesn't matter how well you take care of it, or rinse it, or any other factor. For at LEAST 3 years now, every single one I have bought, including the one just this past weekend*, has the hook break off on the second trip. I have actually had many break off on the first bite, right out of the package.
The problem is, the spoon itself gets bit 10:1 over anything else I try..... So I keep buying them. I have a box now with probably 20 ADL spoons with no hooks on them. I can't seem to find a suitable replacement hook. If I could I would swap it out as soon as I opened the package. This only applies to the single hook weedless version. The treble hook version is a beast! That's what I use 90% of the time when I can get away with it. Great spoon.

* this past weekend, I was hickory mounds and my first bite was on a spoon, and it was solid. I set the hook and then nothing. I instantly knew what happened. I wanted to kick myself. I left the spoon on from the time before.......( one week earlier, rinsed when i came home, kept in air airconditioned room, under light tension for exactly 7 days) and there it came back to me with no hooks on it. Like always. I had a new one in the kayak, and tied it on....and caught a 22" dinner red on it later that morning. I will have to add it to the other 4 corroding in my dry hatch before I go AGAIN- so I don't make the same mistake- again.


EDIT: i mean no personal offense to capt mike. Capt Mike is a fine upstanding guy, and makes awesome lures. I hear he has awesome customer service, that I admittedly haven't tried to take advantage of. This is just my experience over the last 3 years ( or more) with DOZENS of ADL weedless spoons. If I could shine them all back up and find a good replacement hook for them, I'm not sure I'd ever need to buy another one. Lol. I have that many broken ones.
Imho, Ymmv, fwiw, etc.

kikstand454 wrote:Well, I will say this. Capt mikes aquadream spoons are the best spoon around by far. For one use.
Then, the very next time you go, that hook WILL break off. Doesn't matter how well you take care of it, or rinse it, or any other factor. For at LEAST 3 years now, every single one I have bought, including the one just this past weekend*, has the hook break off on the second trip. I have actually had many break off on the first bite, right out of the package.
The problem is, the spoon itself gets bit 10:1 over anything else I try..... So I keep buying them. I have a box now with probably 20 ADL spoons with no hooks on them. I can't seem to find a suitable replacement hook. If I could I would swap it out as soon as I opened the package. This only applies to the single hook weedless version. The treble hook version is a beast! That's what I use 90% of the time when I can get away with it. Great spoon.

* this past weekend, I was hickory mounds and my first bite was on a spoon, and it was solid. I set the hook and then nothing. I instantly knew what happened. I wanted to kick myself. I left the spoon on from the time before.......( one week earlier, rinsed when i came home, kept in air airconditioned room, under light tension for exactly 7 days) and there it came back to me with no hooks on it. Like always. I had a new one in the kayak, and tied it on....and caught a 22" dinner red on it later that morning. I will have to add it to the other 4 corroding in my dry hatch before I go AGAIN- so I don't make the same mistake- again.


EDIT: i mean no personal offense to capt mike. Capt Mike is a fine upstanding guy, and makes awesome lures. I hear he has awesome customer service, that I admittedly haven't tried to take advantage of. This is just my experience over the last 3 years ( or more) with DOZENS of ADL weedless spoons. If I could shine them all back up and find a good replacement hook for them, I'm not sure I'd ever need to buy another one. Lol. I have that many broken ones.
Imho, Ymmv, fwiw, etc.

Contact Capt mike, he will send you 20 replacement hooks. There was a problem with the older books having a reaction w the metal on the spoon and breaking. If it's not a red hook, it's old. He sent me 20 and weed guards 2-3 years ago

KS, Sorry to hear about your experience with the broken hooks. Think I've only had one failure and that is after fishing Mike's spoons since 1998. But as SG pointed out, Mike did change vendors on hooks and he'll make them good if you contact him.

If you have a long-time collection of Florida Sportsman, that's my cover shot of Mike for the October 1999 issue. One of the nicest guys in the tackle biz and a great angler too!

Kikstand454: Here's the thread on the Aqua Dream hook problem with contact info for Capt Mike. He'll fix you up on your broken hooks. He has great customer service.

http://www.bigbendfishing.net/phpBB3/vi ... 1&start=30

Thank you all.

Yeah, I know Mike is a good guy and wants to make it right. I don't feel right hitting him up for 3 years worth of spoons though, after the 3rd or 4th, its my fault for buying them. I know all about the hook problem he had..... But IME it has not been fixed. I have bought ADL spoons this year from crums, bps, west marine and Kevin's ( I think) and all of them have failed after their first use. I kinda look at them like a dozen shrimp now. Lol. I just get one when I know I'm going to be fishing a high tide..... Accepting full well it will be gone before the day is over. *shrug*


Sorry to hijack the thread. The ADL spoons really do get 100% more bites than any other spoon in our area. Nothing else is even close. Buy them and enjoy them- I do!!!!!

If after all the spoon and plug advice you still are looking for grass, head out the channel, (the one that takes you to Spring Creek), head off shore out to the last square green marker on your right, then take a right turn about 10 degrees off the marker. There is a long reef that runs almost to Dickerson Bay and it's full of grass.

Good Luck,

Charlie