surf fishing report

Everybody that went out surf fishing on Saturday just crushed it. After hearing all the stories and great reports, including trophy permits and pompano limits, I decided to make the ultimate sacrifice on Sunday afternoon: I turned off the Chargers/Ravens playoff game and headed to the beach. Unfortunately, it seems the fish got all their eating in the day before, because it was pretty dead out there.

Starting off in Melbourne Beach at Ponce de Leon, there were a few small groups of other anglers out there. They said they didn’t have any luck and packed up shortly after our arrival. After trying for about an hour without so much as a bite, we packed up and headed north to Satellite Beach. I was sure we’d find some fish there. However, one angler was coming in while we were walking down the boardwalk and reported a similarly bleak outing. After fishing for about an hour without a catch, the sun was dropping below the dune and it was starting to get cold. We were about to pack it in when pelicans showed up and started diving about 50 yards out. I made one final cast in their direction and pulled in a small jack to avoid a skunk on the day.

There weren’t any sand fleas to be found at either beach location. We used live/peeled shrimp and a combination of Fishbite flavors including shrimp, clam, and sand flea. Hopefully the fish will be kinder next time around!