Lures-Only Charters Catching on

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Lures-Only Charters Catching on
By CAPT. MEL BERMAN, Florida Fishing Weekly

For most inshore guides, running live bait charters is a confidence thing. Their clients usually have little or no skills and, by simply tossing out a live offering, the odds of catching something will be an almost certainty. Yet there is a growing legion of skippers who have decided to run their charter business without the extra work of tossing chum and nets, using lures exclusively for their fishing trips.

Some of the pioneers in this concept were told that they would not enjoy the success that their live baiter colleagues have.

Yet, many more guides have elected to shut down their live wells and go artificials only. How have they succeeded as fishing guides? For the answers, we spoke with some west coast skippers who are actually making a living conducting lures-only charters.

Capt Fred Kremer, who fishes from Clearwater to Tarpon Springs, is one skipper who said that he has never ever had any live bait on his 18-foot Maverick – not even for kids. “For youngsters, I use one of those float/lure combos. They can actually see the strike, and feel it” He said that the combo not only helps kids to catch fish, but less experienced adults also get used to what it’s like to get a strike. “With the kids, casting is the problem – getting it out. So if they can’t cast, I cast for them and hand them the rod. And they enjoy working the combo back in. So it’s easy for them.”

Sarasota’s Capt. Rick Grassett is a skipper who pioneered artificials only charters here on the Florida Suncoast and is probably one of the great success stories that other guides have emulated.

”That was the way I learned to fish, primarily with artificials in Delaware, where I did a lot of bass fishing, so I was comfortable fishing plugs and jigs and plastic bait,” he said. “That’s what came most natural to me when I began fishing here in Florida.”

”Now some skippers feel that, because people don’t have a lot of fishing skills, live bait’s better for them. But I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of teaching someone how to cast and how to work a lure. And I had some guides say “well, I had kids on the boat – so we had to use live bait. But I find just the opposite,” said Grassett. ”Most kids enjoy casting, and can learn how to cast with a spinning rod. And if you can get them casting and working that lure, they’re kept busy, instead of just sitting there hoping something will bite their live bait.”

”With lures, you can cover a lot of water,” said Capt. Fred Kremer. “With live bait fishing, you sit in one spot, fish for a while, watch your bait swim around and if nothing’s biting you go to another spot. But with lures, you work a greater area and enhance your chances of catching fish.”

Manatee County Guide Ray Markham agrees. “A lot of guides don’t think that people possess very good casting skills. And that is one ability required to throw artificial baits. You have to be able to cast, and to cast accurately as well. I find that as long as my clients can get the bait away from the boat they can catch fish.”

Capt. Joe Hebert of Clearwater has been running lures-only instructional charters. He said that one of the first things he teaches his novice clients is to keep a tight line. “Most that use live bait tend to not to do that. But when they snug up the line, they can feel the bite.”

He starts out drifting the flats for easy to catch species such as sea trout. “Then, once they become accustomed to using artificials, we’ll take them out for reds or snook -- but just getting comfortable catching trout gives them a bit more confidence to go for the more challenging species.”

What are some of the challenges when using artificials? According to Hebert, “the biggest decision is finding lures that attract fish under the broadest ranges of circumstances.” He adds that “there are a handful of baits that everybody uses, like artificial shrimp or jigs that attract fish without any effort at all.”

And what advice would these lures-only skippers give to those who want to make the switch from live to lures? Capt. Rick Grassett believes that one has to develop some confidence, and be persistent. “The best way to get that confidence is to leave the live bait at home and only bring artificials. Once you develop a bit of confidence, you will fish those lures more effectively.”

Capt. Fred Kremer said that someone making the switch to lures should “take the time to do it. I know I still get a lot of people that try it, but often they don’t stick with it. When they try lures, they get frustrated when they don’t get results right away and revert back to what worked for them before.”

”Keep it simple. Select basic baits, .like a jig, a spoon, some sort of noisy topwater bait,” adds Capt. Ray Markham. He advises tossing different lures for working the entire water column. And one should always use good tackle so that they’ll be able to cast a greater distance. “I also suggest that a braided line like PowerPro is the absolute way to go to increase your distance, especially when using artificials. If you can get them farther away from the boat, the less you spook the fish.”

What are some recommended “starter baits” for beginning lures-only anglers? Grassett suggests “the jig is probably the best first lure that you can use because you can duplicate so many things with that by using different sizes, and different weights of jig heads. You can fish them shallow, you can fish them deeper. You can duplicate anything from shrimp to crabs by using various types of plastic tails.”

He said those who are just getting into artificials should go with a few basic types of lures. Maybe one box of jigs and one box of plastic shrimp, and another with plugs.”

Markham recommends keeping it simple. “Select basic baits – like a jig, a spoon, some sort of noisy topwater bait. Choose different lures for working the entire water column.”

Most conclude that you can’t beat an artificial shrimp as a good beginner type bait. “Every species in saltwater eats shrimp,” said Capt. Fred Kremer. So that’s where I’d start. But no matter which bait you use, or what your skill level, if you’re not fishing where the fish are, you’re not gonna catch anything.” He recommends trying different things, and once you find a lure that works for you, stick with it. Kremer said that it’s always a good idea to go out with someone who fishes artificials who can demonstrate you what you need to know. “You can learn more in four hours by fishing with a skilled angler who uses lures exclusively than you can in four years if you try to learn on your own.”