Florida

I'm involved in a project , sponsored by a forward thinking food chain. Were filming all sorts of foraging. We have already done SF and Portland. The producer threw out Florida in April as the next location. We all said "great", and when she left, looked at each other and said "wtf...we dont know shit about foraging/fishing florida!"
So here I am, humbly trying to source intel amongst my NCKA family.
We need to make a pitch next week.
Were looking for any foraging/fishing intel. Catch and eat fish. Also any foraging opportunities, plant or animal.
Any intel or possible contacts would be greatly appreciated.
Thanx
Sharky

I am planning on going in April myself. I will be heading to Islamorada trying for  the grand slam which is a Tarpon, Snook, Permit and a Bone fish all in one day. I have been twice and have caught all species but the grand slam seems to be eluding me so I will just keep trying as long as I can afford it. You picked a good month for Florida. Lots of things swimming around then.

Good luck with your journey.

Gators have made a come back, Pythons now live in the Everglades, Bass fishing is good just about everywhere.  Deer populatiuons have been healthy (at least when I lived there 1992-1995).  Salt water sharks are everywhere of every size and shape, Drum, trout, wahoo, and mackeral always seem to be on everyones mind down there.  Damn skunks are everywhere.  Any body of water can have a Gator in it. 

If your in the Punta Gorda area and want to go on a guided kayak fishing trip check out O-Sea-D Aquatics by buddy vince works there and he hires good fishing guides. http://www.oseadkayaking.com/kayak%20Fishing.html I fished mostly the Saint Pete area in tampa when i was going to college 06-10 Snook are great but recent cold years have killed a lot of them off. Redfish, grouper, snapper, spanish mackerel, mullet, and sheepshead area all great to catch and eat. Stone crab might be in season cant remember but those are good to. Get a cast net and go out to a pier for sardines or walk around the shore looking for big schools of mullet which are great fried but really good smoked. Sea trout like the grass beds while sheephead, snapper, and groupers can be found around bridge and dock pilings. Sea some birds diving on boiling fish then get over there asap and cast anything that looks like a silver fish and catch ladyfish, jacks, and mackerel. Didnt do any hunting or gathering but there might be shrooms my buddys always did amazing pig hunting and if you want to eat invasive turtles look for red ear sliders in any fresh body of water your near but watch your back for gaters  . Hope this is helpful

Wes

Thanks, great info. I like the idea of pythons and gators.
Im really interested in things like shellfish, crustaceans and small fish.
I would love to be pulling on tarpon or wahoo, but we probably won't be doing any classic game fishing for the shoot.

A great small panfish youll find at any dock in salt water is the pinfish. They are commonly used for bait but I have eaten the bigger ones panfrying them whole easy to catch use gear that you would for surfperch ex small hooks and small cut pieces of squid or shrimp.

Scalloping looks like a ton of fun but I think you're gonna be there a bit early for the season.

Any dock on the keys will have pinfish underneath and you can bring in loads more, and the fish that eat them, with a bag of chum. Most of the tackle shops sell frozen chum bags for a few bucks.

We had a great time catching pan size snapper off the docks. Chunk of mack or pinfish on a 1/0 hook just weighed down with a couple of pieces of split shot. Caught them all night - sounds like they would be good for your show. Plus grouper, small sharks and the occasional small barracuda.

Sounds like a good time man!