Florida salt water fishing for Redfish, Speckled Trout and Snook

Florida Fishing Tips by Capt. Ken Chambers

Capt. Ken Chambers guides in the 10,000 Islands and Everglades National Park

Since learning about Bayou Buck’s Shrimpaler hooks I cannot keep these things on my boat. Customers, fellow guides, and toothy critters keep claiming these incredible soft plastic baits. They have durable, super sharp VMC hooks. The smaller sizes allow for a quiet, presentation to spooky snook and redfish. While blind casting the mangroves in the 10,000 Islands, the weight of the hooks when placed in a jerkbait allows it to skip under the bushes where the fish live.

Bayou Buck's Redfish Spinners, "ZZ Spot Spinner" has been a favorite of mine on the Redfish Tour as well as in the stained water of the Everglades National Park. Redfish, trout and snook hammer this bait as it flashes and swims past their nose. In the shallow water that abounds in our area, I prefer to use the Oyster Proof Jr. It is rigged weedless and I can make a softer presentation than its regular sized counterpart.

When drifting the grass flats during the cooler months I rig my rods with the Pop n Prop floats. These have an amazing ability to call in trout, redfish, jacks, ladyfish, and more. I rig the floats about 3 feet above a live shrimp and let them drift with the current over some fishy water. Every 30 seconds I will give the floats a pop and it drives the fish crazy. When they come to investigate, they find my bait. It is almost like cheatin’.

Good luck and tight lines,

Capt. Ken Chambers
239-289-0984

Florida Saltwater Fishing    www.snookonthefly.com

Artificial Intelligence – Pro Fishing Tips by Captain Fred Winters

Captain Fred Winters is a professional guide and Pro Redfish tour angler from Southwest Florida’s Charlotte Harbor.

I was first introduced to the Shrimpaler hook by a friend and guide from Louisiana last year at the Lafitte IFA Redfish Tour tournament. He said I needed to try it. I started using the hook exclusively on my Mr. Twister Exude shrimp. These hooks keep the bait locked solid in position even after multiple hook ups. All I have to do is rotate the bait and squeeze it down just a little and it holds for a few more casts. This saves me time and baits, usually the tails are torn off, but the body still holds due the unique ribbed weight design molded on the hook. The weight being inside the bait gives it a more natural fall, softer landing and the super sharp VMC hook insures a positive hook set. I also use these hooks with Exude RT Slugs, DARTS and pogie type baits, it gives me more of a natural movement in shallow water versus a weight forward type of action when using a lead head jig. It’s great for skipping under the mangroves and sight casting to tailing redfish.

Bayou Buck's "ZZ Spot Spinner" “Oyster Proof” and the 3 Plus spinner have been my go to baits of choice when pre-fishing and searching new areas with stained waters. In Southwest Florida I use the weedless in line Spinner and Jr. around oyster bars, points and drop offs. The flash and thump of the large and small blades are almost like a magical fish caller. To say here I am come and get me if you can. The Red Buzz-ard is an awesome fish catcher. I use this bait when fishing parallel to the shore line and the mangroves. When I know redfish and snook are “in the trees” or shore grass on high water tides I will cast a Red Buzz-ard as close and parallel as I can and bring it down the shore or tree line, it drives them crazy and the fish come out to eat this foolish bait that is so brave to swim in front of them.

Good luck and tight lines,

Captain Fred Winters
Florida Fishing Charters
(941) 628-9558

After discovering Bayou Buck Lures last year the game sure has changed. We started off using the spinner baits and wow what a show these things put off! We like to use them around the oysters where there is a drop off to locate fish. They are also great for locating fish in the flats. The strike is tremendous and hard so hang on for the fight!

We made the change to the Shrimpaler 2 for our "go to" hooks on the flats. These hooks are AWESOME! While sight casting for reds we rig a jerkbait with a hitchhiker on these hooks. Ultra sharp, ultra durable, these hooks haven't failed us yet. They have helped us to place in many tournaments with a couple of big fish awards to boot.

Off to the shrimpaler. These hooks are great for doing some dock fishing, inlets, and deeper spots where grass is not a factor. Rig these hooks with the Gleaux Shrimp or Brown Shrimp around docks while night fishing and hang on! The strike may be from speckeled trout, mangrove snapper, snook, sheepshead, etc. The possibilities are endless.

So, whether you are a pro or a weekend angler, Bayou Buck Lures are the winning ticket to landing more fish! See you on the schools. Safe boating.

Wayne and Aaron