Boca Fishing?

[cenfl407]

Headed down to the Boca Raton area next weekend for a mini-vacation and I'm looking to get some fishing in while the wife does some shopping. I've done a little research and it seems like the best two places to fish there are the Boca Inlet or the Deerfield Beach Pier. Any suggestions on which is the better of the two or a better location would be greatly appreciated. Also, good bait and whats biting?

[Sardinerule]

Jap rock at spanish river beach for surf fishing less of a crowd, sabiki or cast net for baits by the reef. Snook baricuda, on rare occasion cobia, stingray, grunt snapper, watch for birds.

[cenfl407]

Just checked out Jap Rock on youtube. Looks like a great place to fish but I'm not familiar with throwing nets for bait. What's my other alternative, buying bait and from where? Are you getting out there the weekend of the 15th? It'll be my brother and I.

[johnzabeasts]

Once schools out I'll go back to being a regular at boca inlet, this time last year the white bait was starting to show up on the beaches with snooks cruising really close. There were also there was the occasional tarpon and the always persistent jacks and cudas. I went yesterday and there were mostly small sardines with a couple decent ones mixed in, they were in the inlet on the incoming tide. Once the water started flowing out they were tight up against the rocks. I didn't catch anything but I did see schools of big jacks too far to cast to when I walked the sand.

[Cookinman]

I prefer Deerfield Pier. Fresh/live sardines are caught on site using a sabiki rig.

[coolcow]

If you want to catch a snook, then get the smallest sabikis you can find and a bucket. Go to a beach (Spanish River, Delray Beach, Deerfield... it doesn't really matter, but I liked Spanish River at sunrise) near sunrise or sunset and catch some fresh bait. There should be some pilchards, sardines, goggle eyes, etc. I always used 15 lb line with an 18" 20 or 30 lb leader on a fishfinder rig. Hook a pilchard (I had the best success with pilchards) through the nostrils with a #3 circle hook. Cast it out 25 feet and set it in a sand spike. That is the easiest way to catch a snook in the summer. It's almost not fair.

If you want to be a little more active, you can walk the beach casting a silver spoon, bucktail, or other lure that imitates the bait on the beach. As always, be nice and handle the big girls --both snook and actual big girls-- with care.