Hi! First off, thanks for clicking. I am an avid angler from Indiana. I have never saltwater fished and am taking a trip down to Ft. Myers over the week of Thanksgiving. I plan on surf fishing during my stay. I have done lots of research and have hopefully enough knowledge base (reading shore, rigs, species...etc) to land some fun. My main question is what should I target mid to late November. Obviously, I would love to catch some Pomp, but I'm reading conflicting information about how prevalent they are during that time. I have looked up swfl fising seasons and seen lots of charts, but most of them are just listing broad "fair" conditions for lots of different species. I would love to catch anything while there, but if there is a species that I could also harvest and eat, I would love that even more. So far, I have only found that Jack Crevalle is not good to eat?
I am almost finished building my beach cart set up - a couple 9' rod and reel (5000-6000) combos and a smaller 7' combo for closer guts/troughs, 20-30lb test mono(?), circle hooks, pyramid and breakaway sinkers...etc. I'm familiar with most leader rigs, but looks like a combination of fish finder rig, carolina, and pompano rigs are the way to go. My only other question in that regard- if there is a good chance to catch pomp while I'm there- can you use multiple hooks on your leader? According to MYFWC, multiple hooks are not a legal means to catch them, but I'm reading articles and seeing multiple videos of fishing them this way. Am I missing something? Thank you for any help and info you're willing to share. I'm happy to return the favor, but lets be honest, no one vacations to Indiana...
