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WEEKLY FORECAST

1.10.2023 – 1.16.2023

A CENTRAL FLORIDA FISHING FORECAST EVERY TUESDAY

kings

Fired Up Fishing Charters has taken advantage of some good offshore conditions. The fish are out there!

The conditions are looking pretty good for fishing up until this weekend. While local bass still seem to be protesting the recent cold temps, we’ve got a good number of reports that fish are eagerly eating offshore and in the lagoon. Get the deets in this week’s forecast!

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SPACE B.O.I. FORECAST

OFFSHORE

6.6

INSHORE

7.3

BEACH

7.0

WEATHER OVERVIEW: It looks like our weather window this week will be in the beginning of the week. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday all look nice with low winds. Tuesday & Wednesday the winds will be primarily out of the N/NW. Thursday it shifts out of the S. Friday our next cool front moves in as the wind will pick up considerably and rain chances increase to over 50%. The wind will be primarily out of the NW throughout the weekend. Even though the wind will be up on Saturday and most of Sunday, both days are currently showing sunny skies so even though it will be windy, it should be a nice weekend overall.

Click here to check out the marine forecast from the National Weather Service.

American Air & Heat of Brevard Whether you need HVAC repair or maintenance, or just want to ensure a comfortable temperature in your home, call American Air & Heat, Brevard’s most trusted AC company since 1942, at 321.632.COLD(2653).

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GIVEAWAY CONTESTS

WEEKLY STRIKE-ZONE GIVEAWAY

The weekly Strike-Zone Gift Card Giveaway is back! Each week, we’ll randomly draw a name from our email subscriber list to award a $20 Strike-Zone Fishing Gift Card. If you see your name announced as the winner in the weekly forecast, just email us within 7 days to claim your prize. If you’re not already a subscriber, click here to enter the weekly giveaway!

Congrats to this week’s winner: John Madru
of Melbourne. John, please email us within 7 days to claim your prize. For everyone else, there will be another winner drawn next week!

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ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE

Holiday Fish Mounts

Florida Sport Fishing Association

Fishing Reports

In every week’s Spacefish fishing forecast, we turn to both fishing pros and average joe’s for input on what’s happening in and around Brevard County’s many fisheries. Here’s what people are saying about the bite in the Space Coast this week. And don’t forget — anyone — including YOU, can contribute a report to the list below!

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Speckled Trout Spawning Season
March 27, 2024

Speckled Trout Spawning Season

spring trout IRL

Spring is here and the fishing is falling into its typical spring pattern…

One of my favorite species to fish for given the windy and rough weather spring tends to bring is speckled sea trout. This is typically spawning season and it’s not uncommon to get larger speckled trout ranging from 20-30 inches even. Anglers can find some great trout fishing across the entire coast from Daytona to ft Pierce, the Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River, and Banana River are known all over the world for some of their large sea-trout!

A great way to catch trout is keeping it simple — a weedless soft plastic jerkshad in the 3-5 inch range can be deadly! I prefer baits that are more natural in color: dark green, black, and pearl white. Look for these fish in super skinny water with any sort of grass and potholes , casting your lure past these sand holes and working them past are great ambush spots and usually are holding fish, especially if you find an area with a little deeper water coming up on a shallow edge. Once trout grow beyond 15 inches they thrive on baitfish more so than crustaceans; not that they won’t eat a large shrimp, but they definitely prefer larger baits such as mullet, pinfish, pigfish, etc. These baits free lined with a 5/0 or 6/0 j hook can produce some large and impressive fish.

These fish are extremely fragile and should be handled with care, always handle with wet hands, and released back as quick as possible, I strongly suggest catch and release especially fish over 20inches, let’s do our part today to create some great memories for future generations.

by Capt. Alex Hughey
Coastal Fishing Expeditions | (321) 795-8566

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Fishing The Full Moon
March 26, 2024

Fishing The Full Moon

Late winter/spring is an ideal period for night fishing on the Space Coast. Night tactics mirror daytime strategies. Noise-producing lures like topwater or vibration-emitting paddle tails are my go-to choices. Fish locations remain consistent with daytime spots. I prefer mangroves, flats, and docks.
Here’s a photo of a nice red pulled from the mangroves last night on a small paddle tail.

by John Page
JP Kayak Fishing and Tours | (321) 345-8388

Sunstate Pest Control

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Snook, Cobia, Tripletail…
March 25, 2024

Snook, Cobia, Tripletail…

Canaveral has been the place to go if you’re looking to tussle with a big snook lately. The bite has been best fairly early in the day. Live baitfish or jumbo shrimp seem to be working best.

Along the near coastal waters, cobia and tripletail are possible. The cobia are following manta rays and will strike soft plastic swim baits, top water plugs, or live baitfish cast near the manta they are following. Try not to cast weighted jigs at the manta if possible. You’re just going to lose your jig when you hook the manta and scare the manta (and the cobia) away. Wait until the cobia starts following your soft plastic or top water plug away from the manta before casting a jig at them. Your odds of landing the cobia will be much better if you can make this happen. Tripletail are holding on sargasso weed, boards, and other floating objects that you come across as you’re looking for the manta rays.

Give us a shout if you’d like to get out and chase some of these species in the next few weeks, especially before the cobia are gone. Give us a text or phone call at 321-505-8217 or book directly on our website’s reservation page at Fineline Fishing Charters. Let’s go catch your next memory!

by Capt. Jim Ross
Fine Line Fishing Charters | (321) 636-3728

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Tough Conditions @ Inlet
March 25, 2024

Tough Conditions @ Inlet

gator blue

Keith Cole caught this gator blue on topwater at the jetty!

Good morning, Sebastian Inlet fishing fans. I hope you had a great weekend despite all the wind. This report, once again is going to be short due to the weather conditions spanning from Friday through the weekend. Wind-driven seas and surf in the inlet and its surrounding beaches turned into a giant dirty mess. Also, water temperatures have dropped back down to the 65 to 69-degree range from the 74 it was two weeks ago. Over the weekend, I visited all the fishing areas, but the only thing I saw caught were catfish and more catfish, and a lot of smaller ‘schoolie’ bluefish, and that’s about it!

When I was at the inlet on Thursday, even the boaters fishing around the tip of the jetty for snook didn’t fare well, either. I didn’t see a single fish caught in the hours hours I was there. On Saturday, about the only action I saw was a six-foot bull shark fought and landed properly on the beach by an angler. The shark was released unharmed after the hook was removed. That was the highlight of the weekend!

Before this mess blew in over the weekend, there were some black drum, pompano, Spanish mackerel and big bluefish caught, but the water was a bit cleaner and warmer. This week, expect another week of high surf and winds to keep water conditions churned up and messy. In checking the coastal surf reports for the week, it appears that things will settle down by the weekend.

I wish I had better news, but you know me: I tell it like it is, whether good or bad, no sugar coating from me! I wish everyone a great week, stay well and be safe out there!

by Wayne "Snookman" Landry
Sebastian Inlet State Park | (321) 724-5175

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FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Wade Fishing in the Banana River
March 24, 2024

Wade Fishing in the Banana River

KAYAK FISHING REPORT

Wading in the Banana River

Wading in the Banana River

Happy Monday Spacefish!

This week I am switching gears a little bit…DISCLAIMER no kayak was used in this report. Today I am going to talk about my most recent outing with my kids. Last February, I wrote a report about fishing with my kids when they were 3, and 2 (read it here)… 14 months later we have graduated to wade fishing in the lagoons. Let’s dive in!

Where We Fished

So on this outing, we fished at Kelly Park East in Merritt Island, which is located on the western shoreline of the Banana River Lagoon – 2504-2526 N Banana River Dr, Merritt Island, FL 32952 – this is a great spot for wade fishing with kids! The shoreline features a nice sandy beach that is located along a nice shallow flat, which means you can get out into knee deep water 15-20 yards out. We “made camp” on the north end of the park’s beach just behind the first mangrove bush, there were several other families on the main beach, so we made our camp a little further north to get out of everyone’s way.

Where We Fished

Where We Fished - Kelly Park East in Merritt Island

What We Fished With

I fished with live shrimp under a popping cork. I used a 7 foot spinning combo with 10 pound braid, I had about 12 inches of 20 pound fluorocarbon under the cork, and used a 1/0 Circle Hook. I hooked the shrimp just under the horn. In hindsight I should have gotten one of those “trolling” bait buckets and tied it to my belt, I could have saved a lot of time and energy by being able to take the shrimp with us as we waded along the shoreline. In the picture above, that shows where we fished, we walked back and forth along the red line closest to the shore, and I made casts roughly to where the line drawn further out was, with most of the hook ups occurring between the lines. As the water dropped off a little deeper there were schools of bait that were out in that area, and smaller Trout were schooled up out there around the bait. In the 3 hours we fished, we caught 6 schoolie Trout, and 1 small Redfish. I would bomb the cork/shrimp combo as far out as I could and “pop” it every 4 or 5 seconds and then reel in the slack.

Live Shrimp Under a Popping Cork

Live Shrimp Under a Popping Cork

So while I worked the live shrimp rig, my kids both fished a “Baby Bass” weedless fluke on their Kid Kaster Combo’s. They’ve now hit an age where the old hook-less plugs no longer suffice, they have to have hooks on their set ups, my oldest son also likes to be able to switch between topwater and in his words “a jig” – I knew it was a mistake to have him watch fishing shows with me (lol). A jig to him is anything that goes under the water, so he now has two combos that we take everywhere, one that goes under the water, and one rigged with a hollow body frog.

Since we were wading on this trip I was able to convince him that he just needed one rod, so he stuck with his fluke, little brother just wants the same lure brother has, so he fished a fluke too. They’re both pretty proficient at this point in their casting and retrieval skills so I just let them cast and crank to their hearts content while I fish, which is nice. They can cast 10-15 yards depending on the wind, but they both speed crank back in – short cast, fast retrieves don’t result in many bites, but that doesn’t seem to bother them yet as long as ole Dad can catch fish to keep them entertained.

Weedless Fluke on a Paw Patrol Kids Kaster

Weedless Fluke on a Paw Patrol Kids Kaster

Other Forms of Entertainment

So on this particular trip we were at Kelly Park for roughly 3 ½ hours. I fished the entire time, the boys “fished” about half of that time, but they stayed in the water with me the entire time. Everytime we’d catch a fish, or need to get a new shrimp we’d head back in to our base camp, sometimes they’d choose to leave their rods there and go back out to play in the water. One of the big forms of entertainment was finding crabs in the water, at one point in time I had seven hermit crabs in my pocket until we were able to come back in. Once we’d come in the crabs were put in the bucket with the shrimp. The live shrimp and bait bucket also served as a big source of entertainment as well, we really liked sticking our hands in there, taking shrimp out and putting them back, rinse and repeat.

Seven Loves the Bait Bucket

Seven Loves the Bait Bucket

All told we probably spent a good 3 hours in the water, our last shrimp caught a small Redfish, all of the Trout we caught I released pretty quickly into the water, with the teeth and slime factored in, I didn’t want the kids messing with the Trout, but I brought the Redfish back to our base camp wanting to get a picture of the kids holding it, I let Rix hold it and while I scrambled to get my phone from the bag, he threw it back into the water, I wish I would have been able to record the whole interaction, because as soon as he released it, it hit him that it was wimming away and he panicked and tried to get it back by running into the water and trying to grab it with his bare hands. Pictured below is his vain attempt to get it back, but that fish was gone like a thief in the night.

Rix with a Crab

Rix with a Crab

Closing Time

Once that fished was released, I brought the boys over to the bucket to show them there were no more shrimp so it was time to go home. At this point the crocodile tears started flowing, they could have stayed out there for 3 more hours. It took several moments of consoling, refuting their counter offers to stay “5 more minutes,” we went through all 5 stages of grief, and when we lastly landed upon acceptance that the fishing was over and it was time to go home (I may or may not have told them they were going to come close the park, lock the gate, and then we would not be able to go home that night to get them to accept that it was time to leave) we got the dozen or so hermit crabs that were in the bucket out and put them back into the Banana River, and we went back to the truck to towel off, and put on dry clothes for the journey home.

I am now asked to go fishing every day, and whether we got out for an hour on a school night, or for 3 hours on a weekend afternoon, they always want 5 more minutes, 3 more casts, one more casts, 2 more minutes, when there are no more deals to be made, there are tears, there is denial, there is grief – but for Dad, it fills me with pride and joy to see how much they love being outdoors, on the water, in the water, and how much they love fishing, but also how much they enjoy the time we get to spend together.

Parenthood is a journey, much like fishing – in many ways they go hand in hand. Fishing is therapeutic for me, it helps me to deal with and understand life… it teaches patience, critical thinking, it teaches us to try our best and to accept the outcomes whatever they may be. I have found that in fishing, in parenthood, and life in general there are things I can control, there are things I cannot control, and the only thing I can really do is do the best I can to control what I control and react to the things I cannot in the most positive way possible. I just hope that as my boys grow up, fishing can be the same teacher for them, that it has been for me.

kayaks by bo Thank you all for taking the time to read, I’d like to thank Kayaks By Bo, for being our official Paddle Partner (even though we did not use paddles this week). If you are in the market for a new kayak, for accessories for your kayak – then check out Kayaks By Bo, located along US Highway 1 in Titusville!

I hope you all have a fantastic week…Stay safe, be happy, catch fish, and have a blessed Easter weekend! Until next time!

kayaks by Bo

by Knox Robinson
Spacefish Prostaff

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Great Week Offshore
March 24, 2024

Great Week Offshore

offshore

It was a great week, for sure. Fishing was good and the kings were scattered along with the rays. We had way more kings though, lol. Kings did seem to fade out a little just before the wind cranked up. kinda odd because the ocean was beautiful too. Rays have been popping up kinda all over. Reports are scattered from free swimmers to rays to slicks/rips. So they are kinda scattered. 50/50 if they’re holding fish or not. Bottom species really are firing right now. triggers, lanes and snappers non stop. We have at least a week till the wind stops so have fun and be safe.

kingfish

by Capt. Chris Cameron
Fired Up Charters | (407) 222-3573

DC Marine Construction

Great Catching at Headwaters & Garcia
March 24, 2024

Great Catching at Headwaters & Garcia

terry bass

This past week was a great catching few days on both Headwaters and Garcia. I tagged along with my friend John whom I fish with once a week.
We were hoping they would be chewing the day before the front and it didn’t take long for the fish to just show us that they were hungry. It really didn’t matter what we offered them for lures to use because everything we did tie on they ate it.

garcia bass

Fishing in a ditch where on the edge had a very good submerged hydrilla line and the fish were holding in the grass waiting for something to attack. The one lure that really surprised me the most is something I had to blow the dust off of because I purchased it years ago and really never gave it a chance.
The day before our outing I just had an idea to tie it on. It’s a small 1/8th oz. Jig in a crawfish pattern. Not only did the bass eat it but the Crappie loved it too. We then woven to much narrower ditches and switched over to soft plastic Stick Bait worms and crushed the bass. Biggest one was 7.11 pounds.

good bass

Once again a great bite pre front windy conditions. My next day after the front moved out and much calmer winds I was back on Garcia. My other old time friend fished with me. He religiously throws his Tiny Torpedo but I had other ideas and pulled out my Fly Rod with a chartreuse Gurgler that I tied. I had him 4 to nothing as of the first hour. We found an area that had hydrilla submerged and also topped out. Nothing bigger than 3 pounds but it was a great day to celebrate my day before birthday.

by Terry Lamielle
| (321) 537-5346

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Pomp, Whiting, Blues, Spanish Mack
March 24, 2024

Pomp, Whiting, Blues, Spanish Mack

cocoa beach surf fishing

The fishing in the Volusia County area has been pretty hot, with pompano, whiting, bluefish and Spanish mackerel being the main bite.

Getting out early and fishing thru the tide changes has been the best times. As far as baits live fleas, fresh dead shrimp, with fishbites and fish gum on a standard single r double drop rig with enough weight to hold in the current.

For those that enjoy throwing artificial plugs for bluefish and Spanish top water poppers and pencil plugs early while the conditions are flat and calm, and as the sun gets up and the bait pods start getting pushed switch to your silver spoons an match the hatch of mullet and glass minnows.
While out keep a close watch for rays working close to the beach for the shot at a cobia that might be with them.

by Byran Taylor
Southern Bred Fishing Charters | (386) 216-8025

Jasin Youmans Dental - Melbourne, FL

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Headwaters Report
March 21, 2024

Headwaters Report

headwaters bass fishing report

The lake is 8” above regulation. Water temps are around 72 degrees when I’m starting. The S Canal was clear at noon today.

Top baits this week for me were the Zman Jackhammers, Bass Assassin RSB worms and the Mike Bucca 6” Bull Shad Bone color.

When fishing the Bass Assassin RSB worms I’m fishing them on 22lb fluro or a Fluro leader with a 6/0 EWG hook. Fish the Gooseberry or Watermelon Slice weightless and very slow around pods of hydrilla. The wind blown points around bullrush has been good too.

I’m fishing the half ounce green pumpkin or golden shiner Jackhammers in areas with scattered hydrilla and in ditches. I use a 4.5” Hogfarmer Spunk Shad in green pumpkin magic or TN Shad. Fishing these on flats with scattered hydrilla or along ditches with hydrilla lines. We are catching several 4-6lb fish on these baits. Seems like golden shiner is a little more productive.

The Mike Bucca Bullshad 7” Trick Shad in Gizzard Shad color is my go to swimbait. I’m fishing these along thick grass edges near deep sharp drops. Get on the Bullshad email mailing list so you can get the bait drop info. The only way to get the Trick Shad and Glides are go to a bait show that Bullshad attends or through the bait drops. Sign up at Bullshad.com

The live bait bite was good this week. Lots of big fish being caught if you have large shiners. The smaller bait will get you the numbers for sure.

Tight lines!

by Kenny Hass
Catchin' Bass Guide Service | (772) 494-7400

Sunrise Marina - Port Canaveral, FL

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
“Not Yet…”
March 20, 2024

“Not Yet…”

mosquito lagoon redfish

Just when you think Spring has arrived and the fish start to get into their Spring time pattern Mother Nature says “not yet” with a little winter blast of cool air. These late season fronts usually do not stick around long enough to effect the patterns of these Mosquito Lagoon fish. Look for the fish holding on the deeper edges and shorelines early then moving to the shallow flats and sand holes as the sun gets higher. We still have good amount of bait spread out from New Smyrna Beach south into Mosquito Lagoon and as the week moves on and gets warmer that bait will move to the shallows. The bite has been good on live finger mullet, cut bait and shrimp along with soft plastics, plugs and spoons.

by Capt. Patrick Rood
Spot N Tail Charters | (386) 566-1394

SeaTow Port Canaveral, FL

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Fish Firing Hard Ahead of Front
March 18, 2024

Fish Firing Hard Ahead of Front

snook

Prior to the frontal passage on Monday afternoon the fish were firing off hard! We hope this will continue for the rest of the week, but it remains to be seen at this point. There are tripletail, cobia, sharks, and monster jacks patrolling the near-coastal waters right now, so it’s been a really good bite for us here at Fineline Fishing Charters.

In the rivers and around the inlet there are plenty of black drum, snook, jack, redfish, and even a few pompano and tripletail. Some of the snook are pushing 15-pounds right now and they’re a real handful on a spinning rod when you hook into one. The pompano are not consistent but they are a pleasant surprise when we get into them. Live shrimp continues to be the best bait on outgoing tides for most of these species.

The snook fishing will only get better as we get into the last two weeks of March so grab your buddy, wife, or kids and let’s go catch some. If you’d like to get out with either Capt. Justin or myself to catch your next memory, please give us a call at 321-636-3728 or 321-505-8217 so that we can get you lined up to get out with us and catch some of these great fish in the next few weeks.

by Capt. Jim Ross
Fine Line Fishing Charters | (321) 636-3728

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
March Offshore Fishing
March 18, 2024

March Offshore Fishing

march 2024 offshore port canaveral

March is here and I finally have my first fishing report worth doing in 2024. The last 2 months have just been plagued with rough seas, cold dirty water and mostly very poor fishing.

We can expect many more fishable days this month as we transition into our spring time fishery.

Let’s start close and work our way out. Coastal shark fishing will steadily improve with warmer temperatures. Big black tip and spinner sharks up to 6ft 100lbs and lots of nice black nose and fine tooth sharks to be caught. Spanish mackerel fishing will be really good with the slightly below average water temperature holding them but we can expect the pompano to be a little later than usual, along with triple tail as that temp comes up so that is all adding up to a action packed March.

Next on everyone’s brain will be cobia. Will we see an actual cobia run along the coast that we remember of years past? Unfortunately, I think the answer is no. Thus fishery has morphed into something different and not quite as fun as sight fishing for them. The cobia are here but they are going to be spread out deep and sticking with the big bull sharks & sandbar sharks that plague every bit of structure along the Florida’s East coast.

Bottom fishing for stringer fish such as lane snapper & trigger fish is going to be awesome as long as long as the dirty green cooler water temperatures stay with us. These are also really good conditions for mangrove snapper. In the past we always have enjoyed the larger mangrove snapper the waters off Port Canaveral are known for but I highly suggest trying to target the smaller mangroves because it is almost next to impossible to get anything over 5 pounds past the sharks.

Good chance we see a little bit of an early mahi run as the colder green water butts up against the warm clean water of the stream. Blackfin tuna and sailfish will right there with them. I don’t expect it to be fast and furious fishing but good days can be had if you’re willing to work at it.

Amberjack fishing will be really good but as always the challenge will be to get them past the sharks. Try your best and then go vermillion fishing.

We are looking forward to a great Spring Break and are very excited to put this windy, rainy, miserable winter behind us.

by Capt. Greg Rapp
Sea Leveler Sport Fishing Charters | (321) 794-3474

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THANKS FOR READING!

Thanks for reading another weekly fishing report from Spacefish. Don’t forget to listen to Spacefish ON THE RADIO every Friday at 4pm as we talk fishing with Mark Moses on SPORTS RADIO 1560 THE FAN.

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