Newb out of Boynton Beach Inlet 8/28/11

brianb

Total newb to SoFLo fishing here, willing to learn and found this forum and noticed lots of support available. I'm looking forward to learning, and hopefully sharing knowledge in the future. Purcahsed a Proline CC and went out for my first fishing trip last Sunday. Took along my buddy and his wfe and his brother as they said they were avid fisherman and could teach me some things. They lied.

Got out nice an early at 8 am after buying some bait and we tried to catch some live bait also around ICW inside the BBI. Caught one baby fish. Then went out in the Ocean and they really had no clue, tried to do some bottom fishing with a jig I bought and some three hook rigs using shrimp and minnows/shiners? as bait. No luck. Then went inside again b/c they know some great fishing spot, no luck.

All of the above partially in jest, but historically accurate! If anyone would like to come along and teach me a thing or two, I would welcome the oppurtunity. Oh, and I'm not some newb boat owner. I grew up on the water on Long Island and fished there out of Moriches for years with my Dad, so i know about boats, etc...just not SoFlo fishing. Have a great day everyone!

johnalki

welcome to the forum,your in the right place to learn about fishing in your area.I fish out of st lucie inlet further north and don't have any numbers for boyton.I use # 6 & or # 8 sabiki rigs with a 2 oz wt. to catch bait fish on some structure (sunken barge etc) usually just around daybreak.Florida sportsman .com has fishing charts available for the south area.

djkoko

You'll find a lot of peeps that fish out and around the Boynton Inlet (including myself) on this forum. To start you out, go out the inlet and go South to the "Martini Glass" (Boynton Water Tower). In about 60-90 ft, it's great for Bottom Fishing or any fishing for that matter. Nice reef there. Might see yeah out there

isla21

Before you make that run south turn north and head up to the Lake Worth pier. Bait is plentiful around it but do not get to close because they will pitch weights at you. You can fish anywhere outside the inlet from depths of 60 to 120 drifting. Bring along the chum and they will come. Good luck. A decent bottom finder will do you some good also.

brianb

Wow guys, thanks. I know how fisherman don't like to give out there spots, not as bad as clammers though I suppose! That is great information to get me started on my next several trips. What about cast nets? Seems like something every fisherman should have for catching bait.

isla21

As far as cast nets I have had good luck around the Lantana bridge in the ICW. Not so much in the ocean. Just my two cents

Sea Era

Welcome to the Forum, happy you are here. All newb's by the beer for the Forum members:rotflmao

brianb

Thanks Isla.
@Sea Era...first time fishing here, not first forum! lol

The Nicko

I usually fish twice a week out of Boynton Beach.. Let me know when your going next we can exchange information.. The bottom bite has been so so the past two weeks. Trolling has been better. I work in Lantana and can meet you at the ramps anytime to chat..

FISHbone

Welcome newb boynton water tower is a great place to start. Fish outa P B I myself only bottom fishing I do is deep drops if your interested let me know. retired and always looking for someone to fish with. Best of luck:Rockon

PaulBoat

Hi Brian.
Welcome to the board. I also fish out of Boynton "a few times" a week. All good advice above. Inside you can often find bait around the bridges (Lantana and Boynton). Sometimes just inside the inlet. I assume you put in at the ramp across the inlet? There should be plenty of mullet there now for a cast net! Depending on the tide, you also often find them right outside on the south side. Now as for fishing, it depends what you're targeting... The cool thing about fishing out of Boynton, is that depth comes quickly so you typically don't have to go far for plenty of action. As a rule of thumb, inside 100' for snapper, king, cobia etc. on the bottom with cut bait, sardines, squid, silversides.. Blue water for dolphin and tuna - trolling lures, ballyhoo etc. and/or live bait around areas of interest (weed patch, debris, log etc.). Of course there's sailfish and our favorite wahoo..... Ping me when you plan to go out next time, chances are I might be going too.

brianb

Thanks everyone again.
Paulboat; I keep my boat in dry storage at Palm Beach Yacht Center, about 1/2 mile north of the inlet, but you knew that. I'm gonna try and get out this weekend as much as possible, assuming I can get some people to go and/or bring gas & bait money.
Nicko and Fishbone, thanks as well...bottom fishing just seems easiest to start, but I'm down with whatever. My tackle box is lame & empty and I probably need some more poles, etc...but I'll get there.

rowerybo

invest in a depthfinder (fishfinder) it will help wonders with the bottom fishing. You guys have some great bottom spots down sout from the martini glass all the way to the inlet. For bait, it is possible to cast net it but I prefer sabikis. Run north to the lake worth pier and use #4 and 6 sabikis with 2oz weights. Attempt to get close enough to the school to drop the rigs straight down but sometimes it's not possible becuase you can only get so close to a pier by law (the signs will be on the beach designating distance, sometimes such as in juno buoys will also be in the water).If you can't get close enough to drop into the school, cast past the school and vary your method of retrieve between fast or slow to see what the fish prefer. If you get live bait, head out to 120 or so and you can drift for a variety of species or if you want to run offshore, we have dolphin year round with good runs in spring (april-may) and fall (september-november), typically more quality fish in the fall but we have had past years with consistent large dolphin in the spring. Sailfish should start showing up come the winter months and wahoo may also be present for the august and september full moons.

A great event is coming up in October 8-9. Florida Sportsman is holding it's annual fishing show which contains seminars dedicated strictly to this area that are loaded with useful information. I have attended every year and continue to learn from it.
South Florida Fairgrounds and Expo Center, 9607 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, FL 33411.
Times: Saturday 10am – 5pm, Sunday 10am – 4pm.

Team Tuppens

Welcome, Stop in to Tuppens 10th & Dixie in Lake Worth the gang there will be more than happy to help with info, tackle, etc. Great info right here on the FS site as well, Good Luck.

CAZM

Welcome to the Forum - good group of people here.....
No one has yet brought it up so I think someone should:
Boynton Inlet is a beast at times - even experienced boaters such as yourself are wise to spend the time learning its quirks. Most would say to spend time just watching others from the jetty to get a sense for how she runs on incoming and outgoing. Even on days when the ocean is "flat" it can be hairy when the current is kicking sideways and lots of boats are running through. Some of the local bait shops/marinas have numerous pictures of boats who got surprised by that inlet.....
All of the above info regarding fishing spots is spot-on: a bottom machine is definitely worth the investment, but if you don't have one you can still do well if you can get a sense for where the reefs are. Chum up, start a drift, and work with it. A fishfinder rig is easy to use and productive: weight at the bottom, a couple hooks on dropper loops at 2' and 4' up from the loop - you can buy them at Wally world but they are easy to make, too - they're in all the knot books.
Good luck and welcome to South Florida....

PaulBoat

brianb wrote: »

Thanks everyone again.
Paulboat; I keep my boat in dry storage at Palm Beach Yacht Center, about 1/2 mile north of the inlet, but you knew that. I'm gonna try and get out this weekend as much as possible, assuming I can get some people to go and/or bring gas & bait money.
Nicko and Fishbone, thanks as well...bottom fishing just seems easiest to start, but I'm down with whatever. My tackle box is lame & empty and I probably need some more poles, etc...but I'll get there.

I know it well Brian. I kept my boat there for about a year before moving down to FL on a mostly permanent basis. Great crew there - Jena and Brett are awesome and very helpful. I swing in and get my gas there most of the time now that they switched to ethanol-free gas. I try to avoid weekend fishing if I can help it, although with the summer behind us, there should be fewer "weekend wahoos" out there going through the inlet like F1 racers. Send me a PM - I live across the water from the marina - if I'm not going out myself, then I'm happy to meet you out there for a bit and try to answer any questions live.

Plane Fish n

Brian,

First and foremost ... .Welcome to the forum!!! :beer

You have come to the BEST resource for finding out any questions you may have. :applause

It seems the members have given you EXCELLENT information and you will be well on your way to catching fish. :crowd

Make sure you post threads and if you add pictures, that would be even better. :thumbsup

Good luck and welcome to the Southeast Fishing Forum.

Cheers

brianb

Cazm, that's great advice regards the inlet and something my Dad taught me long ago. That inlet is a little tricky esp. on the way out as it seems you have to be pretty committed due the inlet's lack of width and visibility. Caught a decent wave by surprise there just last weekend, didn't bother me so much, but my buddies wife wasn't so happy!

Thanks again everyone!

PaulBoat

here's a link to the inlet webcam (in case you haven't found it yet) if you want to take a quick peek before heading out....

http://www.co.palm-beach.fl.us/webcams/slwi/

e-money

Welcome to the forum (and the jungle so to speak.)
It just takes time to get used to the different styles of fishing down here.

Pay heed to the warnings. (Inlets like Boynton(and Jupiter to some extent) are NOT to be trifled with.
I know folks who have flipped, and wound up in the drink at both inlets.

Some good suggestions about getting you some mullet. (easy to net, and just about everybody likes to eat them)

Cool about Long Island. When I used to fish Moriches, (many moons ago) it was primarily Blackfish and Flounder. (Sometimes Blues & "Stripaz" on the beach) We used to 4 wheel out at Smith's Point and it was a blast.

One good suggestion is to get some local charts,(for wrecks and artificial reefs) and practice on live baiting and bottom fishing. People you meet on here, and on the water can help shorten your learning curve.

For bottom fishing probably best range is say 70'-130' of water with anywhere from 1.0b-6 ounces of lead depending on conditions. Sardine "plugs"(no head, and trim tail fins) are #1 bait, but we use squid, bonits chunks, butterflied goggle eyes etc. I like to use pinke Ande 20 or 25lb test on the reel and 25-40lb pink ande on the leader.

Get some 75lb barrell swivels and make up some leaders. (I like 10-15' for muttons). You can also tie up "Guppy rigs" for use with cut bait. Catch em up

brianb

e-money wrote: »

Welcome to the forum (and the jungle so to speak.)
It just takes time to get used to the different styles of fishing down here.

Pay heed to the warnings. (Inlets like Boynton(and Jupiter to some extent) are NOT to be trifled with.
I know folks who have flipped, and wound up in the drink at both inlets.

Some good suggestions about getting you some mullet. (easy to net, and just about everybody likes to eat them)

Cool about Long Island. When I used to fish Moriches, (many moons ago) it was primarily Blackfish and Flounder. (Sometimes Blues & "Stripaz" on the beach) We used to 4 wheel out at Smith's Point and it was a blast.

One good suggestion is to get some local charts,(for wrecks and artificial reefs) and practice on live baiting and bottom fishing. People you meet on here, and on the water can help shorten your learning curve.

For bottom fishing probably best range is say 70'-130' of water with anywhere from 1.0b-6 ounces of lead depending on conditions. Sardine "plugs"(no head, and trim tail fins) are #1 bait, but we use squid, bonits chunks, butterflied goggle eyes etc. I like to use pinke Ande 20 or 25lb test on the reel and 25-40lb pink ande on the leader.

Get some 75lb barrell swivels and make up some leaders. (I like 10-15' for muttons). You can also tie up "Guppy rigs" for use with cut bait. Catch em up

I've done more surfcasting then I care to remember, my Dad was like an original member/board member of GSBMS and FINSAB and even took me to Washington DC when I was like 12 to lobby Congress to keep the beach open to vehicles, mainly west of Smith Point. He had a business hauling firewood to Davis, Pines, etc. "back in the day." I was out in the inlet just this July and caught a keeper Stripper and tons of cocktail blues.

Thanks mucho for all the tips! I feel like I may even catch a fish this weekend.

Joe P

Sent you a PM a few minutes ago.

ChampL94

hey if your taking out people on your boat, i wont mine being your mate. i can spot out some good spots in the boynton waters we could head to the sky cliff which is extremly good for fishing. If you let me go out with you i wont mind buying ice and bait. take my email its [email protected]