We’re still getting plenty of flounder in around Sebastian Inlet, averaging about 4 lb in size. Mud minnows, shrimp, and finger mullet are all working pretty well. There’s also lots of snook and sheepshead being caught. Offshore, we’re hearing reports of kingfish and blackfin tuna being caught.

Redfish and trout has been the name of the game this week! With more fronts moving in and some less than perfect conditions I have been doing most all my trips inshore.

The redfish and trout bite has really been picking up with the cooler weather! Most of my fishing has been in the mosquito lagoon, with plenty of cooler water with some days the temp being as low as 56 it’s time to slow things down a bit! The best bite this week has been off smaller soft plastic lures fished in deeper holes and troughs. A 3″ gulp shrimp on an 1/8 oz jighead has really been getting it done!

For the live bait guys a hand picked shrimp on a popping cork fished in about 2.5 feet of water works wonders this time of the year as well as small pieces of cut mullet. With the water getting cooler it has also been cleaning up which is typical for this time of the year, with this being said it’s not a bad idea to tone down the size of your leader to 15 or 20 pound test. I prefer fluorocarbon over mono mostly for its abrasion resistance.

Another great presentation that often gets over looked this time of year is a fly. Fly fishing anglers can find their best opportunities between 11 and 2 when the sun is at its highest point. During this time, look for fish crawling shorelines or sitting in laid up sand holes. A stealthy approach and a small shrimp or crab imitation fly in tan, orange, or brown really works well.

I highly encourage everyone to catch and release in the rivers and lagoons, the more we catch and release the more opportunities we have for an even better fisheries in the future.

We limited out on kings using frozen cigar minnows just above the bottom on 8A within 2 hours of arrival. We lost a fish and had a few more bites. Our fish were in the 10 pound range for the first hour, but within 30 minutes we started getting some smokers.

At first, we had our kingfish rigs up top. After 15 minutes of nothing, I dropped a bait down on mono leader just to see what was down there. To my surprise, a kingfish grabbed it within 30 seconds.

We dropped the minnows down on a heavy spinning rod using a 4 oz sinker with a stinger rig. We ended up getting 2 smokers, and 2 mediums.

Try to go tomorrow if you haven’t already because a gale is coming Thursday and Friday. I saw people filleting wahoo, tuna, cobia, and triple tail, so there are more options. We went in because we were running out of ice and space on our flats boat.

I’ll have a YouTube video up featuring the fish within the next 18 hours. My YouTube is 321BigFish
Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoTq-9vsg-981_VwfWihhFg

The fishing has been very consistent with fish being caught on paddle tails on a jig head or a jig head tipped with shrimp or mullet free lined. The redfish should be starting to school up in the next week or two with the cooler weather. Black drum are being caught around oyster bars, sand bars ad some of the docks along the ICW. I still have several days open between now and Christmas, feel free to call to book a day at 386-295-5991.

Capt. John Tarr with his first of many redfish he caught with Capt. Mark Wright on a recent scouting trip to the Mosquito Lagoon.

Due to the colder than I like weather I stayed hidden under an electric blanket for most of last week and didn’t venture out until Thursday.

Waiting for a warm-up following a major cold front often results in fantastic fishing. The few guys who didn’t wait until Thursday morning, but gave it a try on Wednesday’s late morning/early afternoon schedule also reaped big rewards!

My friend Capt. John Tarr and I started at first light and I was thrilled to be the first vessel in a sheltered bay I regularly fish. The water temperature was a cool fifty-six degrees and we quickly found scattered redfish and big trout up skinny. Finding them did not at first mean catching them, though this changed as the water temp started to rise!

Small lures rigged weedless are the ticket for winter’s shallow-water predators. This Z-Man Curly Tailz rigged on a Finesse Bulletz jighead is one of our most effective offerings and adding a little Pro Cure scent to it makes it even better.

Heavy cloud cover over the Atlantic stalled our sunrise warm-up for about forty-five minutes. During this time we both took shots at cruising fish that mostly refused our offerings. The handful of bites we did receive were mere nips and tugs at the lure’s tail and nothing was hooked.

Eventually, the “bite” turned on as the water temp climbed up a tad. At fifty-eight degrees the nips and tugs became solid thumps or grab and run eats. A few fish still bit timidly though most of the predators meant business.

When no cruising or laid-up fish presented themselves we both simply tossed our Z-Man Curly Tailz over and hopped them across sand spots intermingled with grass patches. This tactic is simple and so effective we employ it all year no matter the season. During the cold water season we simply slow down our retrieve and downsize our lures. Catching well over twenty reds and trout in a couple of hours proves the tactic work and works well!

When we did get out over this past week, we spent most of our time in the inlet. The Flounder bite has been the best I’ve seen in the last several years. Plenty of 5lb pound fish caught on live bait fished on a knocker rig on the bottom. Along with the Flounder, there were pompano jacks and ladyfish in the inlet hitting jigs and soft plastic baits jigged on the bottom. When we could get outside the inlet, we got more bluefish and jacks along with some Spanish Mackerel.

The flats have held some trout along with some more blues and jacks. Deeper flats and drop-offs have counted for the majority of the fish in the lagoon this week.

…And that’s a wrap on snook season. As of December 15th, snook are catch and release only. Recreational harvest will open back up on the first of February. While we’re giving the snook a little break, the water temperature is finally dropping and there’s plenty of other fun species to target such as drum, pompano, flounder, and sheepshead.

For the one day we were able to get out, fishing was awesome offshore. Kings absolutely fired and the bottom chicken rigging was pretty decent with a bunch of triggers and vermillion. The rest of the week we had to stick nearshore and fish for red drum and sharks. It was slow at times and very good other times. The only thing consistent is that nothing this week has been consistent. Times and baits and species were all over the place. Pompano and Tripple tail have been very good lately. Best bet is to get your sand fleas from fish and dive and drift the beach. Good luck!

Changing things up a bit! What a great month of fishing! From triple-tail and bull redfish nearshore to skinny water tailing redfish and trout in the flats, we have seen some good variety this month!

The weather is finally starting to get into a winter time pattern: cool temperatures with breezy north and westerly winds. With this being said, the next month or so at least I’ll be focusing more of my fishing inshore! The snook bite has slowed consistently but there is still some to be caught around our inlets and passes all the way from Ponce to Sebastian. Smaller live baits have been the ticket: anything from greenies and pogies when available to pins and pigfish; the smaller the better! I’ll be focusing more of my fishing towards the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon. The cooler weather has really turned the trout bite on as expected! Some days average 20 to 30 fish of all sizes from 15 to 25 inches. Most fish are being caught around deeper troughs and grass flats in the 3 to 5 foot range! Live shrimp on a popping cork or an 1/8 oz mission Fishn jig-head with a gulp shrimp is a deadly combo this time of year.

Subsequently, the redfish bite has picked up as well! Most fish have been chewing a bit better with the cooler weather a little later in the day. I’m starting my trips around 9 o’clock, if not a little later, and am really taking advantage of the afternoon bite. These fish have been cooperating well with small gulp shrimp and weedless jerk-baits, in pearl white, bounced slowly off the bottom. The north end of Mosquito Lagoon has been the best bet, where most fish are between 15 and 30 inches. As usual with the lagoon, practice catch and release to preserve these species for future generations!