The beach is full of life and the bite is hot in the surf!

The beach has been full of life the last couple weeks! There’s a lot to be stoked about, from snook, whiting, and pompano on the beach to tarpon, cobia, and kingfish just outside the surf zone.

Snook Bite

For the avid snook anglers, you can see these guys lined up on the shoreline cast netting bait close to shore or using a croaker Riggs with peeled shrimp catching croakers. Targeting snook, try to fish your baits in the first and second troughs. Most snook are being caught on live mullet, pilchards or croakers. For artificial, the Tsunami Swim baits in 6″ size are working well at first light!

Tarpon, Cobia and Kingfish Bite (Kayak)

The BIG silver kings are back! Look for bait schools outside the surf zone. Use a sabiki rig to catch bait. Pilchards and horn bellies are all mixed together, (I prefer a pilchard). If you’re coming from the mainland it doesn’t hurt to stop and throw a couple mullet in the well too! Having a mix of live bait can be key to landing a trophy fish! Look for these tarpon rolling and jumping around the bait pods. The kingfish bite has been on fire as well! Reports of nice quality kingfish are being caught just a mile or two off the beaches around both North & South Brevard County. Spooling up a conventional setup with 20lb mono and a #3 wire equipped with a light drag can make for a REALLY fun time! Again pilchards and mullet will be your go to bait. Reports off south Brevard County into Indian River County are seeing cobia mixed in bait schools in 20ft – 60ft of water. Always have an extra pitch rod ready for a when the brown guy shows up!

Whiting & Pompano

Well, the whiting bite is nothing short of epic right now! If you’re looking to fill the freezer now is the time to take the whole family out to the beach and enjoy catching some fish! Most whiting are biting on peeled shrimp, but are also biting clams and fish bites. Best time to fish is first light or late afternoon into the evening. We had a nice couple days of pompano biting on the beach due to thermocline pushing these guys back to the surf zone from offshore. I’d imagine these fish will start to head back out as the water temp raises, but anglers are still catching some every once in a while. Pay your dues on the beach and the beach will reward you!

I look forward to being back out on the beach doing what I do best! Been a rough few weeks having my daughter just born and being in hospital with food poisoning. So save me a spot on the sand and tight lines!