big red

The past two weeks have seen a transition from our winter type pattern to our early summer pattern. The wind FINALLY laid off, and everything came together like I said. We had several large migrations of nearshore fish.

The cobia unfortunately were best when the wind was blowing a few weeks ago, but some strays are still out there if you get lucky.

Sharks have been pretty thick on the beaches all March, but the blacktip migration was in full force yesterday. There were like thousands of them jumping out. You could hook one every few seconds on cut bait. I have never seen so many sharks at once in my life. I will post that video some time in the near future. To catch them, use 40-65lb spinning gear with a 4-5ft mono shock leader, a 1ft 105lb wire leader, big circle hook, and 2-4 inch chunk of any fish.

On Thursday, we found several thousand bluefish in a school. We were hooking two on one lure. It was pretty crazy. There also have been some schools of spanish mackerel. A small spoon reeled as fast as possible without skipping the surface with a short and light wire leader is the best way to catch them.

There have been some bait pods on the beach with tarpon and big jacks as well. It is early season thus far, but this could get really good, Let’s hope this does not fall apart like lost (spelling intended) summer. The nearshore fishing is on fire right now. Let’s hope it stays that way all summer!

Most of the Indian River lagoon system remains clear, but a few select portions of both lagoons around Merritt Island have seen some brown water. It is nothing like past years yet, and the fishing is still decent. Find the clearer patches with the most bait, and the fish should follow. Juvenile tarpon are still hitting, but the best feeding activity switched from all day to early and late only. Some big trout and snook are still hanging out under these mangroves.

The flats with clear water are starting to show some redfish and trout again, but this will not be all that good until seagrass grows or the water level rises enough to support them hanging under the mangroves.

Big black drum are in deep channels or pilings. Try to find them using a sonar, then drop a crab or shrimp to them using a jig head or spiltshot. Make sure you have enough weight to get to their depth without dragging the bait away. The size of the fish and the amount of fish in the school is not nearly what it is in the winter, but they are still here. The size is generally 10-25lbs with a school of 50-125 fish.

Also, I need to suggest a few things in order to prevent boat ramp closures due to COVID-19. First of all, please do not hang out on islands or sandbars. The close contact here is what prompted closures in south Florida and Volusia county. Please maintain six feet from other people at the boat ramp, and do not go if you are sick. Also, avoid fishing close together over crowded spots. These special circumstances have prompted me to hold some new videos indefinitely and blur backgrounds. Finally, I recommend that you contact your elected officials. Brevard County Commission and Canaveral Port Authority are the most important, but it does not hurt to contact state level officials as well. City officials will be important in a few cases too. Use this link to contact your county commissioner: https://www.brevardfl.gov//countycommission/countycommissionershome

More videos may come out in the near future, so please subscribe to my YouTube, and tight lines!