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When fishing the backcountry, you never know what you will catch. Along with the main target species (snook, redfish, seatrout, tarpon), you will undoubtedly catch a number of other species. These other species of fish available to the backcountry angler include:

  • Ladyfish: 1- 5 lbs. Also called “Poor Man’s Tarpon,” these fish are very acrobatic and are a ball to catch on light tackle. They will readily take live bait, artificial, or a fly.

  • Jack Crevalle: 1-15 lbs. A very powerful fish for their size. Like the Lady is the “Poor Man’s Tarpon,” the Jack Crevalle is the “Poor Man’s Permit.” These fish are known for their long runs and stamina, and will fight hard all the way to the boat. They will also take live bait, artificial, and are great for the novice fly caster.

  • Catfish: 1- 2 lbs. Not one of our most sought-after gamefish or favorite species to catch, but we do seem to land at least a few in the course of a day’s fishing. Will take live or dead bait. Sluggish fight.

  • Shark: 5 – 250 lbs. There are a considerable amount of sharks in the backcountry, ranging from small to very large. Lemon sharks, black tip sharks, bull sharks… and I am sure a few other species also swim in these waters. All of these sharks will give you a long, hard fight, and will sometimes even jump. Sharks are primarily scavengers and are caught mainly on dead bait.

  • Black Drum: 1 – 15 lbs. Cousin to the red drum or redfish, these fish inhabit the channels and deeper holes in the backcountry. They will provide the angler with a good fight on light tackle and can be caught on both live or dead bait.

These 5 highlighted species, however, are by no means the only additional ones to be found in Florida’s backcountry waters. Other species living on the flats include flounder, bluefish, cero mackeral, Spanish mackerel, tripletail, goliath grouper, sawfish—to name but a few. These fish are not caught quite as often as the above mentioned 5 species, but we do occasionally hook into one of these, which makes a fishing trip in the backcountry even more interesting and exciting!