Florida Fishing Tutorials
Jump to: Knots & Rigs · Core Skills · Gear Explained · Places to Fish · Techniques · More Florida Activities · Getting Started
Step-by-step Florida fishing skills, taught the way locals actually do them: rigs, knots, gear, places, techniques and the side activities — crabbing, scalloping, gigging — that round out a Florida fishing life. Every page is Florida-specific, and every rule on it was checked against FWC.
Knots & Rigs
5 Fishing Knots Every Florida Angler Should Know
The uni, Palomar, FG, loop knot and improved clinch — when each one earns its place, with tying steps for all five.
How to Tie a Pompano Rig for Florida Surf Fishing
Build the two-drop rig step by step, pick beads and floats, and match your sinker to the surf.
How to Fish a Popping Cork with Live Shrimp
Rig the cork, set your depth, and work the pop-and-pause retrieve that pulls trout and redfish off the flats.
How to Tie and Fish a Carolina Rig in Florida
The sliding-weight classic for redfish, drum and bass — the build, and when it beats a jig.
Fishing Hook Sizes Explained: How to Pick the Right Hook
The numbering system decoded, circle vs J vs treble, and matching the hook to bait and fish.
How to Tie a Fish-Finder Rig for Surf and Bottom Fishing
Tie a fish-finder rig step by step for Florida surf and bottom fishing: sinker slide setup, leader lengths, and…
How to Tie a Knocker Rig for Florida Bottom Fishing
Tie a knocker rig step by step for fishing tight to Florida docks, bridges and mangroves, with egg sinker sizes and…
Free-Lining Live Bait: The Stealthiest Rig in Florida
Free-line live shrimp and pilchards for snook and trout around Florida docks, bridges and mangroves, with rigging…
How to Fish a Slip-Bobber Rig Around Docks and Bridges
Set a slip-bobber rig to the exact depth for Florida dock pilings and seawalls, with bobber stop steps and bait tips…
How to Fish a Sabiki Rig for Florida Baitfish
Fish a sabiki rig for pilchards, threadfin herring and pinfish at Florida piers and bridges, with size picks, jigging…
How to Tie and Fish a Texas Rig for Florida Bass
Tie and fish a Texas rig for Florida largemouth bass, with weedless rigging steps, weight picks and pitching tips for…
How to Fish a Drop Shot Rig for Bass and Panfish
Tie a drop shot rig for clear-water Florida bass and panfish, with the Palomar hook tie, weight picks and finesse…
Rigging Jigs and Soft Plastics: Jig Heads to Weedless
Rig soft plastics straight and weedless, with jig head weight picks and paddletail threading steps for Florida flats…
How to Build a Land-Based Shark Rig (Permit Required)
Build a land-based shark rig for Florida beaches: the free Shark-Smart permit first, then shock leaders, wire bite…
4 More Knots: Albright, Blood Knot, Snell, Dropper
Learn four more fishing knots step by step: the Albright, blood knot, snell and dropper loop, and the Florida jobs…
Core Skills
How to Throw a Cast Net for Bait in Florida
Pick the right net, load it, and throw a full circle — plus where the bait schools show up.
How to Keep Live Bait Alive in the Florida Heat
Aeration, water changes and crowding limits that keep shrimp and baitfish frisky all day.
How to Read the Tides and Pick Your Fishing Time
Tide charts decoded: fish the moving water, skip the slack, and time your trip like a local.
How to Release a Fish Safely in Florida
Handling, hook removal, revival and barotrauma tools — so a released fish actually survives.
How to Spool a Spinning Reel Without Line Twist
Spool a spinning reel the twist-free way: spool direction, fill level, braid backing and the hand-closed bail, so…
How to Cast a Baitcaster Without Bird-Nesting
Learn to cast a baitcaster without the bird’s nest: brake and tension setup, the drop test, thumb control and a…
Setting Your Drag and Fighting a Big Fish
Set your drag at a third of line strength and fight big Florida fish the right way: pump and wind, smart rod angles…
How to Hook Live Bait: Shrimp, Pilchards and Crabs
Hook live bait so it stays alive and swims right: shrimp under the horn, pilchards by nose, back or belly, pinfish…
How to Catch Sand Fleas for Surf Bait
Catch your own sand fleas at the waterline: finding colonies in the swash, raking them fast, keeping them alive and…
Chumming for Fish: Blocks, Mash and the Slick
Chum Florida waters the effective way: frozen blocks, DIY mash, hanging the bag and fishing the slick down-current…
How to Read a Fish Finder Without Guessing
Read a fish finder with confidence: sonar cones, arches vs bait blobs, hard vs soft bottom and gain settings, over…
How to Anchor on Structure Without Losing It
Anchor on wrecks and ledges without losing the anchor: the up-current approach, scope, zip-tie breakaway reef rigging…
Reading Weather and Wind for Florida Fishing
Read Florida weather like an angler: wind direction by coast, cold fronts and the barometer, summer lightning rules…
Finding Fishing Spots: Charts, Reefs and Homework
Find your own Florida fishing spots: read depth contours on a chart, use FWC public reef coordinates and free chart…
How to Fillet a Fish, Step by Step
Fillet any Florida fish cleanly with a sharp flexible knife: the cut behind the gill, riding the backbone, skinning…
Icing and Storing Your Catch So It Eats Fresh
Ice your catch the Florida way so it eats fresh for days: bleeding and chilling fast, a real ice slurry, drained…
Gear Explained
How to Choose a Fishing Rod: Power, Action, Length
Power, action and length decide what a rod does well. Decode the three specs with Florida examples and pick the right…
Braid vs Mono vs Fluoro: Which Line When
Braid casts far but shows in clear water, mono stretches and floats, fluoro sinks and hides. Compare all three and…
How to Choose a Fishing Reel and Match Your Line
Reel size, sealed bearings, gear ratio, and drag decide how a reel fishes in Florida salt. Learn the 2500-to-4000…
Saltwater Gear Care: Rinse, Oil and Store It Right
Salt eats fishing reels from the inside out. The after-trip rinse, drying, drag and oiling habits that keep Florida…
Places to Fish
Pier Fishing in Florida: Gear, Bait and Tactics
What to bring, how to fish the pilings and the T, pier licenses, and landing a fish from 20 feet up.
Surf Fishing Florida Beaches: A Beginner’s Guide
Read the troughs and cuts, cast past the bar, and set up for pompano, whiting and drum.
How to Fish Mangrove Shorelines for Snook and Redfish
Work the tide and wind, skip-cast under the roots, and pick apart points and potholes.
Wade Fishing Florida’s Flats Without Spooking Fish
Wade Florida’s flats quietly and safely: the stingray shuffle, where to walk, soft approaches and the light kit that…
Fishing Grass Flats and Potholes
Turtle-grass flats feed trout and redfish where sand potholes and drift lines cross. Read the flat, drift it right…
How to Fish Florida Passes and Inlets Safely
Passes and inlets stack snook and tarpon on seams and eddies, but the water is fast and unforgiving. Fish the tide…
Dock Light Fishing at Night: Florida’s Easiest Snook
Dock lights pull tiny bait and snook wait in the shadow line to ambush it. Match the small baits, approach quietly…
Bridge Fishing in Florida: Pilings, Current, Drop Nets
Bridge fishing in Florida explained: work pilings, current seams and shadow lines, fish the tide change, and land big…
Jetty Fishing in Florida: Rocks, Surge and Sheepshead
Jetty fishing in Florida: stay safe on wet rock, scrape barnacles and fish fiddler crabs for sheepshead, and work…
Kayak Fishing in Florida: Setup, Safety and First Trips
Kayak fishing in Florida: set up rod holders, an anchor trolley and a stakeout pole, carry the right safety kit, and…
Fishing Oyster Bars: Tides, Lures and Shell Cuts
Fish Florida oyster bars on the right tide: cast up-current edges for redfish and trout, throw lures that survive…
Techniques
How to Fish Topwater Lures: Walk the Dog and Poppers
Learn to fish topwater lures in Florida: walk the dog with the right rod-tip rhythm, chug a popper, and wait until…
Trolling for Mackerel: Spoons, Planers and Speed
Troll for Florida mackerel with Clark spoons behind planers: set your speed, run a two-to-four line spread, and find…
Deep Dropping Basics: Weights, Rigs and Deep Structure
Deep dropping basics for Florida anglers: fish 300 to 900 feet with heavy leads and multi-hook rigs for tilefish and…
Offshore Bottom Fishing Basics for Florida Anglers
Offshore bottom fishing basics: find live bottom and ledges, choose between two proven rigs, cut bait right, and…
Sight Fishing: See the Fish Before It Sees You
Sight fishing in Florida: choose the right polarized glasses, plan sun and wind, read tails and nervous water, and…
Saltwater Fly Fishing for Beginners in Florida
Saltwater fly fishing for beginners in Florida: start with an 8-weight outfit, learn the double haul, and fish…
Fishing Cut Bait: When Dead Bait Beats Live
Cut bait out-fishes live bait for redfish, catfish and bottom fish. Learn to cut mullet and ladyfish, hook chunks so…
Drift Fishing Basics: Socks, Lanes and Depth
Drift fishing covers water other methods miss. Learn to set a drift lane, rig a drift sock, stagger baits by depth,…
More Florida Activities
Blue Crabbing in Florida: Traps, Handlines and Rules
Learn Florida blue crabbing the legal way: trap registration and specs, handline and drop-net methods, limits, and…
Flounder Gigging in Florida: Lights, Gigs and Rules
Flounder gigging turns a dark Florida flat into a treasure hunt. Learn the rules and closed season, light setups,…
Bay Scalloping in Florida: Zones, Seasons and Limits
Bay scalloping is a Gulf coast treasure hunt you snorkel. Learn the zone seasons, limits, divers-down rules, and how…
Lobster Bully-Netting and Tickling in Florida
Florida spiny lobster rewards divers who measure before they grab. Learn the seasons, the 3-inch rule, bully-netting…
Bowfishing in Florida: Legal Fish, Gear and Rules
Bowfishing in Florida is fast, visual and strictly regulated. Learn the legal fish in fresh and salt water, gear…
Getting Started
A Kid’s First Fishing Trip: Simple, Safe, Successful
A kid’s first fishing trip should be short, shady and full of bites. Learn the easy pier and pond setup, spincast…
Your First Boat Fishing Trip: What to Bring and Do
Invited on a fishing boat for the first time? Learn what to bring and leave home, boat etiquette, seasickness prep,…
Booking a Florida Fishing Charter: Costs and Tips
Booking your first Florida fishing charter? Compare inshore, offshore and party boats, what the price includes,…
Free Florida Fishing Tools
Pair these tutorials with the free tools: the Keeper Checker for size and bag limits, the Tackle & Bait Picker for what to throw, the Best Fishing Times planner, and the What’s Biting calendar for what is running this month.