But, this gives you an idea of how big pompano get in your area. A pompano's head slopes back gently with no abrupt change in angle - no humpPompano have more rays than a permit; 22 to 27 dorsal rays and 20-23 anal raysThe beginning of their anal fin starts further back than the beginning of their dorsal finPermit have dorsal and anal fins that are longer and drape back toward their tailPermit have sort of an appearance of a bump on their forehead, due to the change of angle to the slope of their headSometimes they have a dark spot under their pectoral finsHave fewer rays than a pompano. I prefer to hand tie my own so I can pick exactly what hooks, line, beads, and floats I want. Larger reels hold enough line to have a reserve left to be able to fight a large fish at the end of such a cast.To be clear, you don’t typically need long casts to catch pompano. If you’re going to target pompano, you might as well learn about whiting. If you have multiple rods, you will want to experiment to see what colors might work better on a particular day. Some of them have colorful skirts, others are designed to imitate shrimp and other foods that pompano eat. For these reasons, pompano are a great fish to target for tourists and beginners.in case you happen to run across a permit in the surf.
Sand fleas also known as mole crabs are known as one of the best baits you can use. I typically go with a 1 ounce pyramid weight when possible. But you can still find pompano in their usual places: the surf, grass flats, and deep inshore channels. That’s a tell tale sign that you have a pompano on the end of your line. This method will also keep them lively for quite a while. Finding an abundance of bait oftentimes means that you have found the fish.You really have two ends of a spectrum when it comes to surf fishing gear – a minimalist approach, or one that leans more towards a commercial fisherman. Using one of these as bait when fishing for pompano is always a good idea.Pompano fishing is one of the most popular in the fall because pompano migrate south as the water gets colder. You could be casting less than 20 yards, 30 yards, or over 60 yards. They are one of the Pompano are a flat, silvery fish with a wide forked tail, which makes for a very powerful swimmer. Those are really nice, but they are also REALLY expensive. Try to cut the squid into pieces about an inch long.You may also go to your bait shop and pick up clams and mussels to use as bait. I throw this “extra” rod out with a larger bait to target bigger fish, like bull reds. Before you can catch pompano, you first have to find them.
Just try to make sure your hook matches the size or your bait as best you can.For pompano you don’t need to use a powerful hookset. I’ll break down all aspects of when, where and how to catch them so you can “taste” success when targeting Florida Pompano.he lifespan is commonly only 3 to 4 years. If you find an area with a lot of fiddler crabs or sand fleas, you can be sure hungry pompano are close by.Chumming tends to work quite well for pompano. Even a 5 foot medium light rod would suffice most of the time. I usually only do that when targeting whiting. Try to find the sandbar and break the length of the beach to the sandbar into three sections. Many of the good ones are designed to imitate sand fleas. Rather than forcing the fish through the breaking waves, time your retrieve to let a rolling wave surf the hooked pompano onto the sand. This should give you plenty of power to cast far enough to reach pompano.Some anglers also like to use fly rods for fishing pompano. Pay attention to fishing reports to get clued in on when this activity begins.If you’re fishing the surf in fall, wind and giant waves can push the pompano either close to shore or far offshore. If you can find an area of beach that has a lot of small clams (coquina claims) lying around, that is a great spot to start fishing. This will happen quicker than you might imagine. As the sun comes up, the fish may move further off the beach to deeper water. Water temps are the name of the game and will dictate where you find pompano. So, I prefer a 2nd small soft sided cooler for that.