April Port Canaveral Offshore Forecast

April is here and we are one month closer to June. I am starting to believe it will be June before we get calm seas. The struggle has been real here for almost 3 months now. The wind has been relentless and the forecast is looking like April won’t be any different.

Thank goodness for the Canaveral shoal that gives us protection from any version of North to West wind. The only thing that truly stops us is strong South wind. The stretch to the South side of the shoal is called the Canaveral Bite and we are fortunate to have it. The bite is a fishing mecca and offers everything a true angler could ask for, so who cares let the wind blow because I am about to blow your mind with what we can catch in the bite on a regular basis and April is the best.

This first week of April we have caught pompano, snook, red drum, sheepshead, whiting, black drum, croakers and flounder along the protected shore line of the bite. We have also caught an incredible variety of shark this first week. Black tip, spinner, lemon, black nose, fine tooth, sharpnose, hammer and even 1 sawfish. The variety of sharks is incredible! This time of year the bite is also loaded with giant tarpon and goliath groupers. Not as abundant as all the others, but cobia and triple tail are also frequently caught in the bite this time of year.

Choose light tackle tight to the beach or choose heavy tackle for the behemoths lurking just outside the breakers. Either way you are almost guaranteed great action, epic fights and good table fare.

April has a ton of choices for going deep. If we can get calm seas April and May offshore the Space Coast is hands down the best fishing we have to offer.

Easter king mackerel! Every year the largest king mackerel of the year are caught in April. I don’t know the rules for the Spring King Tournament out of Madeira Beach on the West Coast but if you want to win run the ditch and get to Canaveral because 40 to 70 pound fish are common. Target the shallow water reefs and shoals slow trolling live baits. Somehow the water is remaining clean and clear even with the rough seas so the mackerel fishing will be excellent!

April cobia is everything March is but you will actually catch fish in April ????. Sight fishing opportunities will happen on days you get lucky and run across some manta rays but the real cobia action will come from bouncing live baits around big bottom structure. Most these fish are with bull sharks so use heavy gear to wench and when you feel your fish getting chased down throw it into free spool. 9 out of 10 times the cobia will get away and will surface. Yes you might loose it from the hook pulling but that is way better than the fish being eatin.

Bottom fishing, forget the big stuff and become a chicken. My absolute favorite fishing is chicken rig fishing. Small hooks and small chunks of cut squid and fish on a double hook chicken rig lowered to the bottom always equals a instant bite. Trigger fish are the prize because they are hands down the tastiest fish in the ocean. Vermillion and lane snappers are abundant. Porgies and sea bass are also welcomed aboard. You do have to deal with a lot of grunts and undersized fish but who cares because you are catching.

Loose mahi aboard the Sea Sons….. Time for everyone to dance ???? ????

April is the new mahi month. Time your days just right and be the first one out after a strong blow and you will be rewarded with a good catch of mahi. The mahi fishery is definitely in decline but since MNFS doesn’t like to do anything about a fishery until it has to be extreme we will go whack them. Along with the mahi we regularly get blackfin tuna & sailfish.

It is also time for yellowfin tuna. Packs of tuna will be pushing up bait on the back side of the stream. This makes them easy targets because all we have to do is find the birds feeding on the bait the tunas push up and it is instant quadruple headers.