Barramundi are not a native species to Florida, however, there is a business who brought them to Florida as a food fish. There are guided fishing opportunities available through Osceola Outback Adventures. Mike was our guide for the 2 days and he had a good balance of stepping in to help with the kiddos and backing off once he knew we were good to go. We had a lot of fun and Mike definitely added to the enjoyment of our trip.
These Fish are Strong
I learned quickly that these fish are super strong. I also learned not to leave my rod unattended because they will also eat your bait as it pauses on the bottom.
Curly Tail Grubs Worked Best for Numbers
For numbers, we did best with curly tail grubs. Most of our fish came by fishing the grubs weightless. The slow fall after a twitch was tough for them to resist.
Hard Jerkbaits Work Great
Our guide had a bunch of hard jerkbait rods setup for us. They do not allow treble hooks there, so he had them setup with a single hook on back. We used most of our own tackle on the trip, but if you are coming down here, there is a very good chance you will be fishing with hard jerkbaits. They work for numbers and quality fish too.
3 Inch Soft Finesse Minnows Worked Great
We also caught so many barramundi on a 3 inch soft plastic finesse minnow that looked very realistic. We fished it mostly weightless and it got the fish to start eating. We had a little lull to start and then once we switched to these baits, the bite got really good in a hurry.
Ringworms
Ringworms also worked well and got us our biggest barramundi while down here. We didn’t fish the ringworms for long, but I definitely recommend using them in a color that mimics a baitfish.
Soft Plastic Shrimp
On the first trip here, the soft plastic shrimp worked great. On the second trip, we could not catch a fish on them, so these fish can definitely turn on and off for certain baits. The soft plastic shrimp baits are worth trying though, since we did have a lot of success on them on our first visit here.
Swimbaits
We fished swimbaits for a little bit and did not have much luck. I don’t know if I would recommend them on your trip to start. These fish really like the bait to pause, so a steady retrieve was not the best bait for us down here. However, it is fun to catch a nice barramundi on a swimbait.
Spider Parts
I wanted to see if they would hit my spider parts bait, so I fished it for about 15 minutes at the end of one or our days fishing here. I got one to bite, which was cool, but I do not know if it would have caught a bunch more or not. The spider jig is a great bait for bass, so I figured I would try it out here too.
