JULY RECAP
We have truly had a great July. Summertime fishing always has its slower days, but overall, they were few and far between. The arrival of the bait was an absolute relief and helped to entice strikes on days when the fish were otherwise not so cooperative. Calm seas with only a few afternoon storms made for smooth sailing, too. The king mackerel stole the show like they usually do, but dolphin, cobia and sailfish were welcomed, daily visitors. The five-day snapper season was crazy as expected, and everyone did well for the most part. The most important thing was, in all the craziness, everyone was safe. Hopefully the next time they open snapper they will do a better job and not let us slaughter them during spawning time. Nearshore, the action was steady across the board. Kings, crevalles, sharks and tarpon were abundant for those wanting bigger game; and for those content fishing shrimp along the jetties and beach, drum, flounder and mangrove snapper were welcomed at the dinner table. As far as fishing in July usually goes, this was a great past month.
NEARSHORE FORECAST
The action is close and the fish are stacking. The number of tarpon on the back side of the Canaveral shoal rivals the Florida Keys. Sharks are mixed in everywhere with a good variety of black nose, black tip, spinner and the occasional lemon or sand tiger. Nothing is more fun than anchoring ahead of a giant school of tarpon and waiting for them to get close with live baits ready while soaking half of a bonito in hopes of a giant lemon shark. Two of the hardest fights you will ever get, and right now, you have a chance at both. The water is still clean enough to live bait troll the beach and it seems the big fish are late to the game this year. They are spawned out so that is good — unless you are trying to win a tournament. Expect to see a few nice tripletail on the buoys along with goliath groupers, jack crevalles and barracudas. Snook, flounder and mangroves will be tight to the jetty’s and all the normal ambush points inside the port.
OFFSHORE FORECAST
August can be a very tricky month. The clean, calm water and the only game in town — live bait trolling the summer away — applies in the beginning of the month… until it doesn’t. At some point, weather will give us big seas and turn this place on its head. Immediately following that first very rough day, the fishing is going to be tough. The reason this happens is because it has been so calm for so long, everything has settled. It is much like shaking a snow globe. This is disappointing but it does start to give us options again. Bottom fishing will be back on the agenda because, for some reason, the first round of rough seas seem to trigger the bottom species. We will see a lot of action from vermillion snappers, triggers, lane snappers and mangrove snappers. We can also expect a few more bites from groupers and amberjacks.
The stream will start to have defined edges again where those who are willing to drag baits can put a day together with a couple mahi, and the occasional wahoo or sailfish. Live bait trolling for kings will take a hit, but will recover after a couple days of calmer sea conditions. I would also expect to see a few more cobia while live bait trolling or bottom fishing in 120 ft or less.
Overall, I expect a good month of fishing ahead, but be prepared for that short period of time that the wheels fall right off.
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