Whether you’re a Florida resident or visiting hoping to catch the ‘big one,’ you’ll no doubt need the best bait. In South Florida, your best chances will be using live and frozen bait options.
Here are some of the best bait options you can use in South Florida’s waters.
Shrimp
Shrimp are certainly a common choice among anglers. Live or dead shrimp tend to summon an array of fish. They’re great for bottom fishing or with a jig, and you can catch them with a cast net. However, to make things easier, you will want to buy them at bait shops.
You can easily keep them alive in a bucket of cool water without any fuss. However, during South Florida’s hottest months, you may need to supply some aeration to keep them more lively. Shrimp will become listless when the water temperature rises above 70°F.
Crabs
Saltwater anglers in South Florida also like to use crabs. These will attract tarpon, redfish, and black drum. Crabs are easy to keep alive because they only need a little bit of water. Bait shops usually have them, though you can catch them easily on your own. You don’t need them to be live either, as you can cut them in half or into quarters and use them for bottom fishing.
Shiners
There are many small and silvery baitfish that have been nicknamed shiners. These can include pilchards, which are scaled sardines, as well as threadfin herring, and Spanish sardines. Shiners make for great bait to attract a wide array of fish.
You can find shiners in large schools just offshore around the channel markers or other structures. Grab your cast net, and you should be able to snatch them right up. Shiners are pretty good for live bait chumming, though you need a lot of them to make it work. If you can catch enough shiners for the job, then it just may work out.
However, one major downside of using shiners as bait in South Florida is that they will die rapidly if you don’t take care of them. It’s almost a full-time job keeping up with changing their water supply.
Ballyhoo
If you’re hoping to reel in a tuna, wahoo, dolphin, or sailfish, you may want to use ballyhoo. This is used as cut bait, and you’ll see many experienced fishermen troll with these. Ballyhoo most certainly works to attract larger saltwater species of fish.
Squid
In South Florida, squid is easy to come by, plus it’s also versatile for inshore and offshore fishing. You can use frozen or fresh squid as bait, and it’s easy to store. Striped bass, bluefish, and redfish tend to go for squid.
Mullet
Mullet are another popular option for South Florida fishing expeditions. You can see them at bait shops, though experienced anglers will simply catch their own with a net. The smaller mullet are called finger mullet, which will attract flounder, snook, trout, and redfish.
Want to catch something larger? Use a larger mullet, and you may just hook a tarpon, billfish, or a big snook on your rod.
Mullet are slightly problematic as bait because it’s not always easy to catch them, nor is it easy to keep them alive. You may get lucky and be able to snag them off the east coast of South Florida, but even if you do, you’ll need to put in work to keep them sustained until the moment they are used as your bait.
Sand Fleas
Sand fleas are nothing more than miniature crustaceans that live in the sand along the coast. If you love to fish the surf, sand fleas may be very helpful in attracting fish to your hook.
Sometimes called mole crabs, these tiny creatures are drawn out using special rakes that work to dredge sand at the surf line. Anglers will sift through it, hoping to find sand fleas that can catch pompano. Sand fleas may even trick a snook or sheepshead, which makes looking for them worthwhile.
However, most bait shops sell sand fleas frozen, if they sell them at all. You’ll seldom, if ever, see them sold live. You may be able to try your luck with sand fleas by trying to dredge them up yourself. If you have some to use, you can bottom fish around docks, bridges, and jetties. Make sure you use a thin hook because sand fleas have delicate shells.
Clams
Clams are a delicacy at South Florida’s restaurants, but they can also be used as bait. The problem with using clams as bait is that it’s much harder to keep them fresh. Still, they stay on the hook longer than other kinds of live bait.
Iguana Chum
No matter what you’re putting on your hook, you’re not going to catch a thing if there are no fish around. Luring them in requires a strong smell that provokes a feeding frenzy. In South Florida, the invasive iguana population has created a new opportunity for fishermen to have a more productive time on the water.
Frozen iguanas, enhanced with menhaden oil to create irresistible chum slicks, lure in all kinds of fish. You’ll see kingfish, grouper, and snapper in droves. Instead of having fish elude you all day long under the hot sun, you’ll be able to fill your cooler with more fish.
Iguana Chum comes frozen in blocks, making it easy to take on any South Florida fishing expedition. With such an alluring smell, you may create a feeding frenzy right by the boat. Many fishermen have resorted to chumming the waters and have better fishing success with iguana chum because it turns pesky iguanas into a sustainable way to attract a better catch.
