# Kayak fishing mexico beach



## Tadpole23 (Jul 14, 2017)

I'm heading down to Mexico beach in August going to take the kayaks with us. Any chance I can catch Spanish or kings that time of year? I plan on trying to troll and see what I can catch. Any suggestion on how to fish and what to use to catch fish.


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## jeremyledford (Jul 15, 2017)

Absolutely. Even hooked a huge tarpon off the beach in one on a king rig with live hardtail and duster. Just troll back and forth passed the buoy line. If you can get around the buoys of the canal even better. There may be some tarpon still around for you as about right now should be prime.  White Trout can be caught on the bottom around the buoys on cut bait, shrimp, squid also. 
If I were you I would get some frozen cigs and dusters and just paddle outside the buoys till you got tired. Expect to catch some sharks doing this as well.


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## Tadpole23 (Jul 15, 2017)

I plan on shark fishing a good bit. I hope to catch some Spanish to use for bait. What color dusters should I get?


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## jeremyledford (Jul 15, 2017)

I like blue/white or blue/silver. 

The best I ever caught sharks there was on live white Trout anchored at the buoys. Kings will eat them in a heartbeat too. Also you can catch hardtails on sabiki or peeled shrimp at the buoys and they make great bait for sharks/kings/cobia/ tarpon etc. 
I kept a dead Trout on a bottom rig and a live on a flat line and did way better for sharks on the flat line.


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## Tadpole23 (Jul 15, 2017)

Ok thanks for the info. This will be my first time taking my yak to the gulf. I see alot of people use a silver rattletrap for Spanish is this a good option? I hope I can figure out how to catch fish down there. I've never caught a king and only a few Spanish.


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## MudDucker (Jul 15, 2017)

If it is too rough, look at the map for a protected sound just west of there.


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## Tadpole23 (Jul 15, 2017)

How far from the beach should I start fishing? On youtube it looks like those guys are about a mile out catching Spanish and kings. I know this might sound like a stupid question but could I use spinner bait skirts for dusters? I have plenty of wire so I will make my own stinger rigs with 2 treble hooks.


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## jeremyledford (Jul 15, 2017)

Tadpole23 said:


> How far from the beach should I start fishing? On youtube it looks like those guys are about a mile out catching Spanish and kings. I know this might sound like a stupid question but could I use spinner bait skirts for dusters? I have plenty of wire so I will make my own stinger rigs with 2 treble hooks.



You probably could however I like a single hook to put in the nose of the baitfish then a treble to hook near the tail. Kings have good eyes so I wouldn't use anything too heavy. 

In Mexico beach they can be caught right off the second sandbar and right passed the buoys. And so can bonito. I usually go out a few hundred yards passed them.


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## Tadpole23 (Jul 15, 2017)

Thanks man this has been alot of help. I will go ahead and start making me some rigs up. Maybie I will have some beginners luck.


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## sweatequity (Jul 15, 2017)

*sabiki rigs*

free line what you catch. For sharks use ladyfish if you can catch any. I like to kayak the baits out and sit on the beach with cold beer and my wife.


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## jeremyledford (Jul 15, 2017)

sweatequity said:


> free line what you catch. For sharks use ladyfish if you can catch any. I like to kayak the baits out and sit on the beach with cold beer and my wife.



Definitely take some gotcha plugs with you for Spanish/ladyfish. 

Live bait wins and if you can sabiki up any hardtails or live cigars/ballyhoo then do it. It's worth it! Don't be afraid to use a live 1lb hardtail for kings or tarpon. Kings are slash eaters they will try to cut it in half then come back. If you miss one keep paddling he'll come back


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## Tadpole23 (Jul 15, 2017)

Will penn 309 level wind reels work for trolling live and dead bait for kings Spanish and Bonita?


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## jeremyledford (Jul 15, 2017)

I had to look up those specs but you'll be fine!! All you need is 20lb or 25lb mono or if you're real worried about it then you can run braid then use a topshot of mono. At worst get heavier on the drag cause you'll be being pulled along somewhat in the kayak. 6lbs of drag is all you need they're not a shark if you try to horse them you'll pull hooks. Keep drag light cause when they see your yak they're gonna give one more hard run and that's usually when they pull off.


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## Tadpole23 (Jul 15, 2017)

Ok I use these reels for catfish and shark so if they will hold a 6 foot shark they will land a king. I got braid on them now but I will put a topshot of mono so they can't see it as easy


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## jeremyledford (Jul 15, 2017)

Be out there early and late if possible and you'll do good.


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## Tadpole23 (Jul 15, 2017)

I will be staying at a condo right on the ocean so I will be fishing from sun up to sunset if my arms will let me. I know in Clearwater we caught snapper off the pier if I go out in yak and fish with shrimp or squid do I can any chance of catching any or anything worth eating out in the bay.


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## jeremyledford (Jul 15, 2017)

If you have a GPS check this out http://www.mbara.org/mexico-beach-artificial-reefs.cfm?inshore. Spanish, kings, snapper, grouper hang on some of this stuff. If you have navionics on your phone and a waterproof case like a lifeproof you could use it to get close enough to troll for kings and such over this structure.

As far as eating there's whiting in the surf, white Trout atthe buoys. Spanish and kings obviously. Flounder in the canal and redfish/Trout in the bay and grass flats down the road. Have caught a few reds in the surf there too even this time of year.

What I do is fish for Trout and whiting on the last sandbar near the buoys and throw out a flatline with a live hardtail behind me and set it in the rod holder. Take a kayak anchor with you as it's super effective. Just don't put fish on a stringer. I was really, really  dumb once and got trashed by blacktips in a matter of minutes.


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## Tadpole23 (Jul 15, 2017)

Wouldn't hurt to try. I probably will be kayaking by myself so won't try to go too far out. Maybe things will work out and have good weather and the fish will bite.


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## SouthPaw Draw (Jul 17, 2017)

Was down in west PC a few weeks ago, my son caught these on mackeral rig trolling out past the 2nd bar with cigar minnows. Evening fishing was better for us too.
2 yrs. ago caught a black tip using the same setup, got it up to the yak (which is a 12 ft. boat) and cut him loose. He was at least half the length of the kayak. Had this stupid idea I was going to bring it in the boat to take a pic, better judgement got the best of me and let it go.


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## 95g atl (Jul 17, 2017)

Man, seeing those pics of the beach make me want to head out to MB tonight!!!


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## zeke392 (Jul 18, 2017)

jeremyledford said:


> You probably could however I like a single hook to put in the nose of the baitfish then a treble to hook near the tail. Kings have good eyes so I wouldn't use anything too heavy.
> 
> In Mexico beach they can be caught right off the second sandbar and right passed the buoys. And so can bonito. I usually go out a few hundred yards passed them.



what buoys are you talking about?  how far from the beach are you fishing?


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## 1eyefishing (Jul 18, 2017)

MudDucker said:


> If it is too rough, look at the map for a protected sound just west of there.



FYI- Crooked Island Sound (one of my favorite spots for years) is no longer open to the public without a special permit or pass from the base. Homeland security thing.


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## jeremyledford (Jul 18, 2017)

zeke392 said:


> what buoys are you talking about?  how far from the beach are you fishing?



Orange/red buoys running east to west. they are a couple hundred yards off the beach and spaced a few hundred yards apart. Or were a couple years ago......


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## zeke392 (Jul 18, 2017)

jeremyledford said:


> Orange/red buoys running east to west. they are a couple hundred yards off the beach and spaced a few hundred yards apart. Or were a couple years ago......




we were there in early June, the only buoys we seen were a couple like 2 maybe 100yrds off the beach.  This was from the canal to down past Toucans.  We were between 1/4 mile and 3/4 miles out trolling back and for and seen no buoy line


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## SouthPaw Draw (Jul 19, 2017)

jeremyledford said:


> You probably could however I like a single hook to put in the nose of the baitfish then a treble to hook near the tail. Kings have good eyes so I wouldn't use anything too heavy.



I let by trailer hook run free, seems the cigar minnow had better action on it by not hooking it to the tail IMO.


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## mdgreco191 (Jul 19, 2017)

Tadpole23 said:


> I plan on shark fishing a good bit. I hope to catch some Spanish to use for bait. What color dusters should I get?



Pink and Blue are the go to colors that I have seen people fish with.  Caught two Spanish on a pink duster and dead cigar minnow off of Pensacola.


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## T-Boy (Jul 22, 2017)

*Kayak Fishing.*

If you are fishing out of Kayak and drifting I don't think you need dusters. We use them when trolling 5 to 7 mph but not so much just drifting in a Kayak.

We always bring some frozen cigs and a couple of sabiki's to catch fresh live cigs. (Cigar minnows)

Make you some leaders using about 24 inches of 30lb test 7 strand wire, #4 or #2 trebel hooks, and small black 50lb test swivels. Tie the leader to your main line. 15 to 20lb test is fine and keep a loose drag for that first big run. If possible flip the bail and let the king eat. Sometimes they hit your bait twice. Once to kill it and 2nd to eat what is left.

Hook the cigs through the head or between the eyes if its dead. Toss out and let it drift behind the Yak about 50 feet. I would drift two rods.

Good luck


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## Tadpole23 (Jul 22, 2017)

Thanks for the information im going to try drifting and slow trolling. Looks to me when just drifting you would catch alot more sharks? Would it be worth bringing my big divers to troll for kings? They are the around 7 to 9 inches and dive to around 15 to 30 feet depending on speed.


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## T-Boy (Jul 23, 2017)

Tadpole23 said:


> Thanks for the information im going to try drifting and slow trolling. Looks to me when just drifting you would catch alot more sharks? Would it be worth bringing my big divers to troll for kings? They are the around 7 to 9 inches and dive to around 15 to 30 feet depending on speed.



You could drift cigs with the current and have another rod in your hand casting to the sides. I would use a 1 ounce spoon or something like an X Rap that only dives down a couple of feet.

Deep divers will wear you out in the gulf. Feeding kings and spanish are mostly close to the surface.

We just move around a lot. Look for diving birds or splashes of feeding fish. You will see large pods of bait fish and it doesn't hurt being close to them.

We start drifting in 15 to 20 feet of water and drift out to 50 feet until we find fish. We have had some great trips and some very slow trips. Its all fun.


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