The Best Bait for Ocean Fishing
If you plan to do ocean fishing, then it’s best to use natural baits if you want to catch ocean game fish. The top bait includes baitfish, as well as clams and crustaceans, as well as squid and additional types of sea creatures. If you match up the right kind of bait that the ocean fish you want to catch loves to eat, then your chances improve drastically.
What type of Bait Fish to Use when Saltwater Fishing?
Ocean baitfish that work well for catching game fish in the ocean include species like menhaden and mullet, as well as eels and herring, along with sardines, pilchards, and ballyhoo. Based on info from the Take Me Fishing site, several methods of rigging exists when using baitfish.
You can freeline them by attaching your hook to the tails, or if you want to troll the bait, hook it to the eye sockets, nose, and lips. You can also choose to cut up the bait, as certain breeds of ocean game fish like snappers, groupers, tuna and cobia like baitfish that’s been cut into fillets, strips, steaks or other kinds of pieces.
What type of Crustaceans to Use when Fishing in the ocean?
A lot of game fish in the ocean like a drum or sheepshead eat almost only certain kinds of crustaceans. They eat crabs like blue or fiddler, as well as shrimp or lobster, along with sand fleas and several other types. Anglers should attach a live crab to their hook via a hole in the side of their shell. Plus, if you use shrimp, it’s simple to hook them via their tails. Or you can decide to use pieces of dead crustaceans or whole dead ones.
What are the recommended Sea Worms for Catching Saltwater Fish?
Many guidebooks say it’s a good idea to use sea worms to catch some kinds of game fish in the ocean. This could include fish like striped bass, as well as cod and pollock, as well as flounders and flukes, halibuts, or mackerels. Fishers can get sea worms that are live or have been preserved, including sand and ragworms, along with lugworms, etc. at all bait stores on the coast. It’s better to use worms that are alive, or you can use
pieces of dead ones.
What kind of shellfish makes Good Bait?
When it comes to shellfish for bait, you can try mussels, welks, clams, or conchs. Be sure to take out the meat if there is a heavyweight shell. If the shell is lightweight, you can crush it. Be sure to cut up more substantial pieces, so the fish have a bite-sized piece to grab. Then, all that’s left is to put your bait on your hook and get to fishing.
Octopus and Squid as Bait
The Take Me Fishing site online recommends octopus and squid to catch ocean fish such as croakers and sea bass, as well as amberjack and dolphin along with bluefish. You can use whole ones if they are small or cut the bait up into strips or chunks. That works great if you want to toll or bottom fish or do float fishing.
The Best Lures for Fishing in the Ocean
You’ll be happy to find out that you only need seven lures for fishing in the ocean to catch game fish just about anywhere worldwide. These lures exist, and likely you already own a couple of them too.
Therefore, if you travel around and want to pack a tackle box that is sure to help you catch ocean game fish just about everywhere worldwide, and not have to bring a massive tackle setup, these are the seven lures you should bring:
Where in the world do these seven ocean fishing lures catch fish? Just about anywhere there’s an ocean or sea. I have used them in more than ten different countries, and my catches have included multiple species of ocean fish.
Seven Vital Lures for Ocean Fishing
(these are good almost anywhere worldwide)
1. Paddle tail Soft Plastic Lure
A Paddle tail soft plastic lure is genuinely the top versatile lure for ocean fishing. You will get all kinds of gamefish which eat small baitfish to strike at it. The lure has a soft tail that produces fantastic movement as it goes through the water, and that makes it get a strike even if you use a straight sort of retrieve.
The top reason it ranks so highly is you can also use it at several varied depths. It can be put onto a jig head and used in water as low as a mere ten inches via a fast, tip-up type of retrieve. However, you can make your next cast as far down as five or more feet if you put the tip of the rod downward and make your retrieve slower.
Lots of places make this lure, and a great one is Zman as they have a unique kind of material called ElaZtech that’s tops at taking tons of punishment even if it’s from ocean game fish with lots of teeth. I love the Slam Shady hue pattern of this lure, as it has several clear advantages you can see here.
2. Gold Spoon Lure
A gold spoon lure is a core lure used by more people who do inshore ocean fishing than any additional lure worldwide. It can be purchased in many different colors (i.e., there’s a silver version), as well as various shapes. Plus, there are weedless, single hook, treble hook, and more.
There’s not a single type of spoon that works the best, but you likely won’t go wrong if you use a traditional version of a gold spoon, as that’s known to be attractive to many kinds of game fish in the ocean. One popular gold spoon is called a Johnson spoon, which is available for sale online for low prices.
3.Berkley Gulp Shrimp
Most ocean gamefish love shrimp! And this is the best fake shrimp lure I have ever seen. It can be utilized in almost any fishing situation, no matter if you want to use it on grass flats or go jigging in deep water.
These lures come in lots of varying colors, but I love the white ones and the ones that are a new penny hue. They have worked consistently for me to catch fish. Amazon is a great place to find reasonable prices for them.
4. White Bucktail
Nowadays, you can get these lures in many different colors or nutty flairs. However, I remember fondly when I once fished at Marco Island and had fun all day using a Mille’s White Bucktail lure. I was able to snag all kinds of fish like redfish, tarpon, speckled trout, and snook with it. And even now it’s a fantastic choice of lure.
5. Topwater Lure / Popper
You can’t go wrong with this topwater ocean lure. These days you can find lots of topwater lures to pick from. But this original topwater plug called the Zara Spook, which is made by Heddon is still tops. I suggest the four and a half to five-inch model. And I think the bone-colored version is a great choice.
Another pricier but great topwater lure is called a Yo-Zuri Sashimi Metallic Sardine Popper. You can use it to catch great significant kinds of ocean game fish worldwide. These kinds of baits are fun to go fishing with.
6. Soft Plastic Fluke Lure (Jerkbait)
If you want a lure good for not only saltwater but also brackish or fresh, then this fluke lure is the one to get. It works just about everywhere. Indeed, it’s likely an example of a top overall fake lure for fresh and ocean angling. Zoom Bait is a brand that makes these that you can use in fresh and saltwater fishing.
These can be used weedless as well as near the surface. Plus, you can attach them to a weighted hook if you want to fish farther down. They are that versatile!
Be aware! The Zoom company provides these lures in more than twenty-five colors. However, I like the White Pearl or Watermelon varieties.
7. MirrOLure Suspending Twitch bait
If you only can own one kind of twitch bait lure, then get this one! It’s excellent as it’s meant to seem like a glass minnow, and that’s a top baitfish that many ocean game fish love to eat. This lure is quite versatile and can be used in several ways, as well as at varying depths in the water. Plus, there are lots of shapes and hues to choose from.
Conclusion on Baits and Lures for Saltwater Fishing
It’s not necessary to own 100s of fishing lures if you want to go ocean fishing worldwide. Plus, if you plan to go ocean fishing somewhere you have not been before, these seven ocean fishing lures are the ones to bring. Maybe all seven won’t catch fish every single time, but that is true of any lure. However, you’ll catch fish nearly all the time with them.