# Daytona Area



## patindaytona (Jun 17, 2006)

Just wondering what you all think of fishing the intra coastal? For some reason I've never had much luck at all with it and I've fished it alot in the past. I'm talking about the Halifax near daytona. I know that it's not very deep at all, maybe 4 feet or so maybe more. It's very close to my house, but I hate to waste my time if nothing's in it. So, instead, I go about 40 min.north and surf fish or go to the Ponce Jetty with moderate luck.


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## VICIII (Apr 8, 2005)

Get a bucket that holds live shrimp and some shrimp.
Tie it to you waist and walk around with some wading boots. Watch out for sting rays. Shuffle you feet so you get them away. When you walk you will turn up the ground and leave morsels for fish and rays so look behind you for a cast or a shuffle.
Cast all over and look for bait pods. You will catch something. OR at least you would down here. I do not know Daytona at all but it would work here in Vero or Sebastian...


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## KodiakZach (Mar 16, 2005)

The river is hot this time of year... just fish at high tide, and at night.


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## HellRhaY (Jul 6, 2007)

dont go wading in the water as well.
just saw another report for a shark attack. how many was it now in the last 15 days? 4,5, 6 shark attacks?

that's why i never wade.


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## patindaytona (Jun 17, 2006)

*Daytona*

Hot is probably the key word here. Should be getting better soon. I noticed that you (Kodiakzac) have most of your fish photos taken at night for a long time. I can see why. I might get a 3 month pass at Sunglow..worth it??


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## barty b (Dec 31, 2004)

Yeah its worth it for the Fall run..Try around bridges with lights at night with live shrimp freelined or just a small splitshot or so. Dont worry about wading in the intratcoastal and getting attacked by a shark..although slightly plauseable, it aint gonna happen. You are in more danger of a stingray or slicing your foot on oysters,getting stuck and falling down,getting struck by lightning etc....A bonnethead MIGHT bite your toe but I doubt it.


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## KodiakZach (Mar 16, 2005)

barty b said:


> Dont worry about wading in the intratcoastal and getting attacked by a shark..although slightly plauseable, it aint gonna happen. You are in more danger of a stingray or slicing your foot on oysters,getting stuck and falling down,getting struck by lightning etc....A bonnethead MIGHT bite your toe but I doubt it.


I agree. Also, Pat... check my last couple reports... plenty of fish to catch in the Halifax during the day, just go when the tide is higher. This weekend, the optimal times to fish will be 4am-7am tomorrow, 5pm-9pm tomorrow, 5am-8am Saturday, 6pm-9pm Saturday, etc....

If fishing in the Halifax, add 1hr to each timeframe at Down The Hatch, 2hrs for Harbor Village to Wilbur By The Sea, and 3 hrs for Wilbur North to Dunlawton. Use as light of line as possible, as light of weight as possible (ie. splitshot) if using live bait like live shrimp or baitfish. If using soft plastic (artificials)... then a 1/8 to 1/4 oz jighead and impart lots of action with brief pauses... bouncing it off the bottom. 

Finally, if you are using cut bait with a fixed weight (ie. pyramid, any egg weight bigger than 1/4 oz, etc... don't expect to get anything more than crap fish unless you luck up on a Red. The good fish like to eat their bait as it moves thru the current. 

Good luck!


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## patindaytona (Jun 17, 2006)

*Halifax*

Just curious, why is a lighter line better? I use 50lb.braid. Thanks for the info! I can't wait to get back on Tuesday to fish. I've been up in Michigan here the past three weeks.


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## HellRhaY (Jul 6, 2007)

lighter line casts farther and more yards on your spool.
lighter lines are good for light tackles. if you want to play the fish, it is the way to go.

i used 17# line since i can remember, 3-4 weeks ago i shifted to braid. because braid has thin diameter i needed for long casting on the surf. the braid test i use is 20#.

if you are just a beginning fisherman, a heavy test line is the way to go.


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## KodiakZach (Mar 16, 2005)

The only (and I do mean only) reason why I use lighter line is because if you use LIGHT FLORO it is extremely hard for the fish to see so they bite, a heckuva lot more. If you use 50-lb braid in the river, they see the line. Don't believe it? Go stand in a dock light and float your 50-lb braid thru the light. You can see it in the water, and the fish can sure as he|| see it. Next, go float 10-lb florocarbon thru the light (as expensive as it might be), and you cant see it in the water, and neither do the fish. My hookup ratio has more than tripled since I dropped from 30-lb braid down to 10-lb floro. The issue then becomes, how to land big fish on light line. The answer is: your drag.


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## patindaytona (Jun 17, 2006)

*Mono*

I might be switching over to mono soon. I've used braid ever since i started fishing about 2 1/2 years ago...you know how it is..you go to the pier and the first guy that comes along tells you about braid and how great it is. That's what I've used ever since. You said you use 10lb.mono and it all makes ALOT of sense to me and I believe it, so I might try a much lighter mono also, but can you give me an idea of what say, a slot redfish would wiegh? Just curious how well 10lb.mono would hold up to something like that? I just bought some new braid too about a month ago, but then, mono is very cheap..any ideas on which mono is good? By the way, I surf fish and i go to the jetty alot..does this change things? What about leader size?


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## HellRhaY (Jul 6, 2007)

*mono: *
momoi
jinkai
p-line

mono and braid are two different animals. by switching to mono, you'll then practice to set the hook. which i doubt you did on braid. 

just stay with braid and switch to 20#. mono is cheap indeed, but you have to respool every so often because the heat, sunlight, cold damage the monofilament. unlike with braid which could last for years without respooling.


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## patindaytona (Jun 17, 2006)

*Braidmono*

Thanks, so you think 20#braid is significantly better than 50#?


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## HellRhaY (Jul 6, 2007)

patindaytona,
50# braid is better than 20#.
if you are going for distance, say 100-150 yards casting your bait or lure, that's when the thin diameter of a lighter pound test comes into play.

use a flourcarbon leader. at the end of your 50# braid tie a swivel (use a double palomar knot or a double 5 turn uni knot) then connect a 2-4ft flourocarbon leader to the swivel, at the other end of the flouro leader is your hook/bait/lure.


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## KodiakZach (Mar 16, 2005)

The devil is in the details. Big difference between florocarbon (FLORO) and monofilament (MONO). Mono is much more visible than Floro. Why even bother switching from braid unless you are going to Floro. Details I say, details.....!!!! Details are the difference to catching fish... most of the time little details like mono vs floro.


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## barty b (Dec 31, 2004)

Pat, Zach is right on this one, I am the same way on inshore stuff, fish are much more line shy inshore as opposed to the surf. The only time I go over 15lb flouro inshore is on sheepshead. I have caught enough of them over the years to say with confidence that they will bite just about any reasonable line size. I have had days where I got my limit using 30lb Big Game leader. I mostly stick to 20lb flouro on them but sometimes,when the big ones (9lbs plus) are around heavy structure,I like to have the added line strength.


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## patindaytona (Jun 17, 2006)

*Rig*

The one problem I have with the flouro is that I fish the Jetty alot and loose about 5 rigs or so each time I go........too expensive for flouro. I guess the enviroment you fish dictates what type of line you are using. I'm using a 50lb.braid and 50lb.mono right now at the jetty, although I use it also for the surf alot too.


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## HellRhaY (Jul 6, 2007)

get the 30# *50 YARDS* triplefish flouro.

that's the way it goes Pat, you have to spend some to get he big ones.


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## jettypark28 (Jun 23, 2006)

*Seeing*

That you already have braid on those reels, Why not use, a topshot of Mono line and then add a "Flou leader" to that.....At the jettys take off your flou leaders and add regular mono leader. That way you will only be losing Mono (topshot/leader) .........and still be able to keep your braid on your reel. And if you want to still just use "Flou line" then just add that as a "Topshot"  This way you can get away with just buying one spool of "Flou line" and use it for "Topshots" on your reels. Money saved and you now have enough line, without going broke...:fishing:......If you are having that many hang ups.....use a heavy rubberband to tie off the sinker to your line.....and if you get snagged, Just give it a hard tug and the band will break, leaving you with your rig.....Just my .02 take if for what it is worth


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