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Basic Freshwater Tackle
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Rod and Reel for American Shad
Jump to Catfish
Each
year between late Decmber and late
April, American shad migrate from
the Atlantic Ocean into the St.
Johns River to spawn and reach as
far south as about State Road 50 on
the South end of Titusville Fl.
While they are primarily plankton
eaters they will hit small jigs and
spoons, and can provide exciting
action on light to ultralite tackle
as they fight somewhat like a small
tarpon, taking to the air. Due to
the size of the lures used, the same
light to ultralite tackle used for
crappie and panfish works best for
these members of the herring family.
Start out with a Shakespeare Ugly
Stik Lite with ultralite action,
5'6" rated for 4-8 lb line, Model
SP1156-2L. Match this with a Penn
420ssg reel or equivalent and spool
with 4 to 6 # line.
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Lures for American Shad
Below is just a sampling of the
lures that will catch shad in the St
John's during the spawning run. Shad
will usually be in the deeper
channels of the river as they prefer
water about 6-8 feet in depth. So
with all of these lures, cast, into
the channel, let them settle to the
bottom and them work them slow and
deep.
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Shad
Dart; These small jigs were designed
with shad in mind but will actually work
for a variety of fish. Comes in sizes
ranging from 1/16th to 3/8th of an oz.
For shad, Try thr two smallest sizes,
1/12 and 1/8 oz. |
Acme
Kastmaster Spoon; These come in
sizes as small as 1/12 oz. and up to 4
oz. Try the 1/12th and the 1/8th oz.
models. This company has been in
business for over 50 years and this is
one of their classics for many species
of fish. |
Mepps
Deep Runner Spinner; These spinning
lures by Mepps are designed with extra
weight in order to provide better
casting and to stay deeper on the
retrieve. Comes in 5/8 and 1/2 oz. Try
the smaller one. Cast and reel slowly as
the spinning of the blade provides the
action and vibration that attract fish.
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Rod and Reel for Catfish
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The
Space Coast is not reknowned as a
catfishing mecca. The larger species of
catfish, the flathead and the blue, are
found primarily in North Florida. The
largest species here is the Channel Cat
which reaches a maximum size of about 45
lbs. The average is 2-4 lbs. The most
significant runs of channel cats along
the St John's River occurr farther North
in the Palatka area. The world record
for white catfish is 18.8 lbs, caught in
theWithlacoochee River, Marion County,
Florida, in 1991. However the average
white is about 2-3 lbs. So while we
don't have the moster flathead catfish
here, we do have the raw ingredients for
a great catfish and grits breakfast here
along the Space Coast, in channel cats,
white cats, yellow and brown bullhead.
The same tackle used for Largemouth Bass
should do the job.
Rod; Shakespeare Ugly Stick, 6 foot,
rated for 8-20 # line, Model SPL11060.
(Note; This is a one piece rod)
Reel; Penn Spinfisher SSG Graphite
450SSG, Spooled with 12 to 15 # mono
line.
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Rigging for Catfish
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Catfish primarily feed along the bottom
and will take a variety of baits. The
two smaller species, the brown and
yellow bullheads, can be easily caught
on worms, prepared stinkbaits, chicken
gizzards and cut baits, as can the
channel cats, while live baits such as
minnows and worms account for more of
the white catfish taken. |
Rigging
your terminal tackle for catfish is
pretty simple. For most species you want
to fish on the bottom.
1; The first step is to cut a length
of line of about 18 to 24 inches for a
leader. A shock leader is not required,
the main purpose here is to keep the
weight separate from the hook.
2; To one end of this leader use an
improved clinch knot to tie either a 1/0
circle hook (Far Left) or a #1
baitholder hook (2nd from left). Use the
circle hook of you are going to use part
of or a small whole fish or another
fairly tough bait. Use the baitholder
hook for multihooking a nightcrawler,
stink bait, or chicken gizzard. the tiny
barbs on the shank of the hook will help
to keep the bait on.
3; To the other end of the leader
tie a barrel swivel, again using an
improved clinch knot.
4; Thread the line from your rod
through the hole in the middle of the
1/2 ounce egg sinker. Slide the sinker
up the line far enough for you to tie
the fishing line to the swivel.
5; Tie fishing line to the barrel
swivel.
When you are done, the sinker should
slide freely from the swivel up your
line. You want to be able to do this so
that a channel cat will not feel any
resistance when taking the bait. This is
known to make them drop the bait. So now
you can bait your hook and cast into
nearest fishing hole.
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