What type of set-up do I need for inshore fishing in Florida?

[Anchorman]

I've got a couple Penn 5500's and a pair of med-heavy 7' ugly sticks.
I'm thinking of spooling up with some 30-40 lb superbraid, and finishing it off with a 3-5' piece of 20-25 lb flourocarbon leader.  Hav,nt considered hooksize, weight,and bait yet. How about artificials?
Target species is Sea trout, reds, and snook.
I live up in New York, and am going down to Tampa for a couple weeks.
Any suggestions would be extremely appreciated, and helpful.
Thanks,
Anchorman

[Anchorman]

Hello,
I was just going over the state regulations for Florida, and it does'nt look as though I can pursue snook in July anyhow.
Anchorman

[gudkatch]

Anchorman check your IM's

[Hood]

As for the snook being closed thats ok, there are so many different fish down there you will have fun catching them all, just like any closed season you just cant keep them but you will probably catch them.  For tackle any medium weight rod rated for 15-30 lb line should be fine. I dont know what part of NY you are in but if you fish long island for bass and blues the rod you use for that will be fine. If you are targeting reds and trout, you will want shrimp type imitations for your artificials, theres all sorts of jigs and soft plastics that will suffice. hook size should be no larger than 3/0 or 4/0 if your using chunk or live bait. I see a lot of the guys on the redfish tour using a minnow under a popper float.  They throw em out and pop the float along and pause then repeat.  Your best bet for bait is to stop into a local shop or 2 and get a feel for what bait is in the area, they will prolly have stocks of frozen and maybe even live bait. Good luck Anchorman and post your results when u get back!!

[Anchorman]

Hi Guys,
Thanks for that info. I can't wait to put it to use. Therea a place I stay at that has a trib about 1/2 a mile long that dumps into the ocean, it runs underneath Alt 19. It is tidal, and when it comes in from the ocean and under the road, the tide raises and lowers a 3/4 acre pond. I got a feeling the reds, or something come up into this pond chasing bait, because i've seen some incredible surges (multiple) and wakes in the water, and the only thing i've seen up here in NY do that is otter and beaver, so it's gotta be big. The channel under the road out to sea is all of 5-7 feet deep, and 10-12 feet wide.
Thanks again.
Anchorman

[Anchorman]

Well, I got down to the gulf, but my adventure was short lived.
It seems that the red tide has killed obscene amounts of fish in the Clearwater area. I'm sure the hurricane has
put an end to it by now, but a week or so ago, there were literally thousands of fish washed up dead. 15lb + snook, reds, sea trout, fish I can't even name,  even a couple 4-500LB goliath grouper. A true shame. The time I did fish, within 10 minutes of wetting the line, the bay was swarming with pods of porpoise/dolphin. So I said the hell with it, and went to the theme parks.
Anchorman

[Hood]

That sucks man, especially those goliaths....they are one badass fish.