Snowbirds from the Northeast looking to escape the winter wonderland head south to Florida’s boundless East, West and Keys coastlines to fish, but the key to a happy trip is to be properly prepared for productivity. From clothing to tackle, be ready to tackle all aspects of weather, conditions and species of fish. Weather wise, even though its usually swelteringly hot, mornings on the water do get chilly and bright, always remember to pack Costa polarized sunglasses, Grunden’s Stormlight windbreaker and a pair of Columbia wading shoes.

Whether you fish from bridges, shorelines or via boat, you want to cover all angles of tackle for a variety of species and environments such as snapper on the bridges, speckled trout in the channels, tarpon rolling off the bulkhead, snook off the docks, etc. Fill a Plano 3700 series Tackle Bag with practical gear first, including a Headlamp, Calcutta Pliers and scissors, and a simple bait knife. Pack a variety of leader material Trik Fish 40 to 60-pound mono or 20 to 60-pound Seaguar Fluorocarbon. Grab a couple Plano 3700 pro-latch storage boxes and fill them with basic terminal tackle to cover everything from livelining to chunking, including Gamakatsu or Owner Octopus and Baitholder hooks size #8 to 8/0, 75-pound barrel swivels, 50-pound TA Clips, bobber floats, and bank and egg sinkers from ½-ounce to 4 ounces. There are countless options when it comes to artificial lures to throw, but I usually pack lures that will cover popping, plugging and jigging including Bomber A-Salts, 1 to 2-ounce Crippled Herring and Williamson Gomoku jigs, Storm paddletail shads, 3/8 to 2-ounce white or chartreuse bucktails, Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows, Creek Chub and Tactical Angler poppers, ¼ to 1-ounce Kalin’s leadheads to tip with Berkley Gulp! New Penny Shrimp, Swimmin’ Minnows or soft rubber baits 4 to 5-3/4 inch Bass Assassins and Fin-S fish.

Finally, for my travel weapon of choice, I’ve tested and believe in a St. Croix, TIS70MHF3 7-foot three-piece travel rod rated 10 to 20-pound, matched with a Shimano Stradic 5000 reel, spooled with 30-pound Power Pro braid. Phew! That’s a lot of info there, but believe It or not, it’s a basic rundown on what to bring to battle any Florida fish you may come across. You never want to be underprepared when breaking away for a few hours from the resort to wet a line. This checklist should be a good jumping off point this winter to get any traveling angler heading to Florida in the game.