Get ready for another action packed week of fishing on Florida’s Space Coast. January marks a period of high catch rates of pompano, whiting, black drum and bluefish. Although the number one targeted species will continue to be the Florida pompano, don’t sleep on the other species available. For example, We see giant schools of black drum cruising local area beaches between Cape Canaveral and Sebastian Inlet. Of these schools of black drum it isn’t uncommon to see fish in excess of 80 pounds in weight. Roughly translated this equates to trophy fishing from the beach!

Diversity will continue to be the best approach to surf fishing in the winter months. For instance, target pompano, whiting and black drum with standard pompano rigs on a double dropper rig. Using a variety of multi-colored floats will ensure you’re attracting nearby fish. Furthermore, the top choices for bait remain to be Fishbites, sand fleas, shrimp and clams.

In order to compliment the standard setup noted above, I encourage surf fishing enthusiast to cast lures as well. This includes casting lures like spoons, gotcha plugs and small jigs. Expect to catch bluefish, Spanish mackerel and pompano implementing this method. Recommended equipment is a 7-9 foot medium light spinning rod with 20 pound braided line.

Now if it’s a trophy you’re after then let’s review what’s involved in landing a huge black drum. For one thing, massive black drum frequent the area in the winter months because of the water temperature and availability of food. Black drum primarily feed on crustaceans including crabs, shrimp, sand fleas and clams. Keeping this in mind, it’s important to match the hatch and use similar baits for the best success. Be sure to land large fish safely and have an extremely quick release to ensure there survival.

The best gear to use for catching giant drum from the beach includes beefed up surf fishing gear from the line down to the rigs. By this I mean to make sure your dropper loop rigs are a minimum of 40 pound braided line. Secondly, your hook sizes need to appropriately match the strength of these fish without bending out. In addition, your rod and reel combo should be a 12ft rod and 6000-8000 series reels. Braided line isn’t mandatory, however, it’s suggested. You can catch massive fish with lighter tackle, but this also increases the probability of break offs. The black drum pictured in this article weighed over 60 pounds and was caught on 12 pound test and a standard pompano rig.

Lastly, shark fishing from the surf will highlight these acrobatic species in a showcasing way. Expect black tip sharks, lemon sharks and sandbar sharks when fishing the beaches in February. The top tactics include fresh cut bait, steel leader and a non offset, non stainless circle hook. Cast shark fishing rigs in the first and second troughs for the best success. Make sure to have 80 pound branded line and a reel size ranging from 8000-12,000 series. This will ensure you have the pulling power to safely catch and release these iconic species.

Book your surf fishing excursion to learn the expert tactics and techniques. We make it easy teaching you the best proven methods in an easy to understand format. Additionally, we can assist you in purchasing the proper surf fishing equipment for the highest level of success.

Call 321-205-4672 to book a trip or visit our website: cocoabeachsurffishingcharters.com.

Good morning all you Sebastian Inlet fishing fanatics, I hope everyone had a great and safe new year’s holiday, and a great weekend! Now we’re off into a new year, and hopefully a great one for everyone! First off, I would like to start off and quell a rumor that I had heard out there about the jetty reconstruction project going on, that there is a possibility it will be open by February, well THAT just isn’t going to happen!! They are still on target for the July 2025 completion of the project. Sure, there are a lot of people that can dream about it getting done sooner, but that is just a dream. With the extent of the project from demolition to reconstruction, it won’t be a quick process. So, if you do hear anything out there, don’t believe it unless you read it on the SITD website, their own FB page, or you actually call them at their office. Here is a link to all the CORRECT and up to date info on the project.

Now, for the fishing update.

Over the weekend, the fishing at the inlet was slow, with that I saw or heard about. Friday morning, there was a decent pompano bite on the south jetty, early morning on fleas and shrimp. On Saturday they bit again, but not as well as the day before. Black drum and sheepshead were caught, but not in any numbers to brag about, shrimp and sand fleas as well. Also, a few whiting were caught beachside, but not in the numbers like last weekend.

The monster bluefish that were biting so well a week ago have gone; there are a few showing up from time to time for those who wait them out. Most were caught on the incoming tide around the tip, all the way to the bridge. Jigs and big silver spoons are the best. Last year the blues came in and stayed around because there were big mullet in the inlet. This year, not so much.

The strong flounder bite has tapered off between the jetty and the T-dock. Some are being caught still, but most are either undersized, or just over the minimum 14-inch limit to keep. The south jetty, beach side, is where most are being caught. Live mud minnows and small finger mullet, or live shrimp are the baits of choice, but you can also catch them on small artificial jigs, either plastic or hair jigs.

Not much else to talk about, like I said in the beginning, it is pretty slow. One of the main reasons, I believe, is the water temperature is too cold at 64 degrees, but it is pretty clean, just not as clean as a week ago thanks to the rough surf.

That’s it for this week. I hope everyone has a great, prosperous and happy new year! Oh, and stay warm, more winter is coming

We only ran a couple of Shark trips this week. We just fished along the beach and our clients caught quite a variety of small sharks and one big tiger shark too, which was awesome! We also caught a bunch of big redfish, as well.

Old man Winter will be coming to visit this week so bundle up everyone for the coldest temperatures so far this winter. Last week’s artificial bite was slow for me. Once again downsizing my lure at least gave me a few fish. This week I think I’ll sit it out and keep my little space heater working to keep it comfortable. This front should put the lockjaw on the bass, but when the warm up begins, they should be ready to eat. Stay warm my friends.

Mark and Matt with a few Snook and big jacks!

Had a great week fishing the lagoon for trout, snook, jacks and pompano. Plenty of action most days all on artificial but a few of the snook ate live baits, as well. Most of the time we fished paddle tails and jerk baits but tried a new bait from Rapala, Crush City bass line and the Mooch Minnow jerk bait and Mayor Paddle tail baits all worked well. A couple days we found schools of big jacks busting on the threadfins in the lagoon and had a great time chasing them.

We were able to get out on the beach a day or two over the holidays and the blacktips and spinner sharks were out in full force feeding on bait pods offshore. Rapala Xtreme Poppers made for some good action on those fish and we got a few on live baits, as well.

The strong north winds and cooler temperatures dominated the weather pattern over the past week, keeping me off the water for the most part. However, Sunday brought a welcome respite with pleasant conditions, and I seized the opportunity to get out and fish.

Sunday Night Fishing Excursion

I opted to wait until nighttime to fish, allowing the water to warm up as much as possible. This strategy paid off, as the snook and trout were highly active.

The night began with a series of smaller snook and trout catches, but the highlight came when I hooked into a massive snook. Fishing from my kayak, I was fortunate to land this impressive fish.

Key to Success

The effective lure for the night was a small 3.5″ paddletail on a 1/8oz jig. This setup proved irresistible to the snook and trout.

Outlook for the Upcoming Week

Unfortunately, the weather forecast for the upcoming week isn’t looking promising. Strong winds and unfavorable conditions are expected to return, which may limit fishing opportunities. I’ll be keeping a close eye on the forecast, waiting for the next window of good weather to get back out on the water.

It is with the heaviest of hearts that we reflect on Steve Goff — local business stalwart, former FSFA Club President, beloved friend and family man, and fishing fanatic — who passed away unexpectedly on December 23, 2024.

For starters, I cannot believe I am writing this. We were just sitting in your office laughing, talking about fishing, family, the holidays and our plans both personally and professionally for 2025. I have tried to write this multiple times now but every time I do my eyes fill up with tears and I have to walk away. I am really not sure how to write this, should I share what an incredible person and leader you were or just tell you what you mean to me? Maybe I can do both.

I met Steve through a mutual friend of ours Randy Aloise. Randy had joined the Florida Sport Fishing Association (FSFA) and had been pushing me to join. In hind sight, I am so glad I did. He also convinced me to run for a board position which I thought was kind of silly since I had just joined but as fate would have it, I was voted in as a director to serve on the new board. This is where I first met Steve Goff. Steve was the incoming president which means he would run the meetings and also make sure everyone serving on the board was following through with their obligations for the club. Right away, I noticed what an outstanding leader he was. He just commanded respect, he truly led by example and for those of us that were watching like myself, there were some real lessons to be learned. You would think that a board meeting for a fishing club would be all fun and games, yet there were a lot of serious conversations and differing opinions regarding how to accomplish the goals of the club. Sometimes leading to some tense conversations and that’s where Steve shinned brightest. He had a way of respecting everyone’s opinion and also drilling down to decisions that would best benefit the club. He was a true leader indeed and we struck up a fast friendship that would last a lifetime.

We also shared a lot of similar experiences. He coached his sons little league teams when they were growing up and he loved to hear me tell stories about what I was going through coaching my boys teams. Steve was 20 years older than me so he had been there and done that and always had great advice to share. Great coaches see things in people they cannot see in themselves. I really believe that was one of his superpowers. Starting a business from scratch is very hard. Steve knew this all too well. He started a pest control company with his father many years before and built it into a successful business. I leaned on him for a lot of advice, especially when starting Spacefish. He was the first person I approached and asked to be a part of it. He was our first advertiser and he championed our vision. He never took a wait and see approach, he just jumped into the deep end of the pool with us which gave me the confidence I needed to keep pushing. I see that so clearly now. I guess he could see something in me I didn’t see in myself at the time.

Boy did Steve love to fish too! Being out on the ocean with him was always a fun adventure whether we were catching fish or not. We would laugh so hard telling silly stories we literally couldn’t breathe! Steve wasn’t just a fisherman, he was an ambassador for everything fishing. He wanted to see people out fishing and making awesome memories. When I took over as the tournament director for the FSFA Offshore Tournament, Steve was on our tournament committee. It was his idea to add the $5,000 Big Fish Grand Prize to the tournament. He didn’t just suggest it, his business sponsored it. Talk about walking the walk, that’s what he did. He had so many fiends too. I am just one of so many people that Steve made feel like family. I loved any time we would go to lunch, he always picked a place where he knew the owners. He supported his friend’s local businesses fiercely. He was an incredible husband, father and grandfather as well. We had countless conversations about his beautiful wife Marie and his sons, daughters and grandkids. He loved them all so much. He was the true patriarch of his family, always leading by example with love and compassion.

I could write a short story about what this man means to me but what I really want to say is Steve, I love you man, there will definitely be a void in my life without you. I going to miss every time we met that big baritone voice yelling out Big D and your strong handshake and infectious smile. Rest in peace my friend. Wherever you are, I hope you are blessed with as much quiche as one man can handle.

A Celebration of Life will be held for Steve on Saturday, January 18, at 1pm at Kiwanis Island Park.

The fishing has been great with the cold weather and low water. Redfish and black drum are schooling in the shallows and will readily eat soft plastics, shrimp tipped jigs or a naked hook with a shrimp and small split shot. Look for deeper edges on the colder days early in the morning for redfish, trout and black drum. You can find these fish on the eastward facing shorelines late morning sunning themselves. January can be some of the best fishing of the year. It’s a great time to book a charter by calling 386-295-5991!

The Ocean Obsession out of Sunrise Marina in Port Canaveral did a great job putting their clients on “The Meat” the last couple of trips when the weather cooperated. Keep an eye out for their next trips, you will definitely want to get offshore with this awesome captain and crew. This is a great trip to catch some tasty treats to bring home!

Elevating the standards set by its predecessors, the Falcon 26 Offshore epitomizes excellence in performance and versatility. Built upon the proven foundation of Morrelli and Melvin’s off-set keel configuration, this model ensures an exceptionally smooth ride in any condition. With enhanced resistance to stuffing in following seas and soft landings in rough waters, the Falcon 26 offers an unparalleled level of comfort and stability. Its thoughtfully designed deck layout maximizes usable space, setting a new benchmark for its size and class. From inland waterways to offshore adventures, the Falcon 26 effortlessly transitions between environments with confidence and ease. Custom-built to your specifications, this semi-custom vessel is equipped with features and amenities tailored to your boating lifestyle, whether you’re pursuing your passion for fishing or enjoying leisurely cruises with family and friends.

Come get the first look — and demo — of the F26 Offshore at the Stuart Boat Show January 10-12. Falcon Boats can be found at dock site AL03.

The water temp was 64 degrees when we started this morning. The S canal is clear as of noon today.

Top baits this week for me were the Bass Assassin RSB worms, Jackhammers, and the Mike Bucca 6″ Trick Shad in Gizzard Shad color.

I’m fishing the Bass Assassin RSB worms (Gooseberry and JB Blue) with a 3/8oz weight due to the high winds. The fish are in the hydrilla near spawning flats. I’m using a 5/0 VMC Redline EWG hook. I like letting these sink to the bottom and pull it along the bottom fairly slow.

I’m fishing the Green Pumpkin Jackhammers along hydrilla edges and large clumps of grass in water 5′ or less. I only use a 1/2oz with a Zako trailer to match or a Bass Assassin Whoopa Craw to match. I’m concentrating on the wind blown sides of the grass lines.

The 6″ Mike Bucca Trick Shad in Gizzard Shad color is my go to swimbait this week. I’m fishing these along thick grass edges near deep sharp drops or cuts near main canals. It is a fish catcher and it will work all over Headwaters. Swim these just under the surface for best results. Get on the Bullshad email mailing list so you can get the bait drop info.

If you want to catch a bunch of fish pick up some shiners and free line them in deep water grass lined areas.

Call or text me at 304-610-6066 to book a trip of a lifetime. I have some outstanding guides that work for me that have availability as well.

Tight lines!