SPACEFISH REPORT

11.27.2018 – 12.3.2018

A CENTRAL FLORIDA FISHING REPORT EVERY TUESDAY

best week of the year

Capt. Alex Hughey took a day off from guiding clients on the flats to score some tripletail offshore.

TIME TO FREEZE

Be thankful that we’re coming straight out of America’s most food-centric holiday — consuming all those extra calories may be crucial for your ability to successfully hibernate through the frigid days of cold ahead this week. With temperatures projected to dip down into the 40’s on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, hibernation is certainly an attractive option, but probably unrealistic for many of us with jobs and other, worldly responsibilities. Now is a great time to bust the long johns out of storage and brace yourself for the icy grasp of winter, and also, to have a laugh at a sampling of the corniest cold weather puns ever uttered, courtesy of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s performance as “Mr. Freeze” in the comedically bad 1997 film, Batman and Robin.

Like Mr. Freeze, Winter is not sympathetic to Florida’s cold weather sensitivities.

If you can’t stand cold weather, don’t stress. This is Florida. We’ll be back to sweating through our shirts by the weekend.

As this front moves in, it will bring with it winter winds that will blow strong until mid-week. With winds subsiding on Thursday and Friday, these days both present a good opportunity to venture offshore. Hopefully, the WNW/NW winds through the week will also help clear out weeds from the beach and setup for some nice surf fishing conditions; if not, the inlets and lagoons will remain a great option. Cold or not, it’s time to kick some ice out there fishing!

LOCAL EVENTS

Florida Sport Fishing Association Caleb Couture of Pompano Riggs by Couture and Tradewinds Surf Fishing Charters will be the guest speaker at the Florida Sport Fishing Association’s North Chapter meeting on Tuesday, November 27 at 7:00pm. The pompano are running in the surf this time of year and Caleb is going to talk all about the art of catching these delicious specimens. Check it out if you can!

surf fishing seminar with Caleb Couture

Learn how to catch Pompano with the best of them — by the best of them — at the FSFA’s Tuesday night meeting in Port Canaveral, featuring Caleb Couture.

Mr. Freeze thinks FSFA Club meetings are pretty cool, and so will you!

Sunstate Pest Control

GIVEAWAY CONTESTS

Every week, we randomly draw a name from our email subscriber list to award a $20 Strike-Zone Fishing Gift Card. The winner’s name is published in every weekly report. The only catch is, if you are announced as a winner, you must email us to claim your prize. Congrats to this week’s winner, Ron Weber of Mims. If you’re not already a Spacefish subscriber, click here to sign up.

Don’t forget, we’re still giving away two Fish Skinz Apparel t-shirts every week, and also, a casting platform from BT’s Welding on Christmas Day. Click the links below for details. Congrats to this week’s t-shirt winners: Colin Burns of Melbourne and Dawn Maletzke of Satellite Beach!

Casting Platform Giveaway Contest
Full Mounty Redfish Giveaway Contest
SPACEFISH Weekly Giveaway Contest

Caroll Distributing - Anheuser-Busch

Contributor Reports

In every week’s Spacefish fishing report, we turn to both fishing pros and average joe’s for input on what’s happening in and around Brevard County’s many fisheries. Check out what people are saying about the bite in the Space Coast this week:

Weekly Radio Show (11.30.2018)
December 1, 2018

Weekly Radio Show (11.30.2018)

Spacefish checks in with the Mark Moses Show on Sports Radio 1960AM THE FAN to talk some Space Coast fishing!

by JC

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Patiently Waiting for Pomps…
November 27, 2018

Patiently Waiting for Pomps…

surf fishing report

We’re still patiently waiting for the big migrating pompano schools to stark working there way down to the Space Coast, but with the coming fronts, anglers are still catching some keeper Pompano daily, as well as whiting, black drum and redfish! Most fish are being caught on fish bites, live and blanched fleas, and clam. The best bite has been best at first light and in the evening a couple hours before tidal change.

by Caleb Couture
Tradewinds Surf Fishing Charters, Pompano Riggs by Couture | (321) 271-1061

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Windy Week on Mosquito Lagoon
November 26, 2018

Windy Week on Mosquito Lagoon

doubling up on redfish in the Mosquito Lagoon

A father and son team caught a few redfish recently while fishing with Capt. Mark Wright. This brace of redfish were taken on Z-Man Diezel Minnowz while others fell to mullet chunks tossed along grass-lines.

It was another windy week for us in the Mosquito Lagoon which is quite normal for November. Happily though, the air temperature stayed very comfortable once the early morning chill dissipated shortly after sunrise.

The windy conditions have the water stirred up and muddy in most areas. In fact, it’s pretty stirred up in many sheltered areas too due to the huge black mullet feed in the remaining grass beds! It won’t be long before these mullet migrate to the sea for their yearly spawn. It’s worth noting here that as the mullet are working through the grass we’re seeing LOTS of immature shrimp jumping out of the water.

The presence of so many little shrimp seems to indicate a bumper crop of these delectable critters growing in the shallows. Food for our local game fish already and eventually food for us in a couple of months once they gain some size!

The tailing redfish activity from the last two weeks stalled, at least for me, this week though we did see a tail here and there. Blind casting with Z-Man Diezel Minnowz and EZ Shrimpz rigged weedless on EZ Keeperz hooks worked well in the same places we caught tailing reds earlier in the month. Long casts help to up the angler’s odds of getting bit, even in the dirty water.

Our best results came on natural bait this past week in the form of cut mullet chunks on the bottom and live shrimp under a float between the chunk baits. Tossing the live shrimp out at twelve o’clock with chunks at ten and two o’clock cover a sizable area for a marauding redfish or trout to stumble upon and they certainly did!

Unfortunately, we encountered many more whiskered fish and critters with barbed tails than we wanted, but it is part of the game when natural bait is used. Fortunately, kids (of all ages) enjoy catching them every bit as much as the game fish!

by Capt. Mark Wright
Florida East Coast Fishing Adventures | (321) 302-3474

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Great River Fishing
November 26, 2018

Great River Fishing


Fishing in the river has been great with good numbers of pompano, black drum, seatrout, redfish and snook being caught. The strong cold front we have pushing through this week should really turn the sight fishing on with clean clear water. This is one of my favorite times of year to fish Mosquito Lagoon!

by Capt. Mike Mann
Fat Fish Guide Service | (386) 295-5991

The Matador
November 26, 2018

The Matador

Check out Ryan Wood’s latest adventure where he targets bull sharks from the beach and jetty at Sebastian Inlet. All sharks were safely released.

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Small Flounder Showing Up in Inlet
November 26, 2018

Small Flounder Showing Up in Inlet

We had a pretty good Thanksgiving week despite the weather. The redfish and Snook were stubborn during the daytime but the guys fishing at night did well with them. We managed to get some on Pigfish and shrimp. Inshore bite was well with a lot of small Flounder inside the inlet and along the flats caught using Storm 36GT Coastal Paddletails with Pro cure. Keep the baits slow and low in the water column so the flounder can find them. The pompano bite around the inlet was good this week as well. Doc’s goofy jigs worked well and we caught a few on the Storm Shrimp with Pro Cure jigging the flats around the inlet.

Inshore was also pretty good with a lot of trout around the shorelines and spoil islands. WE also got into a lot of small jacks, big Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish. Soft plastics were the key inshore as well as off the beach.

by Capt. Glyn Austin
Going Coastal Charters | (321) 863-8085

Treasure Coast Surf Report
November 25, 2018

Treasure Coast Surf Report

Treasure Coast Beach Erosion

The full moon and super tide that came with it erased five miles of coastline this morning from Jupiter Inlet to Loggerhead Park! Expect another Beach Renovation on the horizon… To restore a beach this long requires a 30 million dollar budget. Not good for taxpayers. When the dozers show up on good flea beaches one has to cringe! Covering them with 10 ft. of dirty sand concludes their natural lives, literally killing 10,000 eggs per female flea.

Sand fleas will traverse to the secondary bar. Ghost crabs will shelter like fiddler crabs on the sides of the berm. Both these creatures attract pompano and numerous inshore fish. Ghost crabs are one of my favorite baits. They might not survive. In the evenings they slip down into the sand flea pods and feast. During a slow beach charter I throw blanched fleas proximal to their homes. Back up 50 feet as and watch them watch you and make their move!

There is a fun and easy way to catch these devils. They’re still fast in just 2″ of water. Put the net behind them on the backwash and you will score. DO NOT put more then 20 of them into your bucket. You may lose half of them in the bed of your truck. The little engineers can build crab ladders and literally escape their plastic prison.

Last Wednesday the sea temp dropped 5 degrees. For a matter of 2 degrees, pomps move offshore or further south to find comfortable water. These are resident fish but they do migrate to the upper Keys with enough cold fronts. A few days ago the shorties showed up in huge numbers with a few keepers. Our first really good pompano bite occurred yesterday. I even caught a 4.9 pounder on — wait for it — ghost crab legs! A dozen anglers secured their bag limit. Catches were from Juno Beach to Carlin Park in Jupiter. The Juno Beach Pier enjoyed a late PM bite on my jigs.

Look for these pomps to head into Palm Beach and then on to Lake Worth Pier in a few days. The biggest pomps will hit large blanched fleas. Jigs will capture keepers to 1.5 pounds.

Tight lines, folks!

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Hot Nearshore Action
November 25, 2018

Hot Nearshore Action

What a week! This week has been very productive! With several fronts and cooler weather we have been experiencing a really good bite. This week’s hot bite has been nearshore. Despite the occasional blowout where the winds are just too heavy to get out the bull redfish, snook, and even some cobia and tripletail have made for quite the week.

This week I focused my attention to all our inlets and passes from Ponce to Sebastian, large pieces of cut bait from ladyfish and mullet, to chunks of Spanish mackerel and bluefish have been getting plenty of action! These fish are holding along channel drop offs and jetty’s. A 3 to 4 ounce egg sinker attached to a 3 foot section Fluorocarbon leader and a 6/0 owner circle hook has been the ticket. Take your bait of choice and use larger chunks about the size of your fish, toss it out and hang on — it is as simple as that!

When live bait has been available, the snook bite has been very good in between cold fronts. Large baits like pinfish and pigfish are producing good numbers of fish from 20 to 40 inches in size. My favorite rig is a 5/0 or 6/0 hook according to the size of the bait you are using and 50 lb. fluorocarbon leader rigged free lined (without any lead) is usually perfect. These fish are sitting in the same areas as the redfish and are even chewing well at night. Patience is the name of the game. It is not uncommon to have a few redfish, jacks, or even flounder pick up these baits as well.

by Capt. Alex Hughey
All Water Adventures | (321) 222-7511

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Awesome Offshore Fishing
November 25, 2018

Awesome Offshore Fishing

canaveral offshore kingfish

What an absolutely awesome week! Offshore has been on fire with kingfish and a lot more like random mahi! We even seen a few blackfins mixed in as well. All the usual spots like the 8A and Pelican seem to be the place to be which is no secret this time of year. Still no live bait all week so frozen minnows are the trick. We fish naked frozen minnows on a stinger rig. Nearshore has also been on fire with the giant reds and numerous sharks. Use chunks of king and Spanish for those. Tripletail have been around the buoys too. Shrimp works best for targeting these tasty fish.

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

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Thanksgiving Was Good to Us
November 25, 2018

Thanksgiving Was Good to Us

black dog customers show off their catcjes

Thanksgiving was good to us fisherman. Wind and weeds made surf fishing virtually impossible through the holiday weekend, but anglers have performed well in the inlet and lagoon. The best bite has been mainly on redfish, snook, and black drum, but there’s also been a ton of bluefish and ladyfish pretty much everywhere. All in all, it’s been a good week of fishing.

by Black Dog Bait & Tackle
Black Dog Bait & Tackle | (321) 725-1200

Sebastian Flounder
November 20, 2018

Sebastian Flounder

Over the past weekend the cool front turned on the flounder at the tide pool at the north jetty at Sebastian inlet. Using finger-sized mullet or live shrimp on 1/8 to 1/16 jig head, just drag your bait slow and hang on! The bigger flounder should come in with a couple of cold fronts. Fish the tide pool early and the north jetty half way out on the beach side.

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
Beyond Brevard and Back: High Speed n’ Deep Bottom On The Corner
November 20, 2018

Beyond Brevard and Back: High Speed n’ Deep Bottom On The Corner

It’s that time of year when the moon gets right and the wahoos fire over on the corner. Dentist Roger Montz, Ron Yampolsky and a few other buddies made the crossing this past week on Roger’s 36’ Yellowfin “Orion.” They checked into West End before putting out some high speed lures and going to work.

They fished an outgoing tide and the bite lasted about an hour and a half. The went 5 for 12 on the wahoos and then around noon time, when they knew the bite had shut off they decided to do some deep dropping.

The taxman took most of their groupers but they did mange this healthy specimen.

Fish Mounts make great holidays gifts and we are right here in Rockledge, give us a call if you are looking for a Christmas Fish Mount, the gift they won’t return.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and your families.

by Troy Denson
Mount This Fish Company | (321) 403-6677

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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.

Spacefish on the Radio!

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