redfish

Andrew and Trisha from Minnesota with a 52 inch bull redfish from this past week!

Big fish has been the name of the game lately! The Space Coast has had some pretty nice weather lately — a consistent weather pattern can play a huge roll in fishing, and this week was definitely a good example.

This week I focused my attention to deeper areas that have shallow water flats close by; like edges of spoil islands, and sandbars with large drop offs. These areas have been full of large black drum, and even a few larger redfish! We managed to get a handful of fish dragging gulp shrimp on 1/4 oz jigheads, natural and pearl in the 3 inch size seem to have produced the best results.

With the recent cold front it seemed to have slowed the bite a little and switching to blue crab or large shrimp made a big improvement. Not only has switching to bait been better, but fishing between 10-2 without a doubt has been the most productive time on the water. This probably has had a lot to do with the recent full moon. Most fish will be on the same pattern as the week progresses and the warmer sunny days will have fish moving into the shallower flats looking for warmth and an easy meal.

I can not emphasize enough how important it is to take care of these fish by holding them properly (not straight up and down by the jaw), and to also please practice catch and release! We’re still experiencing some algae blooms and the ecosystem can use all the help it can get right now.