My goal is to go kayak fishing in the ocean but, first, I should probably learn how to fish. I don't know anything about fishing in saltwater. I've been reading  a lot on saltwater fishing regulations. The variety of fish seems overwhelming. Let alone remembering what's in season, minimum length, and how much you can keep. After a lot of research, I decided to go after the common Whiting fish. The only restriction on Whiting I could find is to keep it under 100lbs a day. I think I can handle that.

I did a lot of reading and it seems fishing the bottom with a Dropper Loop Rig and some shrimp was my safest bet. I found this great youtube video that explains how to tie a Dropper Loop Rig:

Armed with my new found knowledge, I went to Panama City Beach last Sunday and picked up the following:

• 7' Rod and Reel combo
• 3oz Pyramid Weights
• Frozen Shrimp
• Circle Hook set
• Fishing License

I went down to St. Andrews Park and fished from the shore and pier with no luck. I tried fishing from the Jettys and immediately got stuck in the rocks. The weather has been quite bad and the water was rather dirty so I'll chock my bad luck to that. I was also using size 2 and 3 circle hooks on a double dropper rig and I think they might have been too big.

I'm an IT Professional who lives pretty close to the Florida panhandle. Recently, I've been wondering why I don't take advantage of this great resource. I've been to the beach a lot, sure, but I haven't done much outside of that. 

On a recent beach outing, I saw a gentleman drag a fishing kayak to the water, hop in, and paddle off. It really struck me how easy things looked. No worrying about boat ramps, boating licenses, or gas. So that is my goal. Like most problems in life, I will reach this goal using the power of Google.