Port Canaveral May Forecast

APRIL RECAP

April was good overall but near shore fishing and shorter trips such as half days were not very productive. Offshore fishing was very good with the exception of mahi fishing. It started off strong but steadily fizzled as the month went on. Tuna fishing was awesome every trip and we are very excited that we now have the capability to offer these trips to our customers. Slow trolling on Pelican Flats and as far inshore as 50ft was really good for kings along with several cobia and sailfish being caught.

NEARSHORE

We will start to see the beach come alive this month as bait becomes more abundant and the longer we go without any large swells the better it will get. The arrival of pogies aka menhaden and consistent calm seas means we should have good fishing for several months or at least until thermo cline conditions shake things back up.

Shark fishing will be good with a wide variety of your medium to smaller species such as black nose, fine tooth and black tip. Cobia, king mackerel, tarpon, red drum, bonito and blue fish will also be in the mix on these bait pods. A fun action packed way to fish is to target the bait pods. Take 50lb leader with a 6/0 circle hook or add a short stretch of #6 wire to increase your odds at landing the species with teeth. Cut the tail off a lively pogy and pitch it into the bait pod. Add a very small egg sinker to help it slowly sink and be ready. There is absolutely no chance that you won’t get a bite, the question is what will it be.

Goliath groupers are going to push into the buoy line, shoal buoys and the few close wrecks we have so that is a great option for anyone looking to check these beast off the to do list.

Surf fishing for whiting and black drum will be very good so take advantage of family days at the beach by bringing a fishing rod and catching a fresh fish dinner. Snook fishing has been good for what seems like forever now. Taking time to catch live croakers and being able to fish the tide changes early morning or evening equals guaranteed snook action.

OFFSHORE

Probably my favorite month of the entire year. In my head May symbolizes everything I love about offshore fishing in our area. I would be lying if I said the fishing was the main reason for it being my favorite month. CONSISTENTLY CALM SEAS! I love being able to look at a forecast and see 5-10 knots for the entire stretch. I know that if I am not limited by where the ocean will allow me to go then I can always find something to catch. Even if the fishing is slow but the seas are calm it makes for a phenomenal day.

It doesn’t hurt that May also has the most variety of species around and the most options on what species we can keep. This report is going to be long winded and I know I probably lost most readers a paragraph ago but if I am going to do something I am going to do it right so the same goes for my forecast.

Other side Tuna & mahi fishing can be phenomenal!

This side mahi, wahoo and sail fishing can be phenomenal!

Deep Drop and Bottom fishing can be phenomenal!

Live bait trolling inside 100ft can be phenomenal!

Shark and sight fishing the beach can be phenomenal!

The key to having every trip be a success this month can and will often depend on your back up plan. The fishing for everything is good right now so you don’t typically have to resort to a backup plan but what if something changes. This should already be in your head if you’re going out on your own boat or your captains head if you are charter fishing. That being said there is only so much a captain can do with a shorter trips and there is a limit to what all you can bring equipment wise on any trip.

Here is one example. Your geared up and ready to go out for a great day of mahi fishing but you run all the way out to the current and find no weed lines, no bait, no rips, nothing. Most people resort to what we call bobo trolling and most the time end up with next to nothing by the end of the day when this happens. Instead of bobo trolling your day away try bringing a 10lb box of squid and or a 5lb box of cigar minnows, you can easily convert your trolling rods and spinning rods into chicken rigs for deep structure such as the cones or 27 fathoms to put a lot of nice trigger fish, vermilion snapper and porgies. You can also change trolling strategy and come back into the shallower reefs and wrecks to slow troll using cigar minnows or ballyhoo for king mackerel along with the occasional mahi, tuna, sailfish and wahoo that almost always provide great action.