Organized by target species and water type — specific enough to act on, not a generic listicle. Every technique below is sourced to a fishing-education article or FWC page.
Live bait's edge is realism — scent and motion a lure can't fake — but it demands keeping the bait fresh and lively: an alive-but-lethargic minnow fools a fish about as poorly as a dead one. Artificials put the angler in full control of the presentation and never need re-baiting, but all the "life" in the retrieve has to come from you, which is a real learning curve. Neither is categorically better; South Florida guides switch between the two by target species and conditions rather than picking one and sticking with it.
Anchor when you're over a large, well-defined patch of structure you can park the boat directly above — the right call for grouper and snapper sitting tight on a reef. Drift when structure is small, scattered, or you're probing bottom you don't know yet; once the depth finder marks a hot spot, drop anchor and work it properly instead of drifting past it repeatedly.
A parafoil kite suspends live bait on the surface at a controlled distance from the boat, so no line touches the water between the boat and the bait — the single biggest edge over conventional live-baiting, since a sailfish never sees or feels line before it eats. Best baits are hardy, thrashing baitfish: goggle-eyes, blue runners, threadfin herring, or mullet, rigged on 4/0–6/0 circle hooks with 20–40 lb fluorocarbon leader. Running two kites offset port and starboard (using split-shot on opposite corners of each kite to spread them) covers more water — a signature technique of the Miami-through-Palm-Beach fleet.
Light matters more than almost anything else: sun 45–60° to one side (never behind you, which silhouettes the water) gives maximum penetration, typically 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Ideal conditions are 10–15 mph wind out of the east/southeast, a high tide falling around midday, and clear skies. Approach slowly — the biggest mistake anglers make is moving too fast, since a boat's pressure wave spooks fish before they're in casting range; stay as far back as your range allows. Precision beats power: put the fly or bait close enough that the fish barely has to move to eat it, because 6 inches off target and a permit or tarpon won't commit. By species: cast ahead of a single tarpon or near (not into) a rolling pod, and strip flies in short 6–12" pulls; sight-fish permit that are tailing or rolling, not just cruising (cruising fish rarely eat), with crab or shrimp patterns; snook lay up on grass flats — Florida Bay is the classic example — ambushing bait as it passes.
Target canal intersections, dead ends, fallen trees, and shade lines under bridges, culverts, and overhanging vegetation. Small, 3" minnow-imitating lures (silver/blue or black/gold, Rapala-style) or live shiners both work; topwater plugs like a Heddon Tiny Torpedo are strongest early morning and late afternoon. Light spinning tackle is enough — peacocks are strong open-water fighters for their size, not line-breakers.
Fish the "trickle tide" — the last two hours of an outgoing or incoming tide — for the calmest, most controllable presentation around bridge pilings. A ½-oz Rat-L-Trap, or a red-and-white bucktail jig or silver spoon on 30–40 lb leader, cast up and across the current and allowed to fall "like a leaf" through the shadow line, is the standard approach. Once fish are actively feeding near the surface, work the retrieve medium-fast instead of slow.
Small live pilchards (3–5") consistently outfish shrimp, which tend to draw too many small pest species instead of snapper. Use a jig-and-bait combo — a 3/8–3/4 oz jig sized to the current, with 15 lb main line and no more than 25 lb leader, light enough to work multiple depths without snagging. Fish a drag-free drift; most strikes come on the drop or the first part of the rise, not on a static presentation. Anchor up-current of the pilings so your bait naturally sweeps past the structure. Fish hold tight to structure in strong current and scatter at slack tide, so timing matters as much as bait choice.