November did better than October in its attempt to get us out of the slump that is traditionally started by the first major storm that sends big swells our way every year. The nearshore fishing was phenomenal with big red drum and sharks. Toward the end of the month the surf was ablaze with pompano, black drum, sheepshead and permit. We also started to see the king mackerel bite turn on offshore and like I always say “when the king is happy, everything is happy.”

October tried to get us back in the game, but overall, the fishing fell a little short of the mark. The nearshore fishing for big red drum was definitely where the action was for anyone just looking to bend rods and have a great time on the water. Nice black tip sharks and small black tip sharks were also very cooperative in the goal of keeping lines tight and smiles big. Wind, rough seas and big swells kept us in close most of the month. Right at the end, the offshore fishing improved a lot with some nice king mackerel, black fin tuna and even a few shots at sail fish.

Finally, a marine forecast we can work with! Starting Sunday, the wind shows 5-10 knots and extended we can see 2-3ft seas in the forecast. We have some awesome trips planned this month that we are very excited about.

Through the month of October, Snook fishing can be incredible along the jetties, docks and sea walls. The trick is the tide changes and putting in time to have live bait. The bait can be harder to catch than the snook so having large bomber lures or X-raps as a backup is always a good idea.

We will lose our Summertime water clarity but no worries because September can bring some great fishing opportunities. Spanish mackerel, blue fish and big red drum will show up toward the latter part of the month and the big sharks will be in the mix to feast upon them.

August can be a very tricky month. The clean, calm water and the only game in town — live bait trolling the summer away — applies in the beginning of the month… until it doesn’t. At some point, weather will give us big seas and turn this place on its head. Immediately following that first very rough day, the fishing is going to be tough.

We absolutely love the calm seas and clear water but for us bottom fisherman in the party boat game we need something to shake this ocean up. The current has been significant so we are in full on scramble mode fishing shallow small structure that is often overlooked by most. The great thing about this small overlooked structure is that they never get pressured and hold some really neat surprises such as large sea bass, lane snappers and trigger fish. The bad thing is these spots are small and only hold a limited amount of fish.

June was a bit of a rollercoaster ride with epic fishing to kick the month off, a lull in the middle, and right back on top to round out the end of the month. When it was good, it seemed like you could have shot a spitball at the plotter and as long as it landed inside of 100 ft of water you could stop the boat and catch fish. King mackerel, cobia, dolphin fish, mangroves, sail fish, sharks, cudas, bonito, jack crevalle. This was absolutely epic summertime fishing.

How do you beat the heat and still get your fishing fix? Full moon mangrove snapper fishing is your solution. This is the time of year, when the seas are calm, the water is clear and bait fish are abundant – the full moon can create a mangrove snapper feeding frenzy. With superior eye sight and ideal hunting conditions mangroves will venture all the way to the surface and spread out across the reef to feed on crabs, shrimp, squid bait fish and anything else they can catch.

Last month, the fishing was pretty mediocre, overall. Nearshore fishing was decent, with the snook bite being awesome; everything else inshore was just alright. Same goes for offshore — it was okay, but not great, with the dolphin situation being almost non-existent, and the bottom fishing not blowing our doors off. That being said, the sea conditions were decent most days and the fishing overall was good enough because we managed to find enough action just about every trip to keep the smiles big. The abundance of sea weed made for some frustrating days, also contributing to our lack of dolphin production.