Came up to visit my family in NJ. Went out fishing with my friend Sunday and hooked up with spring run of striped bass.

Came up to visit my family in NJ. Went out fishing with my friend Sunday and hooked up with spring run of striped bass.

We had the opportunity to make a run to the Other Side (of the Gulf Stream) last Wednesday. We had a group of FSFA Fishermen onboard, most of us had little experience with fishing the Other Side, but plenty of experience fishing. We left the Port at 3:30am with smooth seas and calm winds. We ran almost 100 miles before setting up the lines and then turning our attention to the radar in hopes of finding some working birds. Waves were a bit rougher than we had hoped for so we pulled lines and headed south.

Another week of fronts and wind in the middle of May. We should be past this kind of weather and moving into our rainy season, but despite the winds, the fishing has been good in the lagoon and in the inlet — especially if you catch the tide right and have the right bait. Big snook, trout and redfish are in the lagoon and they’re hungry.

We had some great trips this week on Kenansville and Headwaters Lake! Lots of fish over 6lbs and some great numbers, as well. We had several days catching over 50 fish. The Bass Assassin RSB worm Junebug with Blue tail was the ticket. Give me a call to book a trophy bass charter.

Last week’s new moon didn’t disappoint for good numbers of bass, but big fish, as well! I got to be a tag along for three days in a row and fished both the Stickmarsh and 3 Forks. Both bodies of water are still holding good water volume even though we have had little rain. We threw square bill crankbaits and suspending jerk baits, but the topwater bite was insane! YO-Zuri Prop baits and the Pencil were the lures of choice for the most part. The spawn is over and the fish are showing how active they always get after it’s over.

Fishing from the beach transitioned into new patterns with the extreme warming surf temperatures. In turn this cranked up the heat for snook fishing, as it continues to produce from Cocoa Beach to Sebastian Inlet, exciting anglers with a seasonal species not seen during colder months.

Snook season closing is coming up fast, but the bite is still hot! Snook are a popular favorite along the entire east coast, from the fight to the table fare they are all around amazing fish.

This week was fantastic. We had several bass over 7lbs this week on topwater bait and the Bass Assassin RSB worms in Junebug and Redbug were the ticket. The Bass were relating to the edge of deeper water or in scattered Hydrilla. Most fish were caught in 7-9 feet of water in areas that had 12-26 feet of water near by. I was using the new HFX Halo rods in the medium heavy 7’3″ length.

These cold fronts are making it tough on us to get in some consistent fishing. The beaches are doing well when we can get out. Plenty of schools of Bonito and jacks running the beach and some Snook in the trough and eating live baits as well as some soft plastics if you can get a good presentation. The inlet has been pretty good with some redfish, plenty of jacks and a few snook here and there. Inshore bite around the docks and spoil islands are good for snook and some trout with live bait.

The fish of summer have arrived! This week has been a tough bite on the beach. Bonnethead sharks, catfish and small croakers have been the main catch in the area. A few big whiting have made their way to the sand along with the resident pompano, but they are few and far between. For myself, the best fishing has come early morning until around 1030-11am when the bite turns off, and then late evening time as it turns on again. Fishbites in white crab and clam flavor have been the best to avoid the catfish.

The tarpon bite has turned on and will continue to get better for the next few weeks as bait run get stronger. We have tarpon in the river and should start getting them along the beach and behind shrimp boats very soon. Best bait so far has been mullet as well as DOA bait busters.