Many anglers who fish Charlotte Harbor prefer to fish with live bait. Excluding harbor shrimp, there are fifteen species of bait fish that roam the harbor. The following bait fish have been identified as spending some part of their life cycle in Charlotte Harbor. Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission have sampled the harbor to identify these baitfish.
• Blue Runner
• Bigeye Scads
• Pigfish
• Pinfish
• Silver Peach
• Ballyhoo
• Round Scads
• Spanish Sardine
• Atlantic Thread Herring
• Sand Perch
• Scaled Sardine
• Menhaden (Bunker)
• Spot, Croaker
• Striped Mullet
About six of these common bait fish are targeted by most of our sport fish living in the harbor.
Most anglers have heard the common name “white bait.” This is the most netted and fished bait fish. This group is made up of scaled sardine, Spanish sardine, and thread fin herring. They are the favorite meals of snook, redfish and sea trout. Many groupers will also feed on these fish, as well as tarpon of all sizes. Mullet is also favored by tarpon and snook. Many of the other identified bait fish are larger and are frequently found in grass flats, and deeper water sand and coral bottoms.
Bottom feeders such as grouper and snapper prefer the larger baitfish. While they will feed on smaller white baits, they do prefer the larger variety of bottom dwellers. Don’t forget sharks, who will feed on all baitfish species. Sharks will feed on a variety of snook, redfish, grouper, cobia, kingfish, and their favorite, the cow and stingray. The world record hammerhead shark, caught at the mouth of the Boca Grand Pass, weighed 1,262 pounds, including a 25-pound stingray it was chewing on at the time.
Most of the baitfish mentioned can be caught by chumming fish, bought at your local farm store, and then netted as they come up in schools to feed on the floating fish food. Many of the larger baitfish can be caught on tine strings of artificial baits called Subikki Rigs. These rigs are found in all stores selling fishing tackles. They are jigged up and down from the bottom, and usually several will attack the small artificial lures at once.
Most of these baitfish are best fished alive. A hook inserted through the fish’s nose or below its dorsal fin works best. If you cannot catch live baits, freshly frozen baitfish are either cut in chunks, or, fished dead on the bottom also attract many of our prized game fish. If you are going to fish offshore in deeper water, any of the larger baitfish mentioned above will work fine attached to a trolled rig or a strong bottom hook and sinker rig.
Tight Lines!
