The nearshore bite is still hot so that’s where I’ve been focusing full attention this week! Despite some windy weather and unfavorable seas, we have still managed to get some good fishing done! Whether you’re looking for large bull redfish and sharks to tripletail and pompano, the bite remains to be pretty consistent all the way from Ponce Inlet down to Sebastian. Every drop off along the edge of the channel or trough along the beach has been full of large breeder redfish and some really good numbers of pompano which are awesome for the table!

For Bull redfish and sharks, a large bloody piece of bait such as bonito, bluefish, Spanish mackerel and large mullet have really been getting some good action. I prefer an 8 foot rod with a 6000 size spinning reel loaded with 40lb braid and 100lb stretch of fluoro carbon leader. The best rig is a flounder rig, 5 oz. lead sinker above a small barrel swivel with a piece of 100lb leader and a 6/0 to 8/0 circle hook attached never fails. Personally I like to let Rodney the rod holder do the work, sometimes it takes a little while to produce a bite and you really want to keep your bait as still as possible therefore let your rod sit in the holder and wait for the bend!

The pompano bite has really been going strong! All the troughs along Cocoa Beach to Sebastian have been producing large numbers of fish. The most efficient way to catch these fish is look for cleaner good moving water while casting small pompano bucktail jigs such as the t and a pompano jig — the guys at handler fishing supply can point you in the right direction!

If you’re fishing from the beach now is for sure the time to get in on the pompano action! These fish are chewing sand fleas and peeled shrimp on a double hook pompano rig with a 3oz triangle or sputnik style sinker. If you find you’re not holding bottom adjust the weight of your sinker according to what helps hold you best! Most fish have been keepers and make for great table fare!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.. and pompano!

As the weather and water starts to cool down with passing fronts, don’t miss out on the opportunity to get out to the beach and catch some of these wave runners! The best days to go target pompano on the Space Coast is two days before and 1-2 days after the fronts! I’m frequently asked, “what’s the best tide, Caleb?” My answer is… simply in your time at your beach and find out for yourself. Camp out all day make yourself comfortable and, most importantly… Take notes!

You’ll usually find that it’s best between coming tides wether it’s an hour before or an hour after high or low tide. Try and stick up on sand fleas and blanch them while you can! You don’t wanna be that guy that’s on the beach not catching them when they start going off! Being prepared is key to staying on top of these fish! Having a mixed assortment of live/blanched fleas, artificial baits (such as Fishbites) is also a must have! If none of these baits are catching fish in your area then move to the next good outflow!

Sometimes you gotta really put in some time to find these fish, but when you find them it’s usually a sweet sprinting race to see how many pompano you can reel in on 3 or 4 rods without either the tax man grabbing one (AKA Shark of any kind!) or simply just spit the hook! Remember these fish have a PHD in getting off the hook so reel fast and keep that rod tip up! If you do just that, then you might just fill the cooler!

Remember, whiting are very good to eat as well! Although small they are packed with tons of fat and natural flavor! I get just as excited when I catch a stud whiting as I do a stud pompano! I look forward to seeing you guys this weekend at the Fort Pierce Causeway and Boat show this Friday-Sunday! I’ll be doing a seminar on pompano fishing on both the intercostal and on the beach’s all three days. I’ll also have a booth setup where I’ll have Pompano Riggs and jigs for sale! After you see me go check out the guys from fishbites! They’ll have a booth right next to mine with “Buy 2 Get 1 Free” deals and more! Don’t miss out!

For the past few weeks we have written about cooler weather and the migratory species that it brings to our coast. The talk has been largely about pompano and bluefish, which are popular targets in the surf this time of year; but, there’s more yet coming to be excited about this season, such as one of my personal favorite species: flounder.

When the weather cools this time of year, flounder begin to migrate from inter-coastal waters to their offshore breeding grounds. This migratory path takes them through our local inlets — which is precisely where we go to catch these odd-looking but delicious-tasting flatties. Sebastian Inlet, in particular, is a famed hot spot for fishing the annual migration. When the flounder start running, you may see a dozen boats anchored out there all gunning for these fish. Having the mobility of a boat is a great luxury, but plenty of anglers also do well targeting flounder from shore.

To target flounder, equip your rod with the tried and true fish finder rig. This is a very simple rig which consists of an egg sinker placed on your main line, followed by a barrel swivel. The sinker should be just heavy enough to hold bottom, which will fluctuate depending on the strength of the current. Tie on 12 to 18 inches of 30lb. mono finished off with a 1/0-2/0 j-hook. I personally prefer a short shank j-hook.

When using this rig, live bait typically works best. The two most productive baits tend to be mud minnows and small finger mullet (approximately 3 to 6 inches in size). Hook them through the lips. If you cannot find mud minnows or finger mullet, a live shrimp hooked through the tail will work, too. To help trigger a strike from these ambush predators, bump your bait across the bottom, either with the current or during retrieval.

Flounder are fun to catch and great to eat. You can take home as many as ten per day that are at least 12″ in total length — and you may even get lucky and score one of the big doormats! If you go out flounder fishing, be sure to let us know how you did. We’d love to hear about it whether you crushed it or struck out.

We were only able to fish offshore two days last week due to high winds and heavy seas, but those two days offshore were absolutely amazing fishing. We landed a few mahi, blackfins and all the kings we could handle. All fish were caught on a variety of live baits, but mainly dead minnows and small skirts. The reef is a good place to start.

Nearshore was on fire as well with lots of sharks and many huge red drum. Chunk baits have been working well for all the nearshore action. The hours between noon and 5:00pm has been the best time frame for us.

Early week, the inlet was on fire and we caught a bunch of redfish, snook and a few jacks. Throw in some Spanish Mackerel and the fishing was great. Once the front went through and the temp dropped to high 30s and low 40s the bite became difficult in the inlet and the lagoon. Mid week, the bite was slow both in the inlet and the lagoon. Water temps inside the lagoon dropped 15 degrees and the fish didn’t seem too hungry.

When temperatures warmed back up, the became more active and the bite improved. There were plenty of trout, small flounder and a few pompano inside and the Spanish Mackerel, bluefish and Jacks were thick along the beaches. Overall it was a pretty good week once the cold front passed.

The snook bite has been on fire at Sebastian Inlet. Lots of black drum, blue fish, ladyfish mackerel, redfish, and sheepshead are also being caught. If the water temperature drops just a little bit, expect to start seeing more flounder.

This is the time of year the sight fisherman have been waiting for! The water in Mosquito Lagoon is clear and the redfish are easily spotted cruising the shallow flats. They are eating consistently, too. A well placed paddle tail on an 1/8 ounce jig head, fly or shrimp will get their attention.

I tried fishing live shrimp and mullet inside the port and at the N. jetty Tuesday. The 25 mph west wind made for a strong current and a hard time. I ended up getting two jack crevalle and a lookdown. I did see a lot of finger mullet, so the potential for a good trip is there.

Friday and this weekend I shifted my focus to the Indian River Lagoon. I noticed the clearest water I’ve seen in a long time, but some spots were all sand with no grass at all. I did find a fair amount of grass in deeper water, especially east of Port St. John. I saw a lot of 5-15 lb black drum, but couldn’t get any to eat.

Saturday, it became really windy out of the south-south east. I tried fishing in a canal, I got some 5-10 inch seatrout and an 8 inch redfish.

Sunday, the southwest wind had the water stirred up, but I saw some bigger black drum off my dock. I didn’t get any.

The flounder bite has heated up at Sebastian Inlet. The bite seems to be most productive using mud minnows and mullet — if you can still find them. The snook bite is also hot at the inlet and we are seeing some monster reds come through as well. Another awesome thing about this time of year is the black drum and sheepshead activity picks back up and we are getting reports of both so get out there and fish!

Went out to catch some pompanos on the beach and scored two keeper black drum. Caught a small whiting and some palometa and called it a day.

Today, big winds made the beach un-fishable. I tried fishing a couple of docks in the Sebastian area, and found the water to be dirty with a west wind. I finally went to the Wabasso Bridge park and was able to catch some pinfish and puffers. Some other anglers were having success catching small trout on red and white 1/8 and 1/16 oz jigs.

Jeff enjoyed the fight of this over-slot redfish on a recent trip with Capt. Mark Wright

The fishing was pretty darn good the day before the frigid temperatures kept me indoors with the furnace running. Happily, the fishing was still good once things warmed up again!
Ahead of the front, Top-Water Tony took turns tossing his bone colored Skitterwalk and a white Z-Man Curly Tailz grub rigged on the new Finesse Bulletz head jig. This new jighead makes rigging the smaller Z-Man plastics simple with a nearly weed-free retrieve!

Much to my surprise the top-water bite was nearly nonexistent. Thankfully the soft plastic bite was steady for trout with a few nice reds tossed in for good measure. We launched into a stiff southwest breeze and hid from the building winds by staying sheltered on the west shoreline.

J Lyle catches a personal best spotted seatrout on a Z-Man Curly Tailz while fishing with Capt. Mark Wright

The trout seemed to relate to wind swept points offering a little depth relief and attacked the soft plastics as the lures were retrieved from the shallows and let drop into the deeper water. The redfish we caught in the same areas, but they were holding in the shallows well before the drop-off.

After the warmup we found scattered tailing reds tucked in behind a favorite island. Trying to sight-fish and cast to them proved a bit too challenging for the clients so I dropped the Power Pole and tossed out some chunk bait. The bite was not fast, though we managed 4 redfish there with two of them over slot.

The rising winds forced us to move to a southern shoreline were we managed a couple of more reds on cut bait. Much to my surprise, not a single catfish was caught. I wish I could make this statement more often!