Saltwater Wade Fishing for Beginners (The Complete Guide)
Wade fishing beginners only need a 3500 series reel filled with 10 pound braided line with a clear 20 pound leader and a 7 foot medium/heavy action rod. Then master the 3 to 5 inch white paddle tail shad with an 1/8 ounce jig head and you are ready to successfully wade fish anywhere.
Saltwater wade fishing is believed by many fishermen to be the best way to commune with the saltwater fishing world. It is definitely a great way to get very close to some very big fish.
If you are patient and cover your fishing area thoroughly you can catch a lot of fish. A lot of wade fishermen enjoy it when their stringers are already full and they watch a $70,000 bay boat go flying by looking for fish.
Wade fishing is a very inexpensive fishing technique for sure. I have been wade fishing the flats and mangrove mud flats around Florida for over 40 years. I am also an INSHORE FISHING GUIDE on the Treasure Coast of Florida.
In this article I will cover the basic gear and accessories you will need to begin wade fishing around Florida. I will also cover the best species to target and the best bait and tackle to use. This article is for the beginners who want to learn everything about wade fishing in salt water.
Okay let's go wade fishing.
Watch the video below and catch more snook wade fishing around docks.
Wade fishing beginners only need a 3500 series reel filled with 10 pound braided line with a clear 20 pound leader and a 7 foot medium/heavy action rod. Then master the 3 to 5 inch white paddle tail shad with an 1/8 ounce jig head and you are ready to successfully wade fish anywhere.
Saltwater wade fishing is believed by many fishermen to be the best way to commune with the saltwater fishing world. It is definitely a great way to get very close to some very big fish.
If you are patient and cover your fishing area thoroughly you can catch a lot of fish. A lot of wade fishermen enjoy it when their stringers are already full and they watch a $70,000 bay boat go flying by looking for fish.
Wade fishing is a very inexpensive fishing technique for sure. I have been wade fishing the flats and mangrove mud flats around Florida for over 40 years. I am also an INSHORE FISHING GUIDE on the Treasure Coast of Florida.
In this article I will cover the basic gear and accessories you will need to begin wade fishing around Florida. I will also cover the best species to target and the best bait and tackle to use. This article is for the beginners who want to learn everything about wade fishing in salt water.
Okay let's go wade fishing.
Watch the video below and catch more snook wade fishing around docks.
Saltwater Wade Fishing for Beginners--Gear
The gear that you will need is very subjective. The only gear that I use for wade fishing is an old pair of sneakers and that is only when I fish near oysters. The rest of the time I am barefooted. BUT if you want to protect your feet and stay dry you will need some waders.
I also use a large fanny pack for a tackle box that I hang around my neck. There are obviously other alternatives for a tackle box but this works for me.
In Florida you only need bib waders and not a full suit. Bib waders will cost you between $200 and $300 usually. You can find some that are cheaper and some that are more expensive but a $200 pair will do you just fine.
You will also need to protect yourself from the sun. The sun in the South can be brutal and give you skin cancer. You will definitely want to wear protective UV performance shirts. These types of shirts have a built in sun screen added to the material. They are also quick drying to help evaporate you perspiration which keeps you cooler.
You will need a good pair of polarized glasses to sight fish the flats. Inshore sight fishermen prefer amber, rose or copper lenses for the dirtier water conditions on the flats. Offshore fishermen prefer gray or blue lenses.
A good pair of polarized glasses can cost $250. I have an expensive pair of Costa sunglasses that I got for my birthday but I usually spend $25 or less on glasses because I ruin them or lose them very quickly. That is up to you to decide but you will need polarized sunglasses to sight fish. My Costa glasses are definitely better than the cheaper ones that I own.
You will need some kind of utility belt to attach your landing net if you get one and to attach your bait bucket to. You might just want to use lures and again that is up to you to decide.
You will need an over the shoulder tackle box too. This is a great way to keep everything that you need in a very accessible place. They are very inexpensive and you can fit all of the gear that you will need to catch tons of fish wading.
I will cover using paddle tails to catch redfish in the video below.
Saltwater Wade Fishing for Beginners-- Tackle
My suggestion is to bring just one good rod and reel rig when wade fishing. You can wear a backpack and have extra rods strapped to it and all kind of stuff but you really don't need too much to wade fish. That is kind of the idea anyways. It is a minimalist way to fish. Less is more.
If you are fishing the grass flats for big redfish, tarpon and snook then I would suggest a 3500 series reel full of 10 pound braided line and a 7 ft medium/heavy action rod. You should be able to handle just about anything under 50 pounds with that set up.
If you are fishing for spotted sea trout and flounder on the flats then I would downsize to a 2500 series reel full of 8 lb. mono filament line and a 7 ft. medium action rod.
If you are wade fishing docks for big snook and redfish you will need the 4500 series set up mentioned above.
WANT TO CATCH SNOOK? BOOK YOUR FISHING CHARTER TODAY!
Saltwater wade fishing for beginners--Spotted Sea Trout
Spotted sea trout a.k.a. speckled trout are very abundant around grass flats. In other words, if you can find some healthy grass flats to wade you will find some sea trout to catch. The sea grass in Florida is disappearing quickly for a myriad of reasons but there are still some around to wade fish for sea trout.
Grab your gear mentioned above and if you are using live bait fill your bucket with a few dozen live shrimp. Live shrimp is the best bait for just about every fish on the flats but especially the sea trout. In my opinion, a live shrimp under a popping cork or rattle cork of some sort works best.
I wrote another article on this website that covers in great detail how to catch a spotted seatrout. You can read that article by clicking right here.
You will have the hook tied about 18 to 24 inches below the cork (depending upon the water depth), cast it out and you are ready to catch fish. Just pop the cork every few minutes to attract the fish in the area.
You don't even need real shrimp. An imitation Berkely GULP scented shrimp works almost as well as the real thing.
The video below explains in detail how to use a popping cork and lure combination.
Another great lure for trout is a DOA CAL white soft plastic shad with a paddle tail on a 1/8 ounce red jig head. This is my go to color and lure for just about everything inshore. If the white is not performing I will switch to a natural color or something dark like root beer.
The technique for fishing the grass flats with this lure is to cast it out and reel it back slowly with a jerk or two every 20 seconds or so. Sea trout will often hit the lure as it falls so be ready.
Sea trout also like gold spoons. You fish these the same way as the plastic shad.
I wrote another article on this website that covers the best baits and lures for catching spotted seatrout. You can read that article by clicking right here.
Saltwater wade fishing for beginners--Redfish
Redfish a.k.a. red drums are a great fish to target on the flats. You can often see them tailing as they root around in the grass and mud for shrimp, crabs and other invertebrates to eat. A well placed cast to a tailing red fish will often get a bite.
You can handle the smaller reds with the 25 inches or less with the 2500 series reel mentioned above but once they get bigger than that you will need the 4000 series set up.
Reds have a strike zone very close to the bottom so the popping cork with a shrimp will work well in water that is maybe 4 feet or less but any deeper than that and you will need to change over to something else.
I wrote another article on this website that covers in great detail how to catch a redfish. You can read that article by clicking right here.
Another great live bait for redfish is a pin fish under a popping cork. Just make sure to have enough leader between the hook and the cork to get the bait within 18 inches or so of the top of the grass.
If you want to catch them with lures the white scented shrimp with a red jig head is about as good as it gets. The next most productive lure would have to be the white shad with the paddle tail and the red jig head. Keeping these baits as close to the top of the grass without getting hung up is the best way to fish them.
A really fun lure to use when the water is three feet or less is a walk-the-dog type of top water lure. These lures are mullet imitations and work wonders with just about all inshore fish like, redfish, sea trout, snook and tarpon.
The two brands that I fish the most are the Zara Spook and the Top Dog by MirroLure. My favorite color is white and if they aren't biting that I will switch to a natural color combination.
The video below shows you how to wade fish so that beginners can catch BIG snook.
Redfish also like to hang around the docks. You might have to use your 4000 series reel for the bigger ones around the dock pilings. They will wrap you right around the pilings and cut you off on the barnacles and oysters attached to the pilings. The same baits mentioned above work well around docks.
Saltwater wade fishing for beginners--Snook
Snook are another great target for saltwater wade fishing. They are delicious and put up a great fight. Their first run that they make is one of the best on the flats. You will usually have to beef up your leader to 30 pounds or more because they are great at cutting the line with their gill plates.
The best live bait for a snook is a free lined finger mullet or a pin fish under a cork. Those two offerings are irresistible to a snook. They will also hit a pilchard, sardine or any other white bait but they prefer the mullet and the pin fish.
A snook will crush a walk-the-dog type of lure early in the morning and towards sunset. That is the go to lure for me when I am fishing water that is 4 feet or less early or late.
I wrote another article on this website that is all about how to catch a snook. You can read that detailed article by clicking right here.
The rest of the day I will most likely have a white shad with a paddle tail and a 1/8 ounce red jig head tied on. In fact, I usually have two top water lures for when I first start fishing and a bag of white shads and a bag of root beer shads and some jig heads. That is my whole tackle box when I am wade fishing.
Snook are the best that there is for cutting you off if you are fishing the docks. You can hook one in the middle of two docks and the fish will run straight to the underwater structure to get off the hook. You will need to beef up your tackle to catch snook around docks.
Saltwater Wade Fishing for Beginners--Flounder
Flounder are one of those fish that are around all year long in Florida but some times they are very prevalent as they congregate to spawn around inlets in the Fall. Flounder will disperse into the estuaries, grass flats, tidal creeks and oyster bars through out the year.
Wade fishing is a great way to catch flounder. My favorite way is to fish for them around docks because flounder love to hang out around structure with a sandy or muddy bottom. Most dock pilings have these qualities that flounder like.
I wrote another article on this website that is all about how to catch a flounder. You can read that article by clicking right here.
The best lure for flounder is probably the Berkeley Gulp shrimp or swimming mullet. I like the white with a 1/8 ounce jig head. You will just cast this up current and bounce it back to you very slowly. The slower the better for flounder. You are almost just dragging it across the mud or sand.
Flounder do not fight very well but you will definitely know when you have one on. Other great flounder lures are gold spoons and DOA CAL 3 inch shads with a red 1/8 ounce jig head.
Watch the video below and catch more flounder wade fishing with DOA CALs.
Conclusion:
Wade fishing is a great way for you beginners to get up close and personal with your fish. I like it because you can go into stealth mode and get super close to the fish that you are targeting. No matter how quiet you think a trolling motor is, it is not that quiet. You will get much closer to the fish by slowly and methodically wading to your target fish species.
The only thing that comes close is kayak fishing but it is hard not to make any noise on a kayak. You always end up knocking something or banging your paddle...… Wade fishing is the way to go if you want to stalk your prey in shallow water.
I am always amazed at the size of the fish that will hang out in 2 feet of water. The water can barely cover their backs but they are there anyways. Wade fishing has such a low barrier to entry to get started. All that you need is some lures, a rod, a reel and some old sneakers and you are good to go.
I hope that this article helps you catch more fish the next time that you go out wading.
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