Hello all,
I am a life long fisherman; I have been fishing since I can remember, with small and big breaks here and there of course. By all means I am just a fisherman that loves to travel where ever I can. I have started my bucket list of places and things to do. I hope you enjoy what I post and remember that you can enlarge any picture by just clicking it.
The first thing I remember about fishing is doing so with my cousins every summer. We would use an old dark wine bottle, we would make a whole in the back of it and then filled it with rice and dropped it near the shore, we would wait for a few minutes and when we came back it was filled with sardines (the bait of choice for my cousins) we would catch some nice snappers on them. From there I fished with my father and his friends in many different places whenever they took me. When I was 15 I moved to Florida and I fell in love with its shores and the great fishing. In about 1985 I would go to a pier near by and would cast a spoon to get small cudas that I would later eat or use for bait, Mike, one of the pier attendants would always joke with me and would scream ” Hey, Cudaman when you going pay and fish the pier?” Hence I got me a nick name. Back then I loved catching Snook, Jacks, Macks, Permit, and small Sharks (what ever I could catch on a 6/0).
Fishing has always brought great things to my life, in the 80’s while in High School I was a kid getting in trouble all over the place, but then I met an amazing girl that got my attention but it took a bit for her father to like me better. After I brought him a few snook I was in the game and was allowed to go out with his daughter, LOL. I was so focused on her and fishing that I became a trouble free young man. I have been married with her for over 28 years now.
I have 2 daughters and a son, during the 80’s and 90’s I took them fishing with me while they were still in their strollers. When they started walking they would kill my sardines and sand fleas, they loved doing that. But that changed as they became my bait suppliers. In the 90’s I bought an 18’ Sea Squirt bay boat and would occasionally take my kids fishing with me, one of my memorable times was when we stayed in the Florida Keys for about 2 weeks and got burned to a crisp by the sun. There was great fishing there and they had a lot of fun. As they grew older and found friends they would no longer fish with me, the growing up thing happened. In the late 90’s I was laid off my job where I worked for 13 years as a grocery warehouse supervisor so I was forced to go to college (no one would take me for just experience) I was also forced to sell my boat and I practically stopped fishing for 3 years. Then after graduating I couldn’t find a job because I was over qualified, WHAT? Well I did find a job way after. Everything went a bit more stable and I was able to fish again. So if in these tough times you are experiencing problems, don’t worry it will all be ok.
Into the fishing again; one day out of nowhere my son got the itch so I took him to an old fishing ground of mines and reintroduced him to fishing again, Bear Cut bridge in Key Biscayne Florida, that night he kicked my butt . He caught 17 pinfish against 2 three pound snappers that I got. A few weeks after I took him to another bridge where we caught lots of blue fish, of which I put one on my 6/0 and one on my Penn 8500. The spinning reel got hit and my son 12 years old by then picked it up and almost got pulled under the bridge, he was like” MAAANNN THIS IS BETTER THAN PAINT BALLING” After that we went to basically all of my old shore bound fishing grounds, it was fun while it lasted, he is now married and in the US Army and basically just stopped going fishing with me since he is no longer close by. But I am glad to say all my kids would at least go fishing once a few months with me. I now dedicate my self to fishing for big fish if I can find them.
Now that you know me a bit better, you know that I am just a simple fisherman that loves his family. Hopefully I will be able to start fishing more often and will be able to visit many places. I decided to start blogging so I can keep track of my fishing in a better way and won’t have to be searching forums where I dropped the last report. This has led to writing information of places I visit plus things I have done and so I am sharing those too along with some pictures and at times some videos. My intentions are always of good behavior and always hope that I can help someone. I always learn something new and hope you will like my reports and adventures and at least learn a thing or two from them.
Thank you for stopping by,
Herbert AKA “Cudaman”
ShoreBound Adventures 
Know anyone who could spend a half a day or so with a couple of 70 yr old semi-retirees teaching us the fundamentals of bridge fishing in the Keys… then turn us loose on our own for the few days we’ll have left? We’re considering a short trip from Virginia to the Keys in early April.
Hi, just let me know a couple of weeks before you get there. I fish around the Keys very often and so do some of my friends. Just let me know what area you will be staying at and I can tell you what bridge or bridges to go to. It won’t take long before you learn to take a nice snapper dinner home. You can leave a message here with your email and ask for it not to be published I will usually respond within 24 or 48 hours.
Hey Cudaman, Very short notice, Taking my son and his friends for some night bridge fishing tonite in the florida keys. What bridges would you recomend for some dinner fish on Sunday morning.
The cold front killed the bite on the bridges so far (Sat morning). I have a few friends there now. If you can go as far as 7 mile bridge that woul be it. If not Tom’s harbour might have some mangroves as it warms up. Mackerel and yellow jacks might show up as well.
Great thanks. I will be taking a lantern to drop down close to water and possibly atract some bait to fish with. I have some sabikis for said task. What’s your take on this wild idea?
It works great. The bait will come and go the small tarpons will hang around the light as well.
Very sorry for firstly not comending you on this great and wonderful fishing Blog, again thanks for the advice.
Not a problem. Thanks and you are welcome.
Roberto, how can i get in touch with you regarding a trip to Pulley ridge with Caspt Ralph aboard the Outta Control
Hello Anthony, my name is Herbert 🙂 you can email me at shoreboundadventures @ gmail.com
Cudaman, I was on the Pulley Ridge trip last weekend. I have been trying to contact you to see if you would mind if I used a few of the pictures you posted on Tuna 360. I’m putting a post about the trip on the Fla Sportsman Forum and some of my pictures didn’t turn out that well. I was fishing with Joe. Thanks, Bob Hummel
Absolutely, go right ahead.
Thanks, I’ll be sure to give you credit
I really appreciate that.
Great bio cudaman. Tight lines.
Thanks Mike!
What is cost of Capt Yuri Fishing Trip
July 21, 2014 – July 24, 2014, is there still room for said trip.
Hi, no more room for that trip. The trips are private charters. You will need up to 6 people to go fishing and might have to make reservations one year in advance. You can go to Captain Yuri’s website for charter information. http://www.tortugasfishing.com look at his Rates link. Up to 6 people $3,800 before April 2015.
Hey cuda man, I’m pretty novice to fishing I’ve been fishing from bridges in the keys to piers and jetties and I haven’t caught a single fish, I’ve been using dropper loop rigs with dead shrimp. Is there any advice you can give me? Thanks For the great site
Sure you can start by using circle hooks on those dropper loop rigs. If you got the rigs from a tackle store or Walmart, I would recommend you to practice making them your self. If not a fish finder rig would be a good choice. Try fishing just before, during, and after the tide changes, it usually produces more bites. You can also take a little bit of time and read my suggestions on the fishing bridges article or my bridge or jetty fishing reports, you might find something that will help you. Good luck!
Hey Cudaman, me, my girlfriend and a couple friends are coming down next week (Jan 18-23) to do some bridge fishing for my girl’s birthday and i’m just wondering if you could give me a few tips on where to go, what is hitting, and on what. Its our 1st trip down and I want to make it a good one for her. Any help would be greatly appreciated and awesome blog I learn more reading this than the last three weeks searching online.
Thanks for the feed back and since you are going with your girlfriend I recommend that you stick to the smaller bridges like Channel #2 at mile marker 73, there is a restroom at Ann’s Beach right across the street and is within walking distance. The restroom opens during daylight hours. Only problem at Chanel #2 is that it’s the first bridge so most people stop there first. Another great pair of bridges are Tom’s Harbor Cut and Tom’s Harbor Channel these are at mile marker 61 and mm 60. Between these 2 bridges you have Duck Key which has a small shop at the marina with restrooms and showers. Right now people are reporting Yellow Jacks which are delicious to eat. You can buy pin fish or catch your own with sabiki rigs and tiny morsels of squid tentacles (tiny enough for the small hooks). Do so in the grass beds near the bridges. Just in case, also buy some fresh ballyhoo on your way to the bridge. There will be a few mackerel and Jack Crevales so be ready with silver spoons, white buck tails, or gotcha plugs. There will always be mangrove snappers in those bridges as well. The resident Tarpons will be fun. Hope this helps and good luck fishing.
Hey thanks for all the info…just a few more questions if you don’t mind. What kind of setup is best? We planned on using our gear we use for shore fishing here in Myrtle Beach but starting to think we may be in over our heads lol. I have a 6.6 rod with a spinner reel and my girl has a 8′ pole with a conventional reel. Also wanted to know if you would recommend any other fishing spots not on the bridges…we would love to grab a charter but funds wont let us so we need to find a shore spot or two. Again thanks for all the info its been a great help
Sorry for the late response. Your gear will be good enough. It’s best to stick to the bridges when land based fishing from the Keys. But yes, you can also fish from the beginning part of the bridges. you will find most parts to be shallow.There are a few areas like Indian Key where the canals for the old lobster fleet runs along the island. Look at Google and you will understand what I mean. You can fish those land spots, but some places you will have kayakers launching from them so if you see anything that looks like a small launch site just fish to side of it. You can even park your car close to it in some of those areas.
Hi Cudaman….I’m not the “robert” who asked you about fishing with his girlfriend.
However if the other robert sends a photo of her, perhaps I would be interested.
I’m the Robert who made contact with you last year about March-April fishing in the Keys but I’ve yet to schedule a trip.
LOL, I guess my site sent a reply to all on this page. Good luck when you decide on a trip.
Hello Cudaman I’m fishing pulley ridge on the Yankee Captains this summer ..ive already paid for the trip so that I wouldn’t chicken out …I live in California and getting me and all of the gear required there is going to be no small undertaking. ive never done a trip like this and only a little offshore fishing out my way but plenty of inshore ..I am waiting to get an electric reel at our big fishing expo in March (The Fred Hall Show) but I was able to get the rods and the reels he suggested on the website ..im concerned about bait though after reading numerous post on different forums I see how important it can be for certain fish ..I want to have every advantage or resource at my disposal to catch as many fish as possible and hopefully some big ones ..everthing I catch will be a first for me so any bait advice fishing advice including boat ettiquitte will be greatly appreciated I am also interested in possibly trying Jigging this trip but have not a clue where to start ..I believe we are actually going to be on the same trip June 19th so maybe you could give me half of the suggestions and advice before the trip and the rest on the boat ..any and all advice appreciated more than I can say.. oh and the mutton fishing definitely never done anything like that …im very excited and June cant get here quick enough for me or my wife ..im driving her a little crazy with all of the videos and all the fish talk
Hi Freddie, your going to have a great time. Don’t sweat the bait thing. Pulley Ridge is mostly about squid. The boat provides squid and you can get it at the nearby baitshops as well. For night mutton and grouper any oily bait will work. You can catch spanish mackerel, barracudas, blue runners from the bridges in the keys. If I get to fish that day I can hook you up with some bait. That won’t be a problem.
Hi Cudaman, Thanks for your blog. I’m Joni and I just moved down to the Keys (I’m in Little Torch) and new to salt water fishing. Can you advise what type of tackle you would suggest for starting my new adventure? I’ll be fishing from the shore and bridges. I got my pole, but unsure about what type of tackle to get started with. Many thanks for any and all advice.
You’re welcome and thanks. Best thing to do is read this article: https://cudamanadventures.com/fishing-the-florida-key-bridges/bridge-fishing-in-the-florida-keys/
Just to start, get a set of Penn Battle II reels (one for 15 lb line and one for 20 lb line) and a set of 7 foot to 8 foot fast action rods. The crew at World Wide Sportsman in Islamorada or a local tackle shop can help you with a rod choice. You will be ready to have fun with the snappers and other fish around the bridges. March is great for Tarpon fun. Good luck!
Very good communication skills,articles are well done also.I wanted to know is the fishing at the end of the bridges and along the wingwalls decent? I’m getting older and would rather fish closer to the water. Are any of the bridges better for this.thanks.
Hi, for less walking the Channel #2 and both Tom Harbors bridges are best. The longer bridges hold decent fish at just about every pylons. It’s all about getting away from the crowd and having some personal space to enjoy the fishing.
Thanks , I’ll load the ole zebco 33 and a few fortys on the hoveround and give it a shot.