First Trip to the Everglades

[Kentobu]

Fellow anglers,

I've a not-so quick question for you all. I'm a level 20 angler looking to make my way to the Everglades for fishing here on FP for the first time. I know this is open ended, but what kinds of tackle should I be taking there in order to make the most of my time? I'd like to try and stay for a few days to make some money back and level up, but usually my first trip to a location is a bust, and I'm saving up for a kayak and would rather not waste the money.

I'm mostly interested in the larger stuff - Gars, Bass, Drum, Tarpon and those bigger cats. Right now my max fish weight is 13 lbs, so I may have to hold off until level 24 for some monsters. But I figured this would be a really neat trip. Unfortunately, as you know, I've got limited tackle and rod room (Currently limited to 3 rods until I get some more money).

Looking forward to eharing what you guys have to say! I'm mostly curious about bait, lures and hook sizes, as that's what I seem to hear the most variation in online.

Cheers and good fishing!

[Lenny Rat]

Need to better understand your gear, but your best bet is largemouth bass. Big Uni is around 12lbs, so 8 to 12 pound rig will do. Stay away from the salt flats or the bigger fish may break your rig.

Take surface lures, bass jigs, and shiners if you have a float rig with 4/0 hooks. Poppers and walkers are your best bet.

[Kentobu]

Originally posted by Lenny Rat:

Need to better understand your gear, but your best bet is largemouth bass. Big Uni is around 12lbs, so 8 to 12 pound rig will do. Stay away from the salt flats or the bigger fish may break your rig.

Take surface lures, bass jigs, and shiners if you have a float rig with 4/0 hooks. Poppers and walkers are your best bet.

Ah, thank you! Right now I'm working with weaker gear, so I think I'll have to build something a bit stronger for my spooning/jigrig. It was the next thing in my set to upgrade anyways. Thanks for the advice!

As of now my rodbag had a lighter spinning rod, a moderately solid floating setup, and a light to mid (can't remember) feeder rod.

Will that 4/0 work for the bigger fish too if I'm able to build some rigs big enough to handle them, or is there no way to do so at a lower level?

[gazza]

float setup with shiners ( think you can still buy them cheaper there than at home ) checkout youtube for best spots, easymoney for lower lvl players and not bad xp either.

[Marshall_maz]

Don't bother with the big fish there now. They pay very poorly and you have neither the gear to land nor the size keepnet to make a good income from the big fish. The only thing you should target there now are bass. 12lb spinning setup with 1m 3/0 crank ( crawfish color ) and topwater frogs. You need nothing else. Leave the big fish there for much later when you have strong gear and a very large net. Also , unless you really have to , don't do floating there at all for now. Remember bait gets used up and needs to be constantly replaced and things like shiners are expensive. Lures don't get used up.

[JeppeH]

As previous posts suggest, try focus on bass both largemouths and butterflies is good. Topwater frogs, crankbaits and bass jigs all work. Fishing peak hours during day and nights should get you some decent size and fill your net/stringer pretty quick. Fishing during night also lets you skip time to the next night when your net is full without any cooldown.

My absolut favorite place to fish in the game, GL and hope you'll like it =)

[Zappers]

go after bass at night you will find you get more trophy and uni bass at night

[jfoytek]

So if your doing the missions you will need a float set up to catch the Gar and the Red Drum with Shinners bring a good 40-60 of them for that purpose only.... Do missions during peak times as honestly Bass bite all the time!

And also if your fishing the bass out of peak time its less likely you will run into a Uni that likely will crush your 10 Lb set up.... I am assuming your using a 10Lb set up as that would be pretty ideal for your level....

Not to worry a 10 Lb set up will slay the bass without much issue even pulling in most trophy's without much issue!

Best Lure I found for this was a popper, however not sure if you have access to top baits yet if not then stick with your usual bass weapons and be prepared for snags...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk5HwCAuMms

^^^^^ Large Mouth Bass farming in Everglades

[Maj.Tryhard]

Frogs are all you need for the Everglades. They won't get hung up on heavy vegetation like other lures will. You can use them to catch bass all day long out of the lilies and weeds.

[Kentobu]

Thanks for all the advice everyone! I think I've got a decent setup for Everglades when I go.

JigWinner 7' 10" Rod
Espira ML 2000 Reel
Flouro .012 line

I don't think I'm a high enough level for frogs, but I snagged a walker 1/2 oz #3/0 lure.

My premium expired, so I'm chilling on Lone Star practicing my bass fishing until I can get premium again and head over to Everglades. I will let you guys know how it goes! I'm hoping that I can make enough per day with a 44 lb limit to afford the advanced license and still recoup money on the trip.