First go to the mart. You know which one. Go to the sporting goods department and get a fishing license, either freshwater or saltwater, whichever you prefer. Then walk around the fishing department for about an hour and gather what you’ll need. For freshwater fishing, you need lightweight lines, rods, reels, and sinkers. Saltwater fishing calls for heavier versions of the same. Some commonly caught freshwater fish are sunfish, rim, crappie, catfish, and trout.

Some saltwater fish you can catch in the bays on the east coast and along the Atlantic coast are Black Drum, Bluefish, Cobia, Corvina, Flounder, Trout, Jack Cravelle, King Mackerel, Mullet, Pompano, Puppy Drum, Spanish Mackerel, Speckled Trout, Spot and Striper. Wow, you can see there are so many more things you can fish in saltwater. I admit that I am biased. Although I have fished for bass for many years, I am not about to try to outwit the fish. I prefer to throw some bait (a mixture of ground fish) off the side of a chartered boat, drop a baited hook into the mixture, and wait a few minutes for it to pull. A pull so strong you’ll think it’s trying to entice you. It will scare you at first, but it probably won’t attract you. My petite wife who is 5’1″ and 125 lbs. Once on a trip up the Gulf Stream she handled an amberjack in the 20-25 lb range and held her own. Not that I’m a barometer for you, but if a little woman has the heart to set the hook and reel one in, I know you can.

I caught some pretty good size bass, but nothing to rival the 10lb. blue, gold to 25 lbs. amberjack has to offer in a battle. When I compare freshwater vs. saltwater fishing, they don’t compare. Salt water is much more of a challenge for me. I’ve had some pretty good battles with some blues in Ocean City MD, red snapper in Morehead NC, amberjack from the Atlantic Gulf Stream and a striper or two from the Chesapeake Bay, oh yeah I can’t leave out the speckled trout in the Gulf of Mexico, that was a lot of fun. Most of the saltwater species mentioned bite squid. Squid is like a universal bait. You can also pick up a box of calamari at a mart, especially if it’s near the ocean.

Another thing about saltwater fishing, bottom fishing in particular, is that you may find a certain jigging, bouncing the bait off the bottom, or adding something with a bit of color will work best. I think there is really no rhythm or reason. I’ve heard people say this, and captains say that, but if a fish finds your bait, rig, or the way you move the bait in the water attractive, they’re going to bite.

Have you heard the one about the little girl while she was fishing with her father on a boat, ran out of bait and started fishing with tomato slices from her sandwich? I don’t doubt it. I have fished from the front of the boat, both sides and the back, and I have fished all over the boat. I have fished off the coast of Ocean City, MD and caught Black Sea Bass one after another, then a fellow fisherman noticed my constant catch and dropped his line in the same spot and caught nothing, but the water was so rough that day, fishing it was really the last thing on my mind, if you know what I mean.