First 10 yards of surf is slimy sea weed.

Local melbourne pond had this 23 in bass waiting for me. Using a small live bluegill.

Went out to beach in Pineda area around 3:30 pm and the surf was dirty full of the slimy sargassum sea weed. It was high tide. Disappointing. Still nice day to hang at beach.

Last week was great fishing, to say the least. All the planets aligned up I guess. Two of the three days were at 3 Forks. They were pulling water from it into the St Johns. This gave us current situations in the areas we fished. The first day was much stronger than the others. We caught over 80 fish which consisted of Bass, Bluegill and Crappie.

I threw my 5wt fly rod and mixed in a small jerk bait in between. The Crappie bite was off the chain on this day and ate both presentations. The second day was mostly bass. Nothing big but just a whole lotta fun to say the least.

My third day was on Stick Marsh. The bass were chewing for the first two hours which started before the sun showed itself. We managed 38 fish all between the 3-5 pound size. Topwater prop baits worked in the darker parts of the morning and then when that slowed we went to suspending jerk baits. Bass are schooling heavily in the impoundment at this time of year but as the waters creep closer to the 90 degree mark it will all but be over.

The weather has started to heat up and water temperatures are on the rise. The best times for the surf has been early morning to mid afternoon and then again late afternoon to the evening and after dark. The pompano bite has been hot early with several limits coming in if you’re willing to work at it. Be willing to make a move, and read the beach and the surf to find that perfect spot and make super long casts. Bait of choice has been fresh shrimp, live sand fleas, small crabs, along with fish bites and fish gum on standard pompano rigs with small pearlized beads.

Closer to shore, the bite has been smaller whiting, blue runners, and spots along with a few smaller sharks mixed in chasing the pods of bait fish.

Some Big Boy Kings starting to show again! Terry and friends with a Nice 40#, one of many caught aboard the 🔥 Fire Fight with Capt Joe

This week wasn’t the easiest to fish. Every day all of us captains talk, and always, say, “when is it just gonna be easy and fun again?”

It’s a struggle many of the days. Not sure if it’s just mother nature and some moon phases and odd ball currents, but it’s just been tough. The guys are doing extremely well, but taking it very hard on themselves. GUYS, I know it’s tough! Thank you for all you do! I appreciate you all!

Bait has been better than worse this week. For the most part the bunker have been around, but not with enough consistency to rely on it. They have been more consistent north of the tip. You may also find Poons up there as well (hint, hint).

The reef has been muddy one day and clear the next. If it’s mud, keep driving. Don’t waste your time. If you manage a nice day, you will find kings, mahi and maybe even a cobia. It’s productive when the conditions presents itself.

Deeper water….AJs have been good. Sharks have been better this week. Not sure where they went… I’m sure they will be back soon eating most of your catch. Saw a bunch of groupers as well, and they are eating aggressively on LARGE baits.

Good luck, and let’s all pray for a good ocean to reveal itself.

Bill with a nice Snapper we caught off the beach.

The weather is better and we are finally starting to get into our summer patterns. Nearshore fishing is pretty good with snapper, sharks and mackerel the inshore reefs south of the inlet. Theres a little bait, but there’s plenty of schools of big jacks roaming the beaches and a few tarpon scattered and migrating north. The bulk of the fish are north off the tip of Cape Canaveral, but there are a few schools migrating through Sebastian and Satellite beach, as well.

The inlet bite was good after the last rainfall, but we need more rain to push the bait out of the creeks and into the lagoon. Looking forward to the afternoon thunderstorms to keep pushing bait out and helping get the fish moving in and out of the inlet.

Bill with some nice Snapper off the beach.

The Sea Leveler team has had their clients on “The Meat” this past week with epic catches of BIG mangrove snapper, grouper and golden tilefish! Big blue is hot right now for bottom fishing!

How blessed are we to have one of the world’s premier bass fisheries in our own backyard?!? No boat? I say no problem! This is an absolutely fantastic area to fish from a kayak or canoe!

Launch Spot – Go to the Fellsmere Grade Recreation Area (Stick Marsh Boat Ramp). You will walk along the gravel dike road south through the gate (always locked) and launch along the Northwest shoreline of Headwaters. Be careful the grass has grown really tall, and the brush along the shoreline is thick, be on the lookout for Cottonmouths and make sure there aren’t any gator buddies in the water around where you are launching. There are a few larger gators that hang around the little cove where the canoe/kayak is, and on my last trip there was a baby hanging out in a clearing where I usually launch about a hundred yards south of that. The big Gators will steer clear of you, just don’t corner them or make them feel threatened. If you’re a first time paddle angler to Headwaters be ready to see a lot of them – and big ones too, that area is Gator heaven, but just give them space and they are nothing to worry about.

Where to Fish/How to Fish it from Kayak – One of the biggest challenges if you are a first time angler to Headwaters is that everything looks extremely fishy! That’s a good problem. The first time I went out there I fished for 5 hours and I caught 5 bass. I left feeling humbled for sure, but it took about 3 trips of exploring the northwest part of the lake before I started to dial it in. My last 3 trips have resulted in a combined 78 fish brought to the kayak. As you launch out from the shore, head straight for the first line of palm trees in the water. That one has lily pads in front of it. If you get an early start take a black hollow belly frog and fish the area around those lily pads. Once you fish that area for a few minutes you can fish topwater anywhere on the lake the first hour or so of daylight and catch quality fish. I caught 2 in the lily pads and 5 in the area behind that tree line on my last trip using the SPRO black top-water popping frog. The key to the frog is patience, pop it and let it sit! All of my bites come from when it is sitting still. The big bass like it SLOW, so in the words of Kenny Hass “fish it slow as you can stand it.” – Thanks Kenny, your advice has helped me land some quality fish!

My last few trips I have fished the first 4 palm tree lines down and back. As I approach the line I paddle around it in a circle throwing a searchbait looking for fish holding in the hydrilla holes and the ditch behind two of the lines. Once I complete the circle I start zig-zagging through the trees fishing a worm.

I really like the speed worm, I have fished several brands and they all work. Zoom, Gambler, Yum, and recently I have really been liking the Bitter’s Bait Vibe worm. If it’s clear/sunny conditions I throw watermelon/red flake colors and if it is cloudy I throw junebug colors. I rig the speedworm on a BPS brand enticer tungsten jig head, weedless – but you can take a regular texas rig set up just peg it with a bobber stopper right above the weight. But you’re going to want to be throwing this as tight to the trees as you can so it’s going to get banged up pretty good. My jigheads look like an offensive linemans helmet at the end of a long season. My favorite searchbait is a Gambler EZ Swimmer in their Copperfield color rigged on a 1/4 oz Twistlock hook. I tie both lures to the hook with a very small loop knot – I believe the loop knot gives your bait a little extra action in the water. That’s why I like the enticer jig heads over the traditional texas rig.

I believe in the KISS approach to everything, keep it simple stupid! Some of my worst days fishing is when I am constantly tying on new baits and trying to outsmart myself. These bass will hit topwater, moving baits and worms. Take your favorite three out there, get on the water early, and have a ball!

Eric and Gayle scheduled a Factory Tour and Demo on our Falcon 22. No better way to learn about the Feature/Benefits and most importantly, Catamaran handling in rough seas. Here’s what Eric had to say about the experience:

Well we scheduled a demo with Ric on 3/31 and it was a rough day. I didn’t think we would go out in this awful crap. As per Ric a solid 4 foot and the Falcon did great.

My wife Gayle was on the front console seat with a birds eye view of the waves. Will not repeat her comments as children may be reading. Anyway, the Falcon performed very well in 4 to 5 foot nasty crap coming in all directions. Did not want a flat trial, but this was over the top. This boat will get the job done. Count me in.

– Eric Andersen

This past week has been hotter than Africa in the middle of summer 😂. The bite has been good from New Smyrna Beach south through Mosquito Lagoon. The bait has been moving in extremely thick along the intracoastal and up onto the flats. With all the bait moving in thick has made for a good bite from a variety of species. With the water temps rising the tarpon have been really active throughout the deeper water along with the jacks mixed in. The trout and redfish have been mixed in with the bait pods on the flats and the backwater bays. The early morning plug bite has been good in and around the New Smyrna area the moving to spoons and soft plastics as the sun gets higher. Live bait has been working as well from live shrimp to live finger mullet.