So I have a buddy coming to visit from home (South Carolina) next month. He has a 23 ft Sea Hunt and is coming for a weekend of fishing. I only do inshore fishing and we will be wanting to go to offshore reefs and trolling etc... I have a friend that is a part time charter captain on the east coast near indian river and he would be able to give me current info about what is biting and where. Then on the other hand I could fish out of Tampa and use this forum as a resource as well as general listed reefs.

Basically we do not much care from where we fish, we just want the most success. So what are you all's opinions as to where we should put in.

The other side is foreign to me mostly but from what I've seen it is more of a trolling for pelagics kinda gig. I have done a little bit of that in the keys but I don't really know much. I can tell you that if you don't have the gear and know-how to troll then you might be spinning your wheels. I say save your gas and stick to this side. You can go out to the skyway and put him on some poons, run out 10 miles and load up on groupers, kings, and snappers, and hit the deep edges of some flats for some trouts all in a days work. Tampa is pretty much awesome.

groupernugget wrote:
Agreed.

We definitely have an awesome fishery. Doesn't get much better than this.

But if you have a guide friend on the east coast I would give it a try for sure...you can catch tons of nice fish out there if he'll give you numbers.

If you can get sailfish and dolphin within 10 miles of this coast , then by all means, stay here on the West coast. If not, go somewhere between Ft Pierce and Stuart (kingfish alley).

BTW, the big (40+ lbs) snook are in both the inlets. Big schools of Bull reds and 50-60 lb cobia are there also. For me, it's not even a contest!

Check the weather very carefully!!!

Hmm all good points... And yes I would be given some good numbers, but groupernugget makes a point... btw they have the gear and are experienced with trolling so that would not be a problem
So jerrbare, are you saying kings and dolphin will be close to shore and in season on the east coast?

I would have your friend get as many reports a possible to see if is worth going to east coast. If the reports are good where he is familiar than I would go with his expertise. To me if my options were to either go with someone who knows an area or explore another area I don't know, I would go with the person who knows. That's just me. Both coasts are great fishing, if you know where to go.the advantage of the eat coast is that if you go far enough south like ft Lauderdale, your only like 1 mile from the gulf stream where mahi and sailfish thrive.

Id rather go fish the east coast.

groupernugget said, "I say save your gas and stick to this side."

Somehow I was thinking SC was closer to our east coast than it is to the Tampa area. Learn something new every day!!

BTW, I've personally caught dolphin, sails and kings within 5 miles of the Ft Pierce inlet. And snook and Tarpon inside the inlet at Stuart.

Listen to the radio show on AM 740, Orlando on Sat mornings from 7-9 AM. Call in and ask questions.

I vote East Coast for offshore! I grew up fishing between palm beach and miami and the offshore fishing is nearly a no brainer on the other side. We never really trolled either, just drift fished a lot and there were always plenty of kings, mahi, bonita, mutton snapper, and wahoo to go around. And if you fished a bottom rig you would get a huge mix bag of stuff like triggerfish, lane snapper, yellow tail snapper, and big grunts, which are all great for frying up.

The biggest factor is how much ground do you want to cover? On the west coast you need to go out past 10-15 miles a lot of times (sometimes as much as 20-30) to get to prime locations. Not a big deal if you plan for it, but you need more travel time and fuel, plus food to take with you.

On the east coast I've caught everything listed above within 1 mile of the beach, a lot of the time I was in a 16ft skiff. So you save on fuel, plus you can run in for lunch or if the weather gets snotty.

Well all things considered, I think east coast fishing with local captains insight is going to be my best bet. Thanks for all the input.