Ruskin fishing

Ryan91027

Im going to visit my uncle who lives on west shell point road in ruskin for new years and I wanted to do some fishing. I have done some fishing along the little manatee river as it is right outside his house but have never caught anything besides catfish (using dead shrimp.) Where are some good areas to catch fish from shore? Ive found a pier in bahia beach, is it any good? I caught many Spanish mackerel on a pier on anna maria island over summer. Do spanish run that far inside the bay? Sorry for all the questions, I just have limited fishing experience on the west coast and I want to maximize my success.

Ryan91027

Ill target any species as long as they arent catfish. Snook trout redfish spanish blackdrum snapper sheepshead. Would love something to eat but thats not as necessary as having a good time and being able to catch from shore

SCFD rtrd.

Should be able to catch Pompano in the surf. Buy yourself a few Pompano jigs, walk the beach, cast out or parallel to the beach, bump the jig along the bottom. Should be some Spanish Macks and Ladyfish mixed in.

Lostconch

Try west central

Ryan91027

Just posted on the west central forum, I thought tampa bay was counted as south west.
Ill try having a large rid with frozen shrimp on a high low rig and cast into the surf with jigs and a few rooster tails I found in an old tackle box

bigfinn35

I'd skip the frozen shrimp and use fresh shrimp that have been on ice for a few hours. Once they're frozen the texture becomes incredibly mushy and soft, they get picked off the hook ridiculously easy. Buying fresh and chilling them keeps the meat firmer. 

And no, Sarasota is pretty much the southern border of the WC section (and the northern one of SW, that's where I live and posts from here seem welcome in either forum)

Ryan91027

I also have a frozen bonita that i could use, let it defrost on the drive across. Ill try fresh shrimp if I can find them cheap enough in the area.

I thought it was west central until I looked at the zones on the fwc website and it was listed as sw region

bigfinn35

Any bait shop should have live shrimp you can throw on ice. $3-5 per dozen is pretty normal where I am. 

Ryan91027

If im buying live shrimp shouldn't I just use them live and put the rest on ice for a different day?

bigfinn35

Depends on what fishing you're doing. They'll certainly keep fresh on ice for a day or two, and there's no shame in icing some of your live ones and fishing the rest live