First-time anglers don't always know that catching live bait is an important part of their charter. There are some fish that will eat shrimp and crabs, that we can buy from the bait shop, but if you really want a great day on the water we need to catch live pilchards or mullet before we put our lines in the water. Also, with live bait is allows us to fish for a wider variety of fish during the day.

Clients are excited to start fishing as quickly as possible but once they have fished in the Florida Keys a few times they realize how important it is to catch the bait. It can also be an exciting part of the trip. Sometimes we throw a net on the bait and sometimes we can all put lines out and try to catch it. It just depends on the season and what type of bait we are trying to catch.

The bait can be very elusive and sometimes it can take us a while to find it (it is moving all the time). But our clients soon learn that it is worth the wait to have that live bait. It promises to make the fishing day more exciting!

This time of year we are fishing for tarpon most days so these pictures below show me catching mullet. Soon the mullet will move out and we will be back on the hunt for pilchards.