What is the best bait to use when fishing in the Florida Keys ?

The answer to this question lies pretty much with what type of fish you are trying to catch. In the absence of this knowledge I will go over the various forms of live bait available. Shrimp are by far the best and most widely used live bait. You can and will catch just about anything on a shrimp. I have caught large tarpon weighing over fifty pound on shrimp. You also will catch many snappers on shrimp, as well as any number of other fish. You cannot go wrong using a lively shrimp for bait. Blue crabs are also an excellent bait. They are primarily used for catching large permit but also will be taken by a wide variety of fish, including tarpon. They are best fished when pursuing Permit on shallow grass flats. Pinfish are the bait of choice when fishing with a live fish. They are in a sense the bluegills of the sea. They are plentiful, shaped much like a bluegill with spines across their back. When using pinfish you will catch many of the same fish you catch with shrimp except that you will eliminate most of the small ones. You will also make it more likely to catch a shark, as shark seem to be the only fish that don%u2019t readily take shrimp. Pilchards are the last of the commonly used live baits. They are small silver fish that are good because they can be seen at great distances and are very active. They will catch many of the same fish as shrimp.